Powerlines
The train comes and goes, the tracks appear and disappear, the tracks lie endlessly stretched in the flat Dutch landscape. The tracks are sort of power lines, they transport information and energy. In this master planning art piece the concept of power lines has been personalized and applied to a 1km long stretched zone along such train tracks, in the centre of Rotterdam, adjacent to the Blijdorp Zoo. The personalized Powerlines are associated with speed, departure, arrival, mobility, dynamics, travel. The Powerlines Rotterdam strip is intended to function as one consistent city-estate, 80% open to the public, 20% privately owned. The Powerline Estate brings green and fauna into the city of Rotterdam. In the Powerline zone the oscillating Powerlines are used as data-generators for density, height, percentage of art, colours, texture and level of artificiality. Parametric values of intensity and levels of connectivity are to be applied forcing the designers to make surprising combinations of data, albeit rational or irrational. The Powerlines are seen as an instrument to stimulate new mutations of known building species. Powerlines Rotterdam is designed as to enhance the role of the artist in the planning process of the city.
project name: Powerlines Rotterdam | design Ilona Lénárd | design team: Ilona Lénárd, Kas Oosterhuis, Barbara Janssen | commissioned by CBK Rotterdam | 2004