Sculpture project Waterwerken nears completion
ILLUMINATED SCULPTURES ON SLOPING EMBANKMENT
The bank of sculptures in the sculpture project Waterwerken by the artist Ruud Kuijer in Utrecht’s Lage Weide industrial estate has changed dramatically in recent weeks. The grass bank between Isotopenweg and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal has been transformed into a subtle sloping landscape, thereby accentuating each individual statue more strongly than before. In addition to making statue and landscape one, the slope has created a new coherence between the five large concrete sculptures. A whole new lighting system has also been installed, ensuring that the statues offer an exceptional visual experience during the hours of darkness for visitors, passing ship’s captains and train passengers.
The addition last summer of the fifth sculpture, Waterwerk V Circuit, created a large-scale project. For the artist, this new scope marked the moment to begin rearranging the landscape. Two more sculptures will be added before the project is complete in 2013. From the very first moment when Waterwerk I was put in place in 2002, it was always Kuijer’s intention to merge sculptures and grass bank by creating sloping ground. This intention was therefore taken into account in the positioning of the first and all of the subsequent statues. Even the plinths are of different heights.
Difficulties
Achieving this arrangement of the landscape was no easy task because the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal is one of the busiest waterways in Europe. The Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management closely monitors the safety of the canal’s sheetpile wall. Initial calculations performed by the Arcadis consultancy firm showed that building mounds on the bank might exert too much pressure on the wall. Therefore an inventive ‘weight-neutral’ solution was found for the slopes in consultation with the geo-engineers at Royal Boskalis Westminster. A large pack of lightweight material composed of ceramic beads with a layer of earth on top has been arranged around three plinths. This approach made the slopes possible and ensured that the project could finally meet all of the requirements.
By day and by night
All kinds of lighting were tested in a long night session with a number of specialists. Two types of LED light – one neutral and one “cold” – were eventually chosen. The “cold” light had the greatest effect on the concrete during the tests. In addition, this type of lighting best safeguarded the special nature of the material. Because the situation at night is very different than during the daytime, with natural and even light, Kuijer and the lighting engineers decided to use the spotlights to project hard shadows onto the strong spatial presence of the sculptures. This created an entirely new and equally surprising dimension.
The sculpture project Waterwerken has been made possible by the Economic Affairs departments of the Municipality of Utrecht and the Province of Utrecht, the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management and Royal Boskalis Westminster NV. These last two organisations also paid part of the costs of rearranging the landscape. Installation of the lighting was funded from the quality of life budget of the Municipality of Utrecht, Western District.
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