During the Noord Hollands Biennale, designer Francois Lombarts and artist Jeanne van Heeswijk initiated Buro Boulevard in order to produce an alternative urban plan for the boulevard of Zandvoort the Netherlands.
Zandvoort a costal town, was one of the first towns to transform itself into a seaside tourist resort. However since the end of the second world war, much of the prestige it had built up was destroyed. Since then Zandvoort has managed to rebuild itself as a popular costal resort, but has never managed to regain the stature it had prior to the war.
Buro Boulevard researched all existing plans since the war for the boulevard. It soon became clear that Zandvoort was experiencing an identity crisis. The many ambitious plans that tried to recapture an illustrious past, were bogged down by endless discussion, and eventually ended up in the city's archive. These plans were in reality practically impossible to realize or only partially completed and quickly outdated. It soon became obvious that the last thing Zandvoort really needed was another new plan.
By studying how the boulevard was used and by interviewing inhabitants and visitors, Buro Boulevards' aim was to find out what inhabitants and visitors thought of the current boulevard and what improvements they thought it needed. Inhabitants gave much insight into what it was like living in an area upon which every two years a new grand master plan was projected and the uncertainty that came along with this. Visitors were quick to point out the the many qualities that Zandvoort and its boulevard does have.
The results of this research project were then presented in form of an urban plan that covered the the large square on the boulevard.
This urban plan visualizes the most characteristic proposals and quotes from the interviews with inhabitants and visitors. These proposals were combined with citations from the many municipal rapports and development plans. The alternative plan essentially became a self portrait of the struggle to regain the lost allure, a portrait of a costal town that is continuously trying to redefine its identity and compete with the many other developing costal cities.
For three weeks the square was over taken by a group of street painters, in order to produce a plan of roughly 27 x 50 meters. The painting illustrates the many functions the square and boulevard could have or have had, but for various reasons were never realized.
Buro Boulevard is an art project by Jeanne van Heeswijk and Francois Lombarts, in co-operarion with Nadia Troeman, Annet van Otterloo, Marion Ruthardt and Gregor Wosik. The project was part of the Noord-Holland Biennale 2010 and was supported by the ctiy of Zandvoort, De Kat, Lou Koper, Provincie Noord-Holland, Mondriaan Stichting, VSB Fonds, Stimuleringfonds voor Architectuur, and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfond Noord-Holland.
