newitalianblood

the 5th Rosa Barba European Landscape Prize, 2008: The design for the RWZI water treatment plant emphasizes its purifying function and industrial character. It is a sensitively designed “working landscape“ where nature meets industry. The landscape concept entails a kilometre long terrain of cylinders graphically merged with plantings of coastal pine and sea buckthorn, which refer to the purification method of water infiltration through dunes specific to the Netherlands. Fences are sharply set back to open the site and return public space to the community. Different grades of limestone hardscape create a visual unity throughout the site, which is rapidly evolving as an ecological oasis for birds, butterflies, and endangered amphibians.