It Goddeloas Fiersicht by NEXT Architects

As a ground drilling through time, the landmark "It Goddeloas Fiersicht" connects past and present to give visitors a new perspective on the landscape.

Architect: NEXT Architects
Client: Provincie Frislân / Projectbureau De Centrale As
Location: Friesland, the Netherlands
Year: 2018
Team: Bart Reuser, Marijn Schenk, Michel Schreinemachers with Wiebe Strick, Mark Jongerius, Klaas van Olphen, Geert Durk de Jong, Douwe Strating, Stelios Polyviou, Eilish Camplisson and Marta Lata
Collaborator: Paul Edens
Main contractor: G. de Haan & Zn
Contractor: Noppert Beton
Advisor construction: Bouw-Construct (Jan Wielenga)
Advisor ecology: ALTENBURG&WYMENGA (Eddy Wymenga)
Photography: Sander Foederer

From the architect: The landmark’s name appeals to the imagination and derives from the name of the historic path where it is located: ‘It Goddeloas Fiersicht’ means the wicked path in the native local Frisian language. It was built in 1453 as a monastery path between Dokkum and Drachten. In the Middle Ages, this path was used by monks as a safe trade route through the area. Now it is an important recreational route in the national landscape the Noardelike Fryske Wâlden. It is along this route that the landmark ‘It Goddeloas Fiersicht’ by NEXT architects is realized in collaboration with the visual artist Paul Edens and as part of the De Centrale As.

The landscape of the Noardelike Fryske Wâlden was formed by the ice ages. Taking this fact as a starting point for the design, the landmark brings the old ground level back through a ground drilling back in time, build up of layers of soil. It is a ground drilling of 5 to 7 meters NAP+. A place for the largest boulder that was found during the construction works for De Centrale As.

The landmark stands on a mound and functions as a viewpoint. In a tower, a staircase circles upwards. At the top is a plateau that can accommodate a number of people. Here visitors can have a view of the Noardlike Fryske Wâlden on one side, and of a boulder lying on the ‘ground level’ on the other.

The landmark It Goddeloas Fiersicht is a mystical space that connects nature, geology, ecology and history in a poetic way.

It Goddeloas Fiersicht is part of De Centrale As and was created after a workshop with the Association of Residents of Broeksterwoude, De Falom and Feanwâlden, the Forestry Commission, Sanjeszoo and stakeholders from the Province of Friesland and the municipality Dantumadiel.

De Centrale As (N356) is a new 24-km road in the Dutch province of Friesland. In commission of the Province of Friesland, NEXT architects and H+N+S Landschape Architects were closely involved in the realisation process, the integral vision for the design and insertion of the road, artworks, (bicycle) bridges, ecological passages, and for drawing the landscape and planting plan.

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