# Interaction Between the Elements by Rietveld Landscape

Interaction Between the Elements is a beautiful project by dutch office Rietveld Landscape (Grand Prix de Rome 2006) which attempt to save a North Sea island, Terschelling from a massive flooding.
The project proposes to create multiple dunes by introducing hundreds of stakes in the ground which would recover the sand freed from vegetation and carried by the wind.
Here is the introduction text:

Interaction between the elements

Rising sea levels are posing a threat to Terschelling, a North Sea island and UNESCO monument. In 2008, a report addressing this threat appeared, and Rietveld Landscape was asked to advise on the opportunities offered by the report. According to Rietveld Landscape’s vision, the symbiosis between human activity and impressive natural processes accounts for Terschelling’s attraction to inhabitants and outsiders alike – a fact that should guide all attempts at dealing with the rising of the sea level.

Because it is impossible to predict with sufficient certainty when the sea will have what level, flexible strategies for East- and West-Terschelling are needed: interventions that follow the movement of the water and can be adjusted through time. The activity of a huge drifting dune will be stimulated by removing its current vegetation, and the power of the wind will be used to transport its sand. In this way, the growth of the island will outpace the rising of the sea level.

Although the proposed interventions have been designed specifically for Terschelling, the strategy informing it can be exported to other islands in the North Sea that are threatened by the sea in a similar manner. Read more >>>

Client: Atelier Fryslan
Designers: Rietveld Landscape
In collaboration with Deltares
Location: Boschplaat Terschelling
Status: vision 2009