Roads and connections hold a city together. Just as we look at a painting by standing in front of it and see a sculpture by looking at it from all sides, we experience a city by moving through it. Impressions and images string themselves together to form the story of the city. The roads are a mirror of society.
In this way, Paris shows a hierarchical social identity. Boulevards make a strong distinction between the churches, palaces and monuments and the buildings that serve them, such as soldiers to their superior. The labyrinth of alleys, canals and squares makes Venice a close-knit city. New York is libertine and open by straight streets without end. And Los Angeles for a European, but difficult to comprehend as a car city in which exercise takes precedence over staying.
What would a bicycle metropolis look like? A naïve world according to Bert Haanstra? Paragon of Brussels sprout air and prudish practices, accustomed as we are to noise and exhaust fumes and adapted to conflicts and unrest?
But suppose that the cyclist does not represent a decline but futurism. That cycle paths become wider than lanes to provide space for all types of cyclists. That distances change because cyclists go twice as fast. That a green wave is set up for two-wheelers. That you can almost ride your bike into the train. That the streets will soon be empty because parked cars are stored self-driving? That bicycle streets become the norm and cars become guests in the city.
It would be something and soon the time will come!
The RAP Architecture Week envisions Hart van Holland as the first cycling metropolis. With a compass point on the Willibrord roundabout in Oegstgeest, the entire region is within a radius of 7.5 km. 400,000 inhabitants criss-cross home from school. From supermarket to sports club, from beach to theater. The region is richly varied, landscape-diverse. The best of the Randstad at your fingertips. Multipolar, a network. What a powerful perspective it would be if this network is fed by cyclists instead of cars. Convenience instead of congestion. Interactive instead of locked up
The RAP Architecture Week wants to get everyone excited about the idea of the bicycle that holds everything together. It describes the trends that take place in the field of cycling and bicycle use. The bottlenecks between bicycles and other road users are investigated. Experiments are being conducted with new privileges for the bicycle. And of course our beautiful region is explored by bike.
Henk Hartzema, curator statement, Architectuurweek RAP, January 2018
