|
|||||||
|
Theo Baart Territory Bound, illustrated (colour, duotone), 144 pages, size: 26 x 23 cm
Five years ago, the celebrated Dutch photographer Theo Baart (Snelweg/Highways in the Netherlands, 1996; Bouwlust, 1999; Atlas of Change, 2000) moved from the center of Amsterdam to Amsterdam Southeast, to an area known as the Bijlmermeer. Designed in accordance with modernist urban planning principles, with a lot of high-rise flats in a park-like setting, the Bijlmer experiment in social engineering was quickly overtaken by reality and the Bijlmer became notorious for its intractable social problems and exceptionally high crime rate. A mammoth, fifteen-year regeneration scheme (1992 - 2009) is set to change all that. Much of the existing high-rise is being replaced by less anonymous neighbourhoods of low-rise. It is here that Theo Baart and his family settled. Since their relocation, Baart has photographed the gradual transformation of an area of the Bijlmer defined by the radius of action of his two school-age children. Baart's interviews with his neighbours, discussions with policymakers and his superb photography provide a fascinating insight into the regeneration process currently taking place in the Bijlmer. |
|||||||
|
|||||||
