Feeling for the region

Rijkswaterstaat (the Ministry of Public Works & Waterways) is going to broaden the A1 motorway between Apeldoorn and junction Azelo. In order to properly integrate the route, an integration vision has been drawn up in which the motorway is connected to the region. By paying attention to local characteristics and cultural-historical elements alongside the route, the motorway users will never have to wonder where they are. One of today's icons in the Twente region is the so-called Twente Viaduct, a viaduct at Holten, on the border of Salland and Twente. Rijkswaterstaat wants to know how the orientation on the transition from the Salland to the Twente region can be strengthened and what characteristic elements could mark this regional transition in a future-proof way. With this process, Rijkswaterstaat wants to put the project in a positive daylight for a larger audience and give the residents of Twente a sense of pride and ownership.

THE TWENTE VIADUCT AS ICONIC GATEWAY TO TWENTE

By organising an interactive workshop for well- and lesser-known inhabitants of Twente, we have jointly developed an idea-book for this particular viaduct. The workshop started in the Hazemeijer complex in Hengelo with a joint search for the identity of Twente. The participants each brought something which symbolised Twente for them and subsequently, in a creative way, this collected Twente identity was translated into concrete interventions on and around the viaduct. After the workshop, these interventions have been brought together in the idea-book, in the form of three sample implementations:

• Icons in the landscape
• The innovation showcase
• Twente Pride