Strubben Kniphorstbosch

Strubben Kniphorstbosch, a woodland and heathland in the catchment area of the Drentsche River Aa, is by far the largest archaeological monument of the Netherlands. As a result of continuous settlement during more than five thousand years, the area abounds in archaeological, historico-geographical and historico-ecological features. which to a large extent are visible. Until now the area has been managed as a nature reserve and military training terrain, which saved it from agricultural reclamation and explains why the layout was rugged with a great deal of forest.

Recently, the Strubben Kniphorstbosch area passed into the hands of the Dutch Forestry Commission, who decided to work on a development and maintenance plan. The aim of this plan was to combine nature conservation and the protection of heritage in a contemporary architectural design.

A unique feature of the area is the strubben: strangely shaped oaks that grew when the area was still a heath and was intensively grazed by sheep. The sheep stripped the young oaks of their leaves, resulting in what most resemble bonsai oaks, which had great difficulty in surviving. In spite of the sheep terror, some of the oaks managed to develop into mature trees. The peculiar shape of the large trees is a memory of their difficult youth. With the drop in intensity of grazing on the heath in the course of the 20th century, the old trees have gradually been taken over by young spontaneous growth. One of the measures adopted in the design is to free the old trees so that they can be admired again in all their glory. The proposed interventions bring about extremely rich ecological gradients of a closed, half-open and open landscape. Furthermore, rare species will be given plenty of new opportunities in the proposed interventions. This will also be dramatized by the differences between nature and cultivation. Grazing sheep will ensure that the open sections of the planning area remain that way and do not become clogged up again.

The resulting development and management plan focuses on the landscape scenery. The design enhances the contrast between the non-reclaimed landscapes (north / south), and the rationally organized reclamation landscape in the centre of the planning area. The plan seizes the opportunities to increase the visibility and the spatial coherence between the traces from the past, enabling visitors to be impressed by the overwhelming amount of historical material in this sublime landscape.