In this section we will illustrate the process of landscape design more into detail with the the case of Nijmegen-Lent in the Netherlands. This project is one of the largest and most awe-inspiring of the projects being realized within the framework of Rijkswaterstaat’s national Room for the River flood risk management program.

Below, we will first have a trailer about the project with a very nice graphical representation showing the changes that had to be made to the Waal river near Nijmegen and Lent. After that, professor Dirk Sijmons will give a further introduction to this case study and explain the basic and starting points. Consequently, we will have an interview with landscape architect Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze who was the chief designer of the project.

In the video in section 2.2, a graphical video was presented on the dike relocation of the Nijmegen-Lent. This video is also applicable in this section. If you do not remember the video, you can rewatch it here. However now, we are going to move from the graphical world to the real world. In the next video professor Sijmons will show the situation of Nijmegen and Lent as it pertained to reality. Furthermore, landscape architect Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze is introduced.

In the video below the professor Sijmons interviews Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze on the dike relocation in relation to the design of the dike and secondary channel. They agreed to do the video in Dutch. However, the English subtitles in combination with the slideshow still gives nice in-depth insights in the transformation of the Nijmegen-Lent riverine environment and the considerations a landscape architect has when designing.

Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze showed us that designing is a subtle art, and the devil is in the details. The case study for this module is the Aire river in France. The designers of the Aire riverine area took inspiration from other projects that had been done elsewhere in the world and applied the same mechanisms there, taking into account their own considerations.