De Huistuinen is a proposal for urban planning that is not primarily rooted in the design of buildings but in the space in between the built volumes. This plan (‘the house gardens’) departs from the former but today abandoned Tilburg gardens as the true hidden treasures within the historically grown city centre weave.
The plan features exceptionally deep gardens (up to 55m and more) in an open and flexible structure – the entire site is designed literally as the inversion of the building block. The Tilburg gardens are the principal design tool. The borders of the plots are formed by lavish plantings instead of hard building facades. Strolling through the site that is connected to a network of hidden paths through Tilburg’s city center will be like a walk in a park. (Jury comment: “The charm of the proposal [are] the large private gardens […]”)
Project type: open competition
Commissioned by: Europan Nederland 7
Location: Tilburg (NL)
Date: 2005