The city of Antwerp part 2: the expansion of religious institutions and the city

The triangularly shaped first city of Antwerp initially had a clear functional separation between the inner burgh with the domanial church, ducal residence, clerical house of refuge and the market next to the wharf. The outer burgh functioned as a subsidiary settlement with houses, shops, public houses and workshops. As the stronghold increased in importance, so did the number of residents. Increased demand lead to increasing costs and as such to the erection of buildings along mayor roads outside of the city moats.

As the parish church of the city wasn't located within the city -the domanial church was for the use of the overlord only- but as some distance at Caloes a small Romanesque chapel was erected on a slight elevation directly adjacent to the city moat. This chapel dedicated to Our Dear Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekapel) was built in the second half of the 11th century. In 1124 monastery is founded next to the Church of St Michael at Caloes and also a subsidiary college of canons was created aimed at founding the new city parish of Our Dear Lady. A few years prior -in 1116- the Chapel of St George was built on the edge of the Hopland along the route to Broekzele (now Brussels). The expansion of the religious institutions and foundation of new ones coincided with large scale land reclamation in the Scheldt estuary by raising dykes and thus empoldering sections of the floodplain. The so-called sea dyke north of Antwerp was closed in 1119. This gave the city more potential with a much larger fertile hinterland suitable for food production.

This drawing of the city of Antwerp in its surroundings around 1200 shows the inner burgh (ib) with the domanial Walburgiskerk (W) surrounded by a moat and the outer burg (ob) surrounded by a wide moat comprised of the Suikerrui-Boterrui (1), Kaasrui (2), Achterrui (later Minderbroedersrui - 3) and Koolvliet (4).Directly south of the city stands the Chapel of Our Dear Lady (L), the Elizabeth Hospital (E) on the edge of 't Zand (z). The Groenendal (Green Vale - g) separates this higher ground from the higher ground beyond and has had a water course dug trough it to drain the Meir swamp an better regulate a log watering pond known as Houtmeer (H). On the edge of the higher ground of Caloes (c) stands the Abbey of St Michael (M) and on the edge of the Elst stands the Chapel of St George (G). North of the city a winding dyke (d) links the higher ground of Kattenberg (k) across the Blauwbroek (b) with the city and secures the former floodplain of the Schijn river (s) as a new polder.

As a result the riverside stronghold or inner burgh is strengthened around 1200. The wood-built ducal residence is rebuilt as a stone keep known as 't Steen (literally the Stone) and work starts on replacing the earth banks with paling by a high brick wall. The urban area is also expanded southwards by excavating a new moat (Vest in Dutch) between 1201 and 1216. In 1204 the Hospital of St Elizabeth (Sint Elisabethgasthuis) is founded on an oblong piece of land near the Chapel of Our Dear Lady. This is followed in 1220 by the designation of a large field within the moat of the outer burgh as the forum novum or market place.  In 1221 Antwerp receives city rights from Henry I duke of Brabant, margrave of Antwerp and a city freedom was established over which a council of 12 aldermen would rule. These city rights in part affirmed the position of the existing urban settlement, but also importantly freed the residents from feudal law, established urban law and gave the city the right to demarcate the city limits. 

Between 1243 and 1250 the domains of Kraaiwijk, Dries, Leguit and Lisgat to the north of the city are drained and surrounded by a moat. An existing tidal inlet is appropriated by dredging as the new harbour as St Pietervliet (St Peter's Fleet). This harbour basin forms part of the new city moat on the north side.

The city of Antwerp around 1250 still consists of an inner burgh, now fortified with a wall (shown in red) and a larger outer burg that has been secured by a moat and a wall between the several city gates: St Janspoort (P1), Kammerpoort (P2), Meirpoort (P3), Kathelijnepoort (P4), Wijngaardpoort (P5) and Koepoort (P6). The irregular outline on the north side arose as a result of the inclusion of Kraaiwijk (1), den Dries (2), Leguit (3) and 't Lisgat (4).

The city rights bestowed on the outer burgh lead to the foundation of many new institutions such as the Cloth Hall (Lakenhalle - 1226), Asylum for the Sick (Ter Siecken - 1231) outside the moat, Shipping House (Scheepshuis - 1240), Monastery of the Dominican Order of Preachers (Predikherenklooster - 1243), Court Beguinages Mount Sion (Begijnhof Berg Sion - 1245), Meat Hall (Vleeshuis - 1250), Church of St Willibrord (1264) in the Hoogveld outside the moat, Dominican Church (Predikherenkerk - 1276), Convent of St Margaret's Vale (Klooster St Margrietendal - 1280) outside the moat and the so-called Giants House the seat of the Teutonic Knights (Reuzenhuis der Duitse Orde - 1284) within the inner burgh. 

The city of Antwerp at the end of the thirteenth century has definitively broken the confines of the inner burgh. There the so-called Reuzenhuis (Giants House - R) is built not far from the ducal residence 't Steen (S). Next to the inner burgh the Vleeshuis (V) was built. At the end of the new market (m) the Lakenhalle (L) was erected. Further south around the parish church of Our Dear Lady (C) the Koornmarkt (Corn Market - m2) and Veemarkt (Cattle Market - m3) were located. The Monastery of the Dominican Preachers (P) was built across the former moat. Outside the gates lay two villages named Kipdorp (Kd) and Klapdorp (Kl) respectively. Towards the Abbey of ST Michael (A) a small suburb was forming. Beyond the waterlogged meadows a religious cluster with the Hospital of St Elisabeth (H), Chapel of St George (G) and Court Beguinages (B) stood along a main thoroughfare.

City Craft Event, powered by: Rezone

Last week I attended a seminar in Tilburg that focused on the possibilities of gamification for regional development. The presentations were aimed at exploring how playing games (or better: interaction through game-play) can redirect the planning process and the decision-making process of regional development and deliver alternatives for top-down planning.

The event was prompted by the arrival in Tilburg of the travelling exhibition MozaïekBrabant which incorporates Carpet Metropolis Brabant City (although Tapestry Metropolis would have been a better translation of Tapijtmetropool) a vision of the future of the urban landscape as a mosaic of functions and possibilities literally woven into a large carpet.

As was clear during earlier events by Rezone, game-play is useful as a tool in negotiating development processes and organising participation. All spatial development games revolved around organising stakeholder wishes and creating insight into the spatial and functional effects of certain choices (through simulation and role-playing devices). The games varied from very low-tech (Simlandscape) to high-tech (Rezone the Game) and from organising the decision making process (Play the City and The Making Of), channelling initiatives (SpoorLoos) to organising awareness and participation (Leve de Krimp and Enercities).

Most games were directed towards urban redevelopment and urban infill projects. So here regional planning was the framework that these project functioned within as the issues were of a lesser scale. Especially Leve de Krimp truly had a regional focus as it is aimed at translating and simulating the effects of population decrease combined with an ageing population and shifts in employment opportunities away from low-skilled industrial and agricultural work.

I was very impressed with the SpoorLoos board game (on the left) that coupled an attractive design with an interesting game play. The game is centred around an inner-city brown field site along the railway. Rezone the Game (shown in the middle) is played against a computer and is mainly concerned with buildings that stand empty. These can be former industrial sites, factories, schools, office blocks and blocks of flats. The game Play the City had a lovely design (as can be seen on the right) and seems to be a very useful and fun way of organising participation in an open-ended planning process.

The city of Antwerp part 1: the expansion of a riverside stronghold

The fertile soils in the Scheldt-estuary drew in people from prehistoric times. We know little about their settlements. Some evidence of encampments have been found on higher ground (on so-called donken) safe from flooding. At the site of the present city of Antwerp there is evidence of Celtic settlements on two such donken from the first century AD. The first reference to Antwerp dates from 692 as Antwerpum and concerns the missionary stronghold on the edge of the large donk* of Caloes (now known as 't Kiel). In 836 the Vikings raid and destroy the settlements of Caloes, Antverpia and Theurne and erect a new ringfort at the site of Antverpia. In 880 the settlement is described as a vicus (i.e. a non-military, trade settlement).

 Around 950 after his defeat of the Danes the German King Otto the Great imposes a treaty on the Vikings, changing their stronghold into an important fortress on the edge of the kingdom. Within the existing ringfort with earthen ramparts and a paling the imperial seat is built within the stronghold known as burcht. In 980 work starts on erecting an imperial chapel dedicated to St Walburga. The Vikings are employed to guard this 2.5 ha stronghold on the Scheldt. On the landside of this fortress a civil settlement springs up on another donk called Koraalberg. An area of 19 ha is enclosed by diverting arms of the stream called 't Schijn into canals around the settlement. This first settlement is also known as the Ruienstad, a name that refers to the city moats that are known as ruien in the southern Netherlands. The word rui is derived from both ree (borderline) and rei (canal or wide ditch). The city is surrounded by earth banks, as is evident in the street names Grote Goddaard and Kleine Goddaard  that run parallel to the first outer moat. Goddaard can be traced back to gord-aard meaning an encircling earth bank. On the outside of this earth bank a moat with bridges was excavated and a palisade was erected on top of the bank.  

The underlying natural landscape of Antwerp with 4 small 'donken' and a large one that is more aptly known as a 'height island'. The former ringfort and later burgh are located on one such donk (also known as Guldenberg - G). Adjacent lay two alluvial banks known as Werft (w) and Berderenwerf (b). The neighbouring donk Koraalberg was occupied and later formed the heart of the first  city of Antwerp. This long ridge was later named as three separate entities: Visberg (V), Bloedberg (B) and Coppennol (N).Close to this central elevation are two more such donken 't Zand (Z - literally the Sands) to the south and Kauwenberg (K) further east. Beyond we see the height islands of Caloes (C), Hoogveld (H) and Hopland (h). In between these higher points in the riparian landscape that are above the highest level of seasonal flooding lie the marshlands such as Valkenbroek or Falconbroek (f), Meir, (m) and Elst (e).

The older settlement of Caloes destroyed by the Vikings was located some 1000m south of the imperial castle, directly south of the new city moat. Around 1100 the area within the ruien is becoming overcrowded. Beyond the moat, along the roads leading to the bridges many buildings had been erected. These buildings ranged from inns and brothels to farms, houses, workshops, smithies and monastic compounds. The parochial church of the civic settlement was the Church of St Michael outside of the city moats at Caloes. In 1124 a second college of canons had been founded directly next to the ruienstad. Here the Church of Our Lady would be built after the area around it had been annexed to expand the city.

The city of Antwerp around 1100 was divided in an binnenborch (inner burgh) and buitenborch (outer burgh) that were both secured by a moat and an earth bank with paling. The binnenborch coincides with the former ringfort and is surrounded by the Dilft (D), a cognate of 'delft' and thus an excavated watercourse. The buitenborch is surrounded by a moat that included parts of natural tidal inlets that were excavated to for the Suikerrui (S) and the Koolvliet (K). This moat is spanned by severall bridges: Broodbrug (B1), Reinoldsbrug (B2), Wijngaardbrug (B3) and Koebrug (B4). The Schijn river is connected to the city moat in the north (3). The city is situated on several natural elevations, i.e. Guldenberg (G), Bloedberg (B), Vischberg (V) and Coppenol (C). At this point in time all the typically urban institutions are located within the 'inner burgh' of which the domanial Church of St Walburga (W) and Hertogshuis (H) -the ducal residence- were the most important. These led to the foundation of the Fish Market (1), Stone Gate (2), Vierschaar (the tribunal of sheriffs and bailiffs - 4), Refuge of Affligem Abbey (5), Reuzenhuis (the seat of the Teutonic Knights - 6) and Werft (the wharf - 7). The red lines indicate the former ringfort.

* The word donk only exists in Dutch and German and is used for a typical land form of a stable elevation, often sandy, in either wet and swampy terrain or near a river and above the normal level of seasonal flooding.

Going nuts

Most tree seeds are small, some however are very large and very heavy. We know these seeds as nuts. These heavy tree seeds often rely on animals for dispersal, only a handful are buoyant and can be carried away by water. Most of the nuts also need to be buried for optimal germination. The Jay burying acorns in winter caches is a well known example. Recent strong winds blew most of the nuts down from the trees. These now litter the pavements and roads. In some places Jackdaws gather by the roadside to feast on the nuts cracked by passing traffic. They are truly crafty little corvids!

Corylus colurna, the Turkish hazel (left) produces clusters of bristly husks with small very hard nuts. Acorns are easily recognisable for most people. In the middle some acorns of one of the American Red Oaks (Quercus rubra or Q. coccinea) with their little flat caps. The Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) produces large conkers with highly toxic seeds. Only deer can safely eat these nuts; despite the name they are poisonous to horses. The name Horse chestnut actually refers to the leaf marks that resemble a horseshoe.

City in Motion: GLOW 2014

In a mass of people, surrounded by Belgians and Italians, I visited the GLOW festival again this year. This ninth edition has the theme Stad in Beweging (City in Motion) and comprises of 20 light art installations and performances scattered around the city centre of Eindhoven. No less than 650,000 people attended GLOW this year, a record number!

The art work 'L'Amore non fa rumore' by Luca Pannoli consists of a collection of luminous traffic signs and advertising displays, completely integrated in the background of the urban environment. The artist has reworked the signs and logos, thus undermining their meaning.

The performance art on the Church of St Catherine is a major attraction year after year. This year saw the performance of 'The enchanted cathedral and the seasons' by Ad Lib Creations with Christian Gimat.

'Spidron Mapping' by Bordos.Artworks is an art installation that combines 3D light projections and music.

The official route starts at the Schellensfabriek a former textile factory where there is a café, a restaurant and several exhibits as GLOW side events. Here, 19 up-and-coming designers and artists, nominated for the Foederer Talent Award 2014, show their work. Each one has in their own way interpreted the theme of light. A large number of mannequins crowd the courtyard  and change their character with the changing lights (left). A desolate winter landscape with birches is presented in a box of see-through mirrors (middle). 'Feeling light headed' is the cheeky title of this art school student's work (right).

No less than 2000 group-five and group-seven children from all primary schools in Eindhoven have contributed to this year’s GLOW for Kids project, ‘Glowing in the Wind'. Each child created a small work. These are combined into panels that are top lit and suspended from a structure that snakes through the public garden at the site of the former Mignot & De Block cigar factory.

'Zero Hidrográfico' by Gisela Motta and Leandro Lima is showcased in the abandoned VDMA factory buildings and mimics the movement of the sea. 'Ancora una volta' by Valerio Berruti, could be mistaken for festive seasonal lighting from a distance. In fact the work consists of 10 panels of lights showing a boy making a 'salto' (a jump) that span the Dommelstraat.  'Statemachine: a kinetic light sculpture' by Michel Suk transforms the DELA offices into one large piece of sculpture using light.

'Parklaan Flashback' by Les Orpailleurs du Lumière (left and middle) transports the onlooker back to the roaring twenties with musically chimed projections on two opposite industrialists villas on the Parklaan. 'Guardian Angels' by Mario Avrabou and Dimitri Xenakis in front of the Dommelhoef mansion (on the right).

The installation 'Merellaan Glows' by Iris Dijkstra of Atelier Lek in collaboration with the residents of the Merellaan (Black Bird Avenue) express the residents individual occupations. On the banks of the Dommel river 'L'Envol' by Studio Pitaya appears like a flock of radiant origami birds has settled in the trees (shown on the right).