Gardens of Joy
For many centuries wars were fought in order to extend or protect country borders. After WWII the construction of the European Road Network (E-roads) has been the start for a shift from a nationalistic towards a integrated mentality. As such the infrastructure of the E-roads played a crucial role in the construction of the European Union. Besides being the European economic backbone the E-roads are also envisioned as the streets of Europe: along them culture and identity is carried out.
With the decree of Schengen the borders were opened and free transport of goods and people was established. This made the former border posts between the EU-countries useless.
Therefore these places at the crossing of the road network and the borderlines are nowadays symbolic for the history and future of Europe. These are the ideal places to build a monument for Europe.
We propose to turn the highway in a circle around the border posts, the road is lifted up into a large-scale roundabout. This model can easily be adapted to speed limitations and specific parameters of all sites.
On the roundabout drivers experience a panoramic view both on the landscape of Europe and on the former border-site in the middle. The experience becomes also audible by driving over raised-profile markings applied to the road. The vibration of the tires over the ribs produces the sounds Beethoven’s Hymn of Joy.
After the construction of the roundabout, the asphalt on the former border site becomes useless and is scraped off in order to make the site empty. The pieces of asphalt are then loaded on trucks and carried around Europe in a big, joyful procession leading to all other border posts. At arrival the pieces are piled up as to become a cairn of asphalt. So eventually every site will have pieces of asphalt from every other site in Europe.
As time goes by all sites will get overgrown with a diversity of plants germinated from seeds stuck in the earth that has travelled along with the asphalt. This long-term process results in the border posts becoming the public gardens of Europe. These gardens symbolize Europe as a unity created by diversity.
In order to preserve the vacant buildings and leftover infrastructure on the site we propose to cover them with a thin layer of bronze. As such they are marked as cultural heritage.
The circumference of the garden is shaped by the rings of columns supporting the roundabout.
Likewise to the ancient stoa, people can reflect and discuss about their experience in the garden and about the future and values of Europe under this colonnade. These moments of contemplation and discussion are accompanied by the beautiful sound of the hymn to joy, caused by the constant flux of travellers on the road between the many different countries of Europe.
(c) SCAVTS
