Anne Mieke Backer, Monument voor een woningwetwoning (Monument for a Housing Act Home, 1981-1992)
In spite of the spacious polder, a high number of small houses were built quickly and nearby each other. The search for human standards, a recurring theme in the work of Anne Mieke Backer, was and still is very current in the polder.
In 1981, a special artwork was realized on a small island in the lake Leeghwaterplas in Almere Stad. Buxaceae and Field Maples formed the plans of a 1-person flat and the ground- and first floor of a family home. The size was based on the regulations set by the Housing Act. Anne Mieke Backer, the artist behind the work, has experimented before with houses made of living construction material, but never in this form. The plans of houses that were subsidized by the government – houses that were used to built Almere with in a short period of time – were closely connected to this area.
Confrontation between living construction materials and architecture
In the seventies, just after graduating from the art academy in Enschede, Anne Mieke Backer searched for resources to realize her living houses herself. The Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work recommended her project besides other designs for the art project Beelden Buiten ’76 (Sculptures Outside ’76) and was chosen for realization by RIJP. Architecture and the living construction materials were being confronted within the artwork: “The point is to plant, slip, prune, group and support a great number of trees in such a way that they become houses. This means livable forms, houses that refer to bowers. The designs aim to keep the construction material alive”.
The buxaceae, an easily manipulated plant with small leaves that grow closely together, would not get the change to grow naturally, but would be pruned according to the strict regulations of the Housing Act. Besides the walls, they would also form the furniture. After signing the project over to the municipality of Almere, these maintenance tasks unfortunately were not performed and the original plans barely exist today. Eventually it was decided that the trees should no longer be considered as art.
Doubtful monument
The artwork was again realized in 1992 besides the Muiderweg, between Almere-Haven and Almere-Stad. Backer didn’t choose for new development of the old housing, but based her new design on the smallest Housing Act home that was built in the Korn- and Oldewierde in Almere-Haven. To ensure that this artwork will not dilapidate, the Society of the Living House was started, which takes care of the maintenance. Now the buxaceae no longer outgrows the walls and furniture. Even though the project is a beautiful piece of art, it remains a doubtful monument. The landscape that surrounds the project shows how small the surface of these minimal houses is in which people have to live; how small the space is that has been regulated by the Housing Act.
Annick Kleizen
Anne Mieke Backer
Surabaja, Indonesië (1950)
Monument voor een woningwetwoning (Monument for a Housing Act Home, 1981-1992)
Buxus
Dimensions: 6,64 x 9,08 meter
Location: Almere Haven, Muiderweg
De Collectie Almere / Museum De Paviljoens
Contributions
CiskaComments
Edwin
