Building Enschede: A City Re-Creates Itself

by Theo Baart (Contributor)

On May 13, 2000, a large swath of Enschede, an industrial city in the eastern Netherlands, was reduced to rubble by the explosion of a fireworks factory. More than 2000 homes were destroyed. What had been a sleepy neighborhood swiftly became a bustling building site covering an area of more than 475 square yards. In the course of that rebuilding, a raft of initiatives for other parts of the city were launched as well. New facilities including art museums, an opera house, council offices, a hospital and a pop music venue are now underway with architecture firms including MVRDV, Liesbeth van der Pol and Onix. Documentary photographer Theo Baart captures the evolving urban, scenic and architectural world of Enschede from the panoramic landscapes at the edge of the town to the city center.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Theo Baart photographs cities and its surrounding landscapes. He is interested in the friction between urban planning and the spontaneous spatial dynamics. How does our environment look like and what does that say about us? He answers these questions with his projects.