How can I describe the multitude? How can I put this world in words? How can I give an account of every single wisp of grass, of the mutable flow of trucks and trains, of the dust, of the roosters singing randomly, of everything that cannot afford a moment of motionlessness or silence. Maybe I am now describing what Rood|Noot is by talking about what I cannot even describe.
The fact is that I cannot describe what is always changing.
This character of Rood|Noot as a dynamic space can be analyzed from pohenomenology and the persective of the so-called non-representational theory, which has been developed by authors such as Nigel Thrift. The shift from a representational way of looking at space to a non-representational point of view implies that the world is not considered as being static anymore, but dynamic. What is dynamic cannot be totally captured in a single picture, in a single description or in a sigle recording. It cannot be represented. Everything is always happening, even space. Space, then, is not an absolute and motionless category anymore. It is rather a flowing landscape that includes in its own existence all the events that are constantly taking place. As maintained by Bernard Tschumi in his book Architecture and Disjunction (1996), "there is no space without event" (39). This eventness typical of space makes it possible to talk about it in terms of movement. Space is happening. Therefore, this non-representational and dynamic point of view concerning space implies that places are not passive entities that merely exist or contain things. Space itself becomes something that is in a perpetual state of becoming. It is a performance. Space does things. It is productive.
Rood|Noot is an event. Changes are obvious today (more then ever). The expansion of the new district of Utrecht (Leidsche Rijn) is producing a change in the horizon. What a person used to see when looking at the surroundings of Rood|Noot is over. Then, what is the purpose of making a description of this landscape? A description only creates the ilusion of the immutable. However, it also brings something that is crucial for the development of space: the subjective point of view of each of us. A description reveals the way we look at things. And how we look at things also determines the way we relate to them. What is more, descriptions, as well as drawings, can also help us to focus on what we are looking at. So, it makes no sense to post my own description, does it? It is the responsibility of all of us to come here and look. It is up to us to choose our point of view, our perspective in order to articulate a discourse about Rood|Noot.
Due to the impossibility of achieving an objective description of Rood|Noot, I have created a series of subjective images and representations (maps, pictures, drawings, videos) in order to look at space of Rood|Noot.
SURROUNDINGS OF ROOD|NOOT
PERIMETER OF ROOD|NOOT
INSIDE THE PERIMETER OF ROOD|NOOT
COORDINATES - INSTRUCTIONS TO FIND YOURSELF IN ROOD|NOOT
INSIDE THE BUILDINGS
LOOKING AT THE OUTSIDE FROM THE INSIDE - THROUGH WINDOWS
DETAILS FROM INSIDE
OK... I WILL TRY TO DO IT: AN ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE ROOD|NOOT
Rood|Noot is a farm. However, you do not realise it until you are inside. So, I would better say that Rood|Noot is a group of old buildings made of bricks and wood. It is surrounded by a canal, a road, a bike lane, the train tracks and all the machinery needed for the development of the new district of Utrecht, Leidsche Rijn. Rood|Noot is placed in the middle of a hollow, a geographic depression that makes everything else in the area stand above it. To get into the farm, you need to open the doors of a fence where both words "rood" and "noot" are written in red letters. And you must not forget to close the doors after having got into the space so that animals do not scape.
The heart of the space consists of the 'street' that lies between the two main gabled two-storey houses.
Plants, artists, workers, bikes, cars, machines, computers, hens, roosters, lambs sheep, visitors, cats, people coming from the municipality of Utrecht in order to check if everything is alright, children, ponies, trees, and flowers inhabit this space.
There is also a garden full of green grass which contains a handmade wooden porch. You can take a shower in the garden by using the hose.
There is also a piece of land where ponies can run with the background of the Leidsche Rijn works behind them.
There is also an stable, and a fenced area for animals. However, hens have conquered all the space. You can find an egg wherever, even under a cat (true story).
There is also a wooden table in front of the piece of land where ponies can run. This table is sometimes used for having lunch when the weather allows it. When it is sunny and warm.
The kitchen is the social space par excellence. One cannot simply get into the kitchen without taking a cup of coffee or tea. Or both.
The toilet is always cold, with a window that remains perpetually open. You must decide whether it is worth taking the risk of catching a cold or you can really wait until you arrive at home to pee.
Peter's blue car is always parked in the same place: in front of the window through which he is used to looking at the outside when working.
The inside of the buildings is chaotic: the present and the past overlap. Peeling walls, broken pianos that still work, metal heaters (indispensable for cold days).
You can sleep here, there is a great amount of blankets and mattresses.
The stage that is used for performances also contains machinery.
The soundscape consists of trucks, cars and trains passing by and also the song of birds, the neigh of ponies, the bleating of sheep and the words of humans.
There is a bath full of flowers.
Borders do not exist. Rood|Noot does not end until you are far away from here. The sounds come into this space from the surrounding area, but sounds also spread outside Rood|Noot and die in the civilized world made of artificial noises. There is a perpetual exchange of smells. Peter's stews and Wout's soups imbue the atmosphere with delicious aromas that make one forget the smell of the asphalt.
This is not an accurate description. Neither was it my intention to achieve an objective point of view. This is rather a number of images and sensuous perceptions that you can find here (or not).
Plants, artists, workers, bikes, cars, machines, computers, hens, roosters, lambs sheep, visitors, cats, people coming from the municipality of Utrecht in order to check if everything is alright, children, ponies, trees, and flowers inhabit this space.
There is also a garden full of green grass which contains a handmade wooden porch. You can take a shower in the garden by using the hose.
There is also a piece of land where ponies can run with the background of the Leidsche Rijn works behind them.
There is also an stable, and a fenced area for animals. However, hens have conquered all the space. You can find an egg wherever, even under a cat (true story).
There is also a wooden table in front of the piece of land where ponies can run. This table is sometimes used for having lunch when the weather allows it. When it is sunny and warm.
The kitchen is the social space par excellence. One cannot simply get into the kitchen without taking a cup of coffee or tea. Or both.
The toilet is always cold, with a window that remains perpetually open. You must decide whether it is worth taking the risk of catching a cold or you can really wait until you arrive at home to pee.
Peter's blue car is always parked in the same place: in front of the window through which he is used to looking at the outside when working.
The inside of the buildings is chaotic: the present and the past overlap. Peeling walls, broken pianos that still work, metal heaters (indispensable for cold days).
You can sleep here, there is a great amount of blankets and mattresses.
The stage that is used for performances also contains machinery.
The soundscape consists of trucks, cars and trains passing by and also the song of birds, the neigh of ponies, the bleating of sheep and the words of humans.
There is a bath full of flowers.
Borders do not exist. Rood|Noot does not end until you are far away from here. The sounds come into this space from the surrounding area, but sounds also spread outside Rood|Noot and die in the civilized world made of artificial noises. There is a perpetual exchange of smells. Peter's stews and Wout's soups imbue the atmosphere with delicious aromas that make one forget the smell of the asphalt.
This is not an accurate description. Neither was it my intention to achieve an objective point of view. This is rather a number of images and sensuous perceptions that you can find here (or not).