The Groene Loper Campus TU e Eindhoven has been nominated together with two other projects for the Best Public Space Award from the trade magazine Stedelijk Interieur. A jury chaired by Annemieke Fontein, head of landscape architecture at the municipality of Rotterdam, winner of the Award in 2018, selected the nominated plans from around 29 submissions on 27 May 2019. In addition to the Groene Loper, the Pentagon / bicycle parking garage Strawinskylaan in Amsterdam and the Trekvaartzone in Kampen are potential winners of the Award.
On Thursday June 20, 2019, the finalists will pitch at the 15th National Congress Public Space in the Rotterdamse Schouwburg and have the opportunity to answer questions from the jury.
The master plan and design plan for De Groene Loper prepared by MTD landscape architects reinforce the ambition of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) to profile the campus as a "TU / e Science Park with international allure". The university buildings are concentrated in a compact campus and there is room for other programs. The Groene Loper is an important structure carrier within the new style campus and is meant as a "scenic walk". The Groene Loper starts in the far west in the landscape language of the Dommeldal and then connects the main building with the new faculty of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering in the far east. The connecting walk has meaning because entrances to the faculty buildings are located directly on the route and the floor of the Markthal is an integral part of it. The user is central to the Groene Loper; the institution offers all sorts of reasons for use and inspires students, teachers and visitors to meet.
The jury of the Best Public Space Award used three main criteria for the selection; "Functionality", "robustness" and "aesthetics". In her report, she spoke enthusiastically about the master plan and design plan for the Groene Loper: "It is great work to achieve sense of place and intimacy in such a compact space, but we have succeeded". The jury is unanimous about the aesthetic quality of the design, which fits in with the aesthetics of the buildings and thus distinguishes itself. There is a lot of attention for creating a residential climate with good seating.
The professional jury consists of six professionals, each of whom looked at the applications from their own specialism and perspective; Annette Duivenvoorden (Platform 31), Ben Kuipers (landscape architect and chairman of the Dutch Society for Garden and Landscape Architecture), Hans Karssenberg (director-founder STIPO); Peter de Bois (architect and urban planner / Office4UrbanreSearch), Peter de Visser (head of city management for the municipality of Zoetermeer) and Annemieke Fontein (head of landscape architecture for the municipality of Rotterdam).
Plans for public spaces that won the Best Public Space Award in previous years are the Binnenrotte in Rotterdam (2018), the Groene Loper in Breda (2017), Kerckebosch in Zeist (2016), the Kustwerk in Katwijk (2015), the Erasmus Park Rotterdam (2014) and Wilhelminaplein Leeuwarden (2013).
In 2012, another design from MTD landscape architects was awarded the Award; the design plan for the public space of downtown Venray.
