Bunker 599

Bunker 599, one of the small sproket in the New Dutch Waterline, was originally built in 1940, to defense up to 13 soldiers during bombing raids of the Second World War, and the intervention by Dutch Studios RAAAF and Atelier de Lyon Reveals. The small, dark space inside, which is normally hidden from view.

Image by Flickr User Bart van Damme

The defence used between 1815 and 1940 to protect the cities of Muiden, Utrecht, Vreeswijk and Gorinchem by flooding the area with water. In 700 bunkers, Bunker 599 slices through the solid concrete bunker in 40 days along the New Dutch Waterline, a part of the series of water-based defences. The building has been ruptured down from the middle and created unique and competent war memories. Nowadays it is a part of a tourist attraction. Ronad Rietveld of RAAAF said, "Our aim with the project was to question the policies on monuments by doing this intervention." The set of stairs also connects the nearby road to a path that leads through the centre of the bunker onto a wooden boardwalk raised above the flooded area.