Stedelijk Restruimiten A20, Muizengaatje
Summary
The space known as "Het Muizengaatje" (the Mouse Hole) is in effect the passage created by the Bergweg in Rotterdam, where it passes under the A20 motorway and a railway viaduct. In 1997 the Centrum voor Beeldende Kunsten (CBK; Centre for Visual Arts), the city run agency for the promotion of Visual Arts, was asked if artists could assist in improving the aesthetics of this location, where improvement and landscape works were scheduled. They appointed co-coordinator Maarten van Wesenmael and commissioned artists Jeroen van Westen, Q. S. Serafijn and Hans Snoek to work with the city's landscape architects, to investigate a resolution to the space. Together, they proposed a design approach, which reveals the functions of the place and celebrates its particular qualities.
As the refurbishment of Het Muizengaatje was completed in 2001, the same artist team was invited to advise on the redesign of the adjacent bus station. They were subsequently awarded a substantial grant to extend their socio-cultural approach to reclaiming 'left over spaces' to the 10km stretch of sterile space between the A20 motorway, which dissects Rotterdam.
