In the middle of a residential neighbourhood at the edge of the city centre of Arnhem, there was a vacant piece of land. New developments had been stalled, turning it into a no man’s land. On the initiative of the department for temporary planning (DTO) and in cooperation with Buroharro, a ‘pop-up park’ appeared in three months time. Second-hand nature, in the form of cut sods of peat, was used to transform the hole in the city into the Bartokpark. In the middle of the heathland, there is a giant, climbable aardvark, a statue by Florentijn Hofman. The Aardvark was donated by Burgers’ Zoo, the zoo of Arnhem. The Bartokpark has become an iconic public space. A ‘nature reserve’ with references to the nearby national park The Hoge Veluwe. Not just attractive for the neighbourhood, but also for visitors from outside, breathing new life into this section of town.
-Arnhem (NL) 2013
-Buroharro, DTO
