For some years, the soft sand of the Dutch beaches was sliced through by a rigid concrete defensive line put up by the occupying German forces: the Atlantic Wall. Shortly after World War II, its bunkers were disposed of in a variety of ways. Many were ‘worked under’: sealed up and covered in sand. In Ondergewerkt, Floor van den Bergh takes us on eight walks through the Dutch dunes, in search of traces of angular concrete within the undulating landscape.
The big, blocky tome that Ondergewerkt is, is appropriate as an object in several ways. The format and binding conform to the concrete blocks that make up the bunkers; at the same time, the book’s creamy colour and modest weight are also reminiscent of dune sand. In the interior, as a representation of the walks, a series of black-and-white photos runs across the upper half of many pages. These are supplemented and interrupted by colour photos recording salient details of the walks. The sans serif, rounded yet straight-line font seamlessly suits the formal language of the buried bunkers, and is a great find that does justice to the contents of the book.