"It doesn’t begin from scratch. It doesn’t even begin with water and sand. It begins with numbers. Figures. All the sand that forms the Maasvlakte, the wind that worries the surface and the grass that grows there all developed from softly humming computers elsewhere in the country. Predictions for the future, estimations concerning the world economy, macro-economic models, the growth of the world population, raw material reserves, production figures, share markets, funding models, budgets. And then: so many acres, tons of sand, cubic metres of water to be displaced, the quantity of basalt blocks, flow rates, wind force, pump capacity. Abstractions of units and magnitudes that far surpass the powers of imagination of the average recreationist on the still-unspoiled beaches of the coastal area. In that respect, Maasvlakte 2 is not really nature, but rather a precision instrument to resolve a mathematical formula in which the economic growth of the Netherlands is maximized. The Maasvlakte is a product of technology, is technology. The way it looks is the way it was calculated. It has a form that is practical, efficient and sustainable. It is a mathematical expression in sand, water and wind. Where the virtual world of zeros and ones has been translated into a physical reality with a natural appearance. And, from a more traditional perspective, the umpteenth triumph of mankind over nature."
