Born and raised in Zeeland, the stories about the flood disaster of 1953 were brought up from scratch. As a child I spent many sunny days on the beach, playing at the tide line and with the sand. These are important memories for me of Zeeland, of the event in 1953 and of the Zeeland heritage, the regional dress. What if the water were to rise now? How are we going to survive a flood? And what will happen to Zeeland’s heritage? Memories will remain, but the tangible will disappear. And do we actually know what to do when the water comes?

For my graduation project When our water rises I designed three conceptual survival kits that highlight three different basic human responses that can occur in the event of a flood.