Gezicht en plattegronden van de Oosterpoort in Hoorn 1876

This is an architectural drawing of the Oosterpoort in Hoorn, created by an anonymous artist. Although undated, we can understand this piece through the lens of the history of the Netherlands. The Oosterpoort, a city gate, would have been a site of constant negotiation and exchange, deeply influencing the identities of those who passed through it. Who used this gate and for what purpose? What dynamics of power and social control were enacted here? The decision to document this gate, and to make architectural plans of it, speaks to a desire to preserve and understand the built environment. It asks us to reflect on what we choose to remember and what we leave behind. The gate itself once represented a physical boundary, but now in its drawing, allows us an unbounded meditation on identity, access, and the passage of time.