Summary

In any discussion on contemporary landscape architecture, visionary urban development or revolutionary building, it is impossible to overlook the Netherlands. Experts look to this small, flat country which constantly seeks to exceed its narrow boundaries by creating new space. Here, new ideas and concepts in architecture and landscape design fall on the fertile ground. Even the open countryside and the towns can be changed, moulded, shaped. The Dutch are experts at building in the sea, on polders, on man-made islands, and on former harbour areas as in Rotterdam Kop van Zuid. Also included are the gardens and squares of West 8, the Museumsplein in Amsterdam and the town planning in Zutphen or Apeldoorn, providing an illuminating overview of contemporary Dutch landscape architecture.