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September 14, 2004
Remaking NL: Cityscape, Landscape, Infrastructure
| Title | Remaking NL: Cityscape, Landscape, Infrastructure | |
| Author | Sjoerd Cusveller, Oene Dijk, Kirsten Schipper | |
| Publisher | S@M, Amsterdam | |
| Date | 2001 | |
| ISBN | 90-802463--3-6 | |
| Reviewed by | Jane Szita | |
| There's a (probably apocryphal) Dutch saying which goes: “God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland.” After reading this book, however, it’s clear the proverb ought to be, “God made the world, but the Dutch are making Holland.” For this a scrapbook of new attempts to refashion that most artificial of places, the Dutch landscape. It includes both factual, ongoing projects and tentative future scenarios, reflecting the work and vision of architects, landscape architects and urban planners in a collection of interviews, case studies and stunning graphics. Once, “making Holland” meant clawing back land from the sea, and surrounding it with dykes. But now the Netherlands is adapting its typology to changing enviromental conditions. That means allowing agricultural areas to return to wetlands, letting rivers flow freely again, and creating new 'nature' areas. In cities, business districts are being reclaimed for residential developent. This is a catalogue of remarkable ideas, from high-rise flats for pigs (to contain the smell of pig-farming) to floating cities (surrounded by flooded rivers), to island airports (with Schiphol airport itself transformed into a city). Your map of the Netherlands may soon be completely out of date. | ||
Posted by Books Editor at September 14, 2004 09:33 PM