This book aims at the landscape architecture of the contemporary enclosed garden as an expression of the genius loci, addressing the question of how the genius loci can be made accessible in the metropolitan landscape. If a garden – the classical means of expressing the landscape – is capable of expressing metropolitan conditions, then we may call it a metropolitan garden. The global phenomenon of metropolisation leads to a diffused and fragmented landscape with many different spatial conditions, existing next to and on top of each other, in a constant process of formation: the metropolitan landscape, as the spatial expression of the profound mix of city and landscape, nature and culture, production and consumption. The metropolitan garden, as a defined space in the continuous metropolitan field, as well as an anchor point to the landscape topography, provides an alternative way to access the landscape horizon, the reference to nature, and the connection to the underlying landscape, providing a new view on two quintessential themes in landscape architecture: nature and place.
Book project
Principal researcher: Dr Saskia de Wit
Publisher: Architectura & Natura
Period 2014-2018
