Landschapsplan Nederland

"You will find trees and shrubs everywhere in the Dutch landscape. Few people realize that together they are part of our greatest work of art. These planting patterns in the historically strongly layered Dutch landscape form one large cultural artifact. It was designed and constructed during the post-World War II reconstruction period. For about seventy percent of the Netherlands, a 'landscape plan' was designed by landscape architects of the State Forestry Commission between 1946 and 1976 as part of hundreds of land consolidation. When the trees of those landscape plans were planted, they were small and inconspicuous, but now they determine the image and appearance of the Dutch landscape. This resulted in a composite work of art that has been characterized as 'Landschapsplan Nederland' in this study. It is unique in the global history of garden and landscape architecture and is a recent addition to the biography of the Dutch landscape. This PhD research shows the origin, coherence and diversity of this special cultural artefact. Landscape Plan Netherlands offers inspiration for consciously shaping our contemporary dynamic landscape. Are we providing a renewed synthesis between all-encompassing nature and creative human intervention? Does Landscape Plan Netherlands inspire us to consciously shape the beauty of the country?"--