Landscape architecture in the Netherlands
Landscape architects in the Netherlands have his-
torically come from a horticultural background. Most
of the early landscape designers were botanists or
owned nurseries themselves and were self-edu-
cated in design. Their design approach tended to
be traditional, following whatever was the fashion
in architecture of the period. At the end of the nine-
teenth century, ideas from the Italian Renaissance,
French Baroque and the English Landscape Style,
were ‘translated’ into the Dutch situation without
much vision.
Architecture has always been a mature profession,
but the field of urban planning is a lot younger.
Landscape design started to be nationally rec-
ognised as an independent profession when its
first professor at the Wageningen University was
appointed in 1946. Professor Dr. Ir. J.P.T.H. Bijhouwer
has had a great influence. In his view, one should
be very careful with the characteristics of the many
different types of landscape which Holland pos-
sesses, but nevertheless, he argued, ‘Don’t hesi-
tate to change landscapes or environments when
the change means an improvement.’
At first, landscape architects worked on their own,
but during the post-war reconstruction they teamed
up with urban planners and architects. Those
projects resulted in well-integrated neighbour-
hoods. This idea of the neighbouring professions
being complementary and overlapping, rather than
being competitive, is a notion that still exists if one
looks at the composition of Dutch landscape prac-
tices today. Indeed, their multi-disciplinary approach
goes further. Nowadays one may find many other
disciplines, including photographers and artists,
employed in a landscape office. Their point of view
and novel ideas often enrich the designs for public
space.The private landscape practices, together with
landscape architects in government service, form
the professional field in the Netherlands. The vast
majority of projects are for public space. Plans and
projects are made at all scales: national, regional,
town and site. Together they form a coherent
hierarchical relationship: the higher-scale projects
setting the outlines and briefs for the more detailed
planning. The clients for the different tasks are in
general the different levels of government: land,
regional and town. In the Dutch system, the water
boards are the oldest authorities.Most Dutch territory lies below sea level. From the
beginning the land has been protected from the
sea and the rivers by dunes and dikes. Later on the
Dutch found ingenious ways to conquer land from
the sea and secure it behind new dikes. The water
protection business has become a Dutch primaryThe Netherlands
Boudewijn Almekinders and Ad Koolen