Landscape design with an eye for the future | Exhibition

Garden and landscape architect Samuel Voorhoeve

In the early 20^th century, Voorhoeve was a fierce advocate of preserving the ‘natural beauty of the landscape’. Taking the existing nature as his starting point for his garden and park designs, he used the contour map as his guide. This design approach was very suitable for his home area, the region in and around Oosterbeek. Here, the steep edge of the glacial ridge with its many views over the river Rhine offers a natural setting unique to the Netherlands. For this area, Voorhoeve designed estates and gardens around the slopes of the hills.

He also applied these ideas on a larger scale, as evidenced by his views and comments on the redevelopment of the Renkum & Oosterbeek area. During Voorhoeve’s time, the landscape in this area had to be adapted to changing circumstances, such as an increase in population, different uses of space and the disappearance of large landowners. Plans were drawn up at the municipal level, but in Voorhoeve's opinion, these plans did not always give sufficient consideration to nature and the natural landscape style, which led to Voorhoeve taking action, often with success. His influence on the landscape design around Oosterbeek is still evident today.

In the exhibition, a comparison is made with Voorhoeve’s approach and vision from around a hundred years ago and a contemporary design approach. Alongside Voorhoeve’s work, the Forest of the Future project from Wageningen Environmental Research is presented. This project seeks answers to the question: What will the climate-resilient forest on the south-western flank of the Veluwe look like in 2120, and what impact will this have on the choices we make today? The exhibition will demonstrate how this vision is being developed through workshops incorporating input from various organisations and local experts.