Michael Van Gessel Landscape Architect by Christian Bertram & Erik de Jong
oblong folio. pp. 348. profusely illustrated. bibliography. index. paperback (near fine - spine ends worn, crease to lower outer corner of back cover). [Rotterdam: NAI Publishers, 2008].
ISBN-10: 905662038X / ISBN-13: 9789056620387
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Amsterdam-based landscape architect Michael van Gessel has been working with, rather than against, nature for the past three decades. He expresses his ethos by quoting the English author and landscape architect Joseph Spence: "Respect for the past, combined with a curiosity for what is and a feeling for what could be. This is the dynamo that starts the engine of the design." Accordingly, van Gessel embraces a diversity of projects, from private gardens to urban planning. He supervised the renovation of Amsterdam's Vondel Park, drew up the master plan to restore the landscaping around Utretch's Castle De Haar and managed to integrate the inner courtyards of the Ministry of Agriculture in The Hague into the urban fabric. This comprehensive volume places van Gessel's myriad approaches into context and illuminates his pivotal role in the formation of contemporary Dutch landscape architecture.