CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 9/10/2021

Artful irregularity in 'Landscape Works with Piet Oudolf and LOLA'

Featured images are reproduced from Landscape Works with Piet Oudolf and LOLA: In Search of Sharawadgi, the highly anticipated new release from NAI010 Publishers documenting the visionary gardens of Dutch designer Piet Oudolf—best known for New York City's High Line—and Rotterdam landscape architecture firm LOLA—specialists in the transformation of public, often postindustrial, sites through the optimization of natural ecosystems. “In their work, Oudolf and LOLA strive for meaningful experience and use of the landscape by the public, from a shared, strong focus on the individual visitor," Fabian de Kloe writes. "In their designs, they always look for the human perspective. A successful landscape design at the level of the individual experience is crucial: it makes the difference between a no-go area and a place where people love to come. We largely experience our surroundings intuitively. At the same time, their designs aim to provide solutions to problems and challenges associated with large-scale industry, urbanization, mass tourism and traffic, and the impact these have on nature and the climate. Think of declining biodiversity, drought, but also the advance of invasive plant and animal species.”