The Nature of Landscape offers an inspiring, personal account of a quest into the meaning and background of the term 'landscape'. The author, a landscape planner and designer currently teaching at Eindhoven University of Technology, researches the origins of landscape in our civilization and describes different points of view that have helped shape our opinions on landscape. For the author, our notion of landscape is focused around the terms 'nature versus culture' and 'native versus foreign'. These counterparts make up his 'mindscape diamond', a modified matrix that not only explains trends in landscape perception and design, but also helps to define developments in land use, architecture, urban planning and environmental art. On a more metaphorical level, the author's abundantly illustrated quest is symbolized by a number of personal impressions, such as the discovery of a stone circle in the desert, a lesson in the peculiarities of the Russian language, a journey along the industrial heritage of the German Ruhrgebiet and a visit to a town where 'Bavaria comes to Washington'. Offering an unexpected reading experience, these and other descriptions demonstrate how varied 'landscape' can be. In a worldwide overview of 30 landscape related artworks and 30 park designs, the author discusses landscape attitudes past and present. In a final chapter, he brings together recent developments in society, architecture and art to make a forecast of landscape trends in the near future. Themes such as man-made nature and reinvented heritage conclude this unusual book on the essence of landscape
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