Dissident Gardens at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam
With the exposition and lecture series Dissident Gardens, Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam explores the classic contrast between nature and culture and the changing role of design. In this context, the garden stands for the site where human desire to control his environment collides with the forces of nature.
Dissident Gardens presents a range of influential approaches by designers, architects and artists to current developments in our relationship to nature. Some of the issues they raise include the far-reaching rationalisation of the agrarian landscape, Mars as the final utopia, the designer as farmer, and the holiday resort as a microcosm of the changing relationship between the city and the techno-side. These are also the subject of a series of lectures and debates as part of the Thursday Night Live! programme.
Dissident Gardens is on view from 4 March to 23 September 2018, at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam. See the website for more information on the exposition and the series of lectures.
Banner photo by Cristina Grasseni