Q&A: Legendary Garden Designer Piet Oudolf on His Latest Living Landscape
The venerable designer discusses the "performance of plants" he composed for the Vitra Campus—and why a garden should have everything a building doesn’t have.
The venerable designer discusses the "performance of plants" he composed for the Vitra Campus—and why a garden should have everything a building doesn’t have.
As a leading figure in the "new perennial" movement, pioneering Dutch landscape and garden designer Piet Oudolf needs no introduction. He has realized living landscapes for high-profile projects around the world—including New York’s High Line, the Venice Biennale, and Hauser and Wirth’s new Balearic outpost on Isla del Rey.
The esteemed Piet Oudolf in his garden for Vitra.
Photo: Marek Iwicki
For his latest oeuvre, Oudolf designed an immersive, 43,000-square-foot garden of 30,000 plants for the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany. The site is home to a trove of architectural works by the likes of Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, and Renzo Piano—and the flourishing landscape complements and contrasts with these distinctive buildings.
Oudolf sees the garden as a centerpiece for the Vitra Campus.
Photo: Marek Iwicki
Commissioned by Vitra chairman emeritus Rolf Fehlbaum, Oudolf’s composition will develop over the decades to come, keeping step with the next phase of the company’s sustainability commitments under the guidance of CEO Nora Fehlbaum.
"Nature now—more than ever—has become like a balm for the soul," notes Robert Wolf, Head of Marketing for Vitra in North America. "The Oudolf garden seems to tap into the pulse of what’s going on right now, where people want to recharge and restore in a green, nature-filled environment."
An uplifting palette of warm pinks, lilacs, mauves, and golden tones accents the green of the wild grasses.
Photo: Marek Iwicki
See the full story on Dwell.com: Q&A: Legendary Garden Designer Piet Oudolf on His Latest Living Landscape
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