Lace Garden
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2009

Typical for the urban plan known as Plan West designed in the 1920's by the architect H. P. Berlage in Amsterdam are large social housing blocks framing generous gardens. These courtyards are generally not accessible and are intended to offer the inhabitants a view onto greenery. In 2007 the housing corporation Ymere commissioned Anouk Vogel to make a new design for the inner garden of one of their social housing blocks. The new planting consisted of a mix of shrubs, perennials and bulbs, and was arranged in large circles 'lacing' their way in-between the new and existing trees. In order to distract the attention from the somewhat chaotic content of the surrounding private plots, attention was drawn to the main garden by choosing only white flowering plants. A new beech hedge separates the private yards from the main garden. From the public space the garden is visible through a standard wire mesh fence with a bespoke laced-in drawing.

Commissioner: Ymere
Technical advise: Francien van Kempen
Design fence: Demakersvan and Anouk Vogel