Green pearls



More pictures of the Nutstuin (including top views) can be seen on Flickr

 Inner cities are usually densely built with shops, offices and housing. It seems not much room is left for green spaces, besides some parks or trees along old lanes. However I bet you would be surprised about the amount of green you would see if looking to the city from above.

Many European cities have a long history. Once erected on a strategic place in the landscape, close to a harbor or on the crossing of some rivers or routes. Traders started small and simple but expanded when business was running well. Warehouses, offices and housing where built. Each city had its own styles, depending on local traditions and climate.

The biggest secret of this inner city buildings are the enormous backyards they usually contain. It has the width of the house and stretch sometimes out over more than 10 meters! If you grow plants and flowers it could become an oasis in the city!
For offices or (semi-)public buildings it is often quit hard to maintain a garden. Some gardens are used for lunch breaks or as an extension of the museum cafe. Others are left for the green to grow wherever it wants.

In The Hague a former bank building (1920) was transformed in 2006 into a centre for local art and society: Het Nutshuis. The building is situated right in the centre of the city and surrounded by buildings from different periods and different qualities. The neglected parking lot emphasized this difference and made it an uncomfortable place to be.

The owner of the building decided something had to change and asked the landscape architect Jos van de Lindeloof to design a public garden which is sustainable and offers a podium and meeting place.

The garden recently opened to the public. The green in the garden not only attracts the eye but also has a function of feeding and connecting the neighborhood. The landscape architect added a fruit and vegetable garden which is maintained by the people living close to Het Nutshuis. The collected rainwater brings refreshment on hot summer days, flowers do attract a lot of bees. These could use the beehives in the garden. In a (solar powered) greenhouse tomatoes are grown.

The garden is open to the public during office hours and also hosts some events on summer evenings. Hopefully this garden inspires more owners of unused backyards to share their green pearls with an audience. Go and look if you can already find some!