NUtopia offers made-to-measure solutions to the great demand for occasional residences in the country, as well as ways of averting the feared decline of the Dutch landscape now that the farming community is losing its grasp on it. It gives an idealized Utopian picture with its roots in reality. The principle underlying NUtopia is that building in open country may prove to be a blessing for the landscape of the future rather than a curse.

These new country residences have no detrimental effect on the rural landscape by being more widely scattered, variably configured and scrupulously inserted in their context. Indeed, in NUtopia they even generate solutions for countless problems challenging the countryside. Delicate situations require kid-glove treatment, but in the case of serious and pressing problems a complete metamorphosis of the landscape is called for. This is creating work with work, where one intervention is beneficial for another. For example, the houses are high yield guaranteed, being set in idyllic surroundings. This setting is idyllic because the resulting profits from the housing are used to reinstate streams on site, lay out 'natural' hillside woods and suchlike. Country life takes on a new thrust and the local economy flourishes through the influx of newcomers.

Seeing that rural problems obtain all over the Netherlands and to prove that made-to-measure responses can produce inspiring results, we have selected three representative areas in which to realize NUtopia. These are the south-west corner of Friesland, the region of dunes and polders in the province of Noord-Holland, and the hills of south Limburg. Their NUtopias are, respectively, Frisia, Hollandia and Limburgia. Each region has its own set of problems to solve and so each NUtopia comes with its own brief, resulting in a unique design.

In Frisia, for example, the relationship between land and water goes back a long way and the expansive wetlands are a great place to live. In Hollandia, a vast quantity of water is accommodated in an endless pattern of islands. And in Limburgia, an ancient infrastructure serves as the spine for new one-street villages surrounded by rustic standard orchards. NUtopia proves that anyone wishing to live in the open country can do so. The net result is a more smoothly functioning countryside and a more attractive landscape. Designers have much more to offer these people than house A in neighbourhood B, and NUtopia shows that the possibilities are virtually limitless.

The past year has seen a radical change of tone in the discourse on how the countryside is be designed. Arguments heard these days include legalizing the permanent inhabitation of holiday home parks, and 'breaking open' the countryside for new developments as part of the government's new spatial policy. It is a unique opportunity to tackle various problem issues and set things straight. However ground-breaking it may be, NUtopia is just around the corner.

Place of education: Wageningen Universiteit/Wageningen University
Specialization: landscape architecture
Tutor: Peter Vrijlandt