CONTENTS Introduction 13 Reading in gardens Garden of Cosmic Speculation near Dumfries A cosmogenic park landscape 22 Little Sparta in Stonypath 28 A garden as space for political experience Garden of the AMU professional training centre in Holstebro Symbolic readings 34 Interpolis Garden in Tilburg 38 Forest park with computer interface District Parks in Bijlmermeer near Amsterdam No flowers on board 43 Varus Battle Museum and Park in Bramsche-Kalkriese Traces in steel 48 Black Garden in Nordhorn Heroic death in the tulip field 54 Invalidenpark in Berlin 59 Reading along historic city lines Garden of Memories in Duisburg White memory on a green ground 65 Landscape Park Duisburg Nord Climbers on Monte Thyssino 70 Museum Island Hombroich Art in an artificial Arcadia 75 Park of Magic Waters in Bad Oeynhausen Tales of the water dragon 82 District Parks in Kronsberg, Hanover Tree island and woodland clearing 87 Place du General Leclerc in Tours Iceberg in a sea of lilac 92 Place de la Bourse in Lyon 96 Box-trees parking in Stock Exchange Square Les Jardins de I'lmaginaire in Terrasson Fragments of garden history 100 Garden of Violence in Murten The peaceful garden Utopia 108 Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Ruschlikon Empty plinths in the box parterre 114 Front Garden and Courtyard for the Easier + Partner Building in Zurich An urban garden beyond ecological cliches 123 Oerliker Park in Zurich A park as a promise 130 MFO Park in Zurich 137 Green fur on a steel skeleton Garden for the Fondation Jeantet de Medicine in Geneva A sunken hortus conclusus 142 Osservatorio geologico on the Cardada Joints in panoramic view 147 Mountain Garden in Graz Landscape in abstract folds 152 Jardi Botanic de Barcelona 158 Nature fragments in a geometrical network Pare del Clot in Barcelona 164 A young classic with two faces Tarot Garden near Garavicchio In the garden of the fateful cards 169 Rock Garden in Chandigarh Rebellion against Modernism 175 183