Henriëtte Heezen, Nathalie Zonnenberg and Tom van Gestel (eds.)

Art as Urban Strategy
Beyond Leidsche Rijn

Cover design: Total Identity, Felix Janssens, Illustrated (colour) and b&w), Paperback, 192 pages, 16.5 x 23 cm
English edition, ISBN 978-90-5662-705-8, € 29.50
Dutch edition, ISBN 978-90-5662-704-1
September 2009

With the support of the Netherlands Architecture Fund, SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space), the City of Utrecht

The Beyond programme of art is utterly unique in both concept and scale. Launched in 1997 in Leidsche Rijn, the largest new-style housing estate in the Netherlands, its art exploits the relationship between urban planning, landscape, architecture and the community that takes shape in this setting near Utrecht.

This book is a thoughtful study of ten years of Beyond, from the initial plans to the fulfilment of projects like the Paper Dome and The Building, and diverse events together with the recently unveiled artworks for Leidsche Rijn Sculpture Park. The authors look back at different aspects of the programme, including the flexible scenario, the idea of maakbaarheid – the belief that a place can be made – and the significance of cultural intervention in the process of urbanization.

Beyond has acquired something of an exemplary status in the international arena, attracting comparisons with other art programmes and ideas about curatorship in Europe.

With contributions by Mariette Dölle, Lotte Haagsma, Paul O’Neill, Bik van der Pol, Domeniek Ruyters, Fernando Sánchez Castillo, Barbara Visser and Cor Wijn

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