The Contemporary Garden, newly released by Phaidon, offers a wide-ranging look at over 300 gardens from around the world, documenting how garden design continues to evolve. At over 300 pages, The Contemporary Garden collects a diverse range of projects from nearly forty countries, covering private gardens, public parks, innovative landscapes, and urban green spaces. These gardens vary in scale and intent but are united by their thoughtful design and ability to respond to different environments, climates, and contexts.
A Comprehensive Overview of 300 Stunning Gardens in a New Book by Phaidon
Gardens have traditionally served as a source of beauty, nourishment, and spiritual connection, from the modest backyard plot to the regal Water Theatre Grove around Versailles. From this history, Phaidon's upcoming book captures through detailed photography the color, naturalness, and breath of life these places have had over the decades.
Photo by: John Gollings
The 'Contemporary Garden,' as the book is titled, explores the everlasting connection between horticulture, nature, and aesthetics by visiting 300 green areas in 40 nations. It's more than 300 pages that cover both public and private areas in a variety of styles, from untamed urban plots to well-manicured topiaries to designs that value water elements almost as highly as greenery.
The gardens span a broad geographic range. There are small, intimate gardens designed for city dwellings, expansive rural estates, contemporary updates to historical sites, and large public projects. Each demonstrates how garden design adapts to its setting—whether in an urban center or remote countryside—and how it can serve both private reflection and public enjoyment.
Designers integrate architecture, sculpture, pathways, and unexpected materials, while also responding to local ecological conditions. Water features, wild plantings, terracing, and geometric layouts appear throughout the book, showing how contemporary gardens confront complexity while aiming for visual harmony.
Highlights From the Contemporary Garden's Collection
Although the book peeks inside some gardens that are only open to a select few, many of its pages feature popular public spaces, such as Heatherwick Studio's raised Little Island in New York. Not unexpectedly, certain areas are also works of art or serve as outdoor galleries, such as Manhattan's High Line. The latter includes Gabriel Orozco's The Orozco Garden at South London Gallery, which combines horticulture and sculpture with its elaborately constructed brickwork and overgrown grasses.
The Contemporary Garden, which unites the natural sciences with art and architecture, demonstrates how green areas remain a perpetual appeal for people despite our increasingly digitized world.
Photos by: Phaidon.
