In the Eastern Docklands (Oostelijk Havengebied) lie five floating gardens — each about 200 m² in size, built on rafts of polystyrene foam and covered with grasses, plants, and trees. They are the work of Robert Jasper Grootveld (1932–2009), who built the rafts starting in the 1970s and covered them with soil, which he then planted.
The project began in 1999, carried out as an employment project together with Stichting De Omslag. The gardens boost biodiversity, improve water quality, and provide CO2 storage right in the middle of the city. After Grootveld’s death, local residents came together to keep maintaining them — together with Stadsdeel Oost and the IISG. Although Grootveld didn’t design the rafts as landscape art, they are now regarded as such. You can see them along the Zeeburgerkade and the Douanesteiger in the Entrepothaven.
This artwork also features in the new publication You Are Here – Art in the public spaces of Amsterdam, now available at Amsterdam bookshops including Athenaeum Boekhandel, Boekhandel van Pampus, Boekhandel Linnaeus, and Zwart Op Wit Boekhandel, or order via Waanders Uitgevers.
