Polder

September 17, 2009 22:14

A polder 'is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments' (thank you Wikipedia).  A polder is often used by the Dutch to describe land reclaimed from water.  The Netherlands has over 3000 polders.  Half of all polder surface in northwest Europe is located within the Netherlands.  I am now closing Wikipedia.

Polder is also a Dutch political model of decision making based on consensus.  The history of inhabitation of the Netherlands has been a struggle with water.  I suppose first to survive, and later to develop the country and grow it economically, consensus based governing became important.

I have found in more than one facet of Dutch culture the polder model prevails today.  In fact it probably has a direct relationship on the type of architecture developed in Holland.  Each building is treated as an oppurtunity for quality and a high level of aesthetic resolution.  The land it is built on is too important to waste.  Of course I don't love every building I've seen in Holland, however a 'bad' building here is often better than a 'good' building in the states.

I am trying to understand the implications of this mind-set and will be looking for it in the days ahead.

The Job Swap is an initiative of the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation and BKB, in cooperation with the NY400. The Wildcard contest is organized together with newspapers Het Parool (Amsterdam) and AM New York (New York).