Gardens have always been places of leisure, pleasure, and production – they reflect identities, dreams, and visions. Deeply rooted in their culture, gardens have immense symbolic potential. The recent revival of horticulture has focused less on the garden as a romantic refuge than as a place where we imagine the future and develop solutions. Urban farms, vertical gardens, and other innovative projects in art, architecture, and urban planning demonstrate that the present return to the garden is no timid retreat, but a pioneering quest for a world in which social and ecological justice count for something. Garden Futures examines what gardens and their design reveal about our relationship to nature. In exploring the history of ideas behind the genesis of the modern garden, the book takes a close look at the present, goes in search of origins in the past, and builds bridges into the future. Stunning photographs illustrate ground-breaking gardens by such designers as Derek Jarman and Piet Oudolf while critical articles by well-known authors question conventional garden ideals. Authors and gardeners including Gilles Clement and Jamaica Kincaid present the garden as a place of learning where abstract concepts like ecology, climate change, and food insecurity are translated into things you can smell, touch, and taste. Daisy Ginsberg, Salmon Creek Farm, and EcoLogic Studio create experimental and speculative projects generating new attitudes and approaches.

The Vitra Design Museum Collection is one of the most important design collections in the world. It totals around 20,000 items, including 7,000 pieces of furniture, over 1,000 lighting objects and archives and estates from designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, Verner Panton and Alexander Girard. In summer 2016, the museum opened a building by architects Herzog & de Meuron to permanently present this collection: the Vitra Schaudepot. The centerpiece of the Schaudepot is a permanent exhibition of more than 400 key objects of modern furniture design from 1800 to the present. This presentation is complemented by smaller temporary exhibitions on themes related to the collection, a material library and an extensive digital catalogue. The Schaudepot constitutes the largest permanent exhibition on modern furniture design and at the same time a `transparent design museum', making visible the work of the museum in all its facets. The publication sheds light on different aspects of the Schaudepot. The iconic building is illustrated in largescale photographs and drawings. The presentation of the collection in the interior is likewise shown using insightful imagery, augmented by a chronological overview of the exhibited objects. Short essays embed the objects within the context of design history and bring to light the curatorial decision-making behind the presented objects. The book is an attractive field guide through the history of furniture design and act as a portal to understand the Vitra Design Museum's unique collection - at the same time being the publication on one of the latest buildings by star architects Herzog & de Meuron.