High-Tech and Colorful Dutch Greenhouses Showcase a Sustainable Future 

Long before COVID-19 altered our relationship to grocery shopping, savvy Dutch scientists were exploring more efficient and sustainable ways to produce food in greenhouses—using less land and a fraction of the water to double crop yield. And while this solution may be rooted in historical precedent—Holland was home to some of the earliest modern greenhouses— recent innovations have taken on an unexpectedly colorful form. As revealed in a new aerial series by Munich-based photographer Tom Hegen, vibrant LED lights not only encourage year-round plant growth but create a colorful patchwork reminiscent of the Netherlands’ iconic tulip fields. Not surprisingly, the same greenhouses caught the eye of native-son architect Rem Koolhaas, who installed a mock-up version in a giant industrial container for “Countryside, the Future,” his blockbuster exhibition at New York City’s Guggenheim museum. “As soon as you go to the countryside, you see the colors of nature and new technical innovations that are too big to appear in cities,” says Koolhaas, who hopes to bring attention to rural conditions. “The countryside is an injection of color as a visceral experience.” Color us intrigued.