Three people sit around a dimly lit table with drinks and cards, conveying a relaxed, intimate atmosphere. A boombox is visible in the background.

Veld: The Gardens and Landscapes of Patrick Watson

Resume

Year

2024

Client

Penguin RandomHouse

Project

Publication

Categories

Writing & Editorial Full manuscript — three-part texts for each of 23 gardens and landscapes Author interviews with Patrick Watson across five years Research, fact-checking and editorial development Final copy editing and proofing Curation & Creative Direction Overall book concept and editorial vision Selection and sequencing of 23 gardens and landscapes from Watson's 200+ projects Decision to use a lifestyle photographer rather than a botanical one Decision to commission paintings rather than illustrations Art direction in collaboration with photographer Elsa Young and painter Heidi Fourie Sequencing and layout direction Publishing & Production Proposal development and publisher pitch Relationship management with Struik Nature / Penguin Random House Production oversight across a five-year development process 320-page final manuscript delivered Distribution & Visibility International bookstore distribution secured through Penguin Random House Press and publicity support at launch Positioning the book as both a design object and a cultural argument

Credits

Author: Garreth van Niekerk Photography: Elsa Young Paintings: Heidi Fourie Publisher: Struik Nature (an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa) Publisher: Pippa Parker Managing Editor: Roelien Theron Project Manager: Alan Hayward Art Director: Leanie Nortjé Designers: Gillian Black, Janice Evans Editors: Jane Carruthers, Carol Knoll Copy Editor: Gill Gordon Proofreader: Emsie du Plessis Reproduction: Studio Repro Print: 1010 Printing International Ltd Funder: Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation

A five-year project to document the life's work of South Africa's most innovative landscape architect, most of it previously unpublished and unseen. Written by Garreth van Niekerk with photography by Elsa Young and paintings by Heidi Fourie, Veld argues for an entirely African approach to landscape design: local plants, local problems, local genius. Published by Struik Nature / Penguin Random House and featured in bookstores internationally.

Input

A landscape architect whose life's work - over 200 gardens across Africa and beyond - had never been collected, documented or published in a single volume. Most of it unavailable online. No existing record of the work as a whole.

Output

A 320-page monograph covering 23 gardens and landscapes, published by Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa. Photography by Elsa Young. Paintings by Heidi Fourie. Funded by Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation. Available in bookstores internationally. A standard and collector's edition. An argument, in print, for African design solutions rooted in African conditions.

A group of people playing poker at a dimly lit bar table, with scattered cards and beers. The scene feels lively and social, focused on a man holding cards.

A young man in a white shirt and tie sits on the floor, surrounded by scattered papers. He looks down at a document, appearing focused and pensive.

Cozy, dimly lit pub scene with a round wooden table, empty beer bottles, and glasses under a stained glass lamp. A deer head decorates the wall.

"I have spent my career working with living things - plants, stone, water, space. After many years, of many people trying, I never thought a book could capture that. Garreth and Alan proved me wrong. Veld is the most complete record of my work that exists, and it is also something I am genuinely proud to have on my shelf, and as a record of my life. The scope of it - the gardens, the photographs, the paintings - feels like my life's work has been given its proper weight for the first time."

Patrick Watson