Erik Kruug captures a way of living shaped by water
Erik Kruug’s aerial photographs of the Loosdrecht Lakes in the Netherlands reveal a way of living in which land and water are difficult to separate. Houses sit on narrow strips of land between canals and lakes, with gardens, decks, boats and small paths extending directly into the water. From above, the landscape looks almost like a collection of green brushstrokes floating across a dark surface. Look closer and each one contains a home.
The Loosdrecht Lakes, between Amsterdam and Utrecht, were not always lakes. The area was originally a low-lying peat landscape, too wet for conventional agriculture. From the 16th century onward, peat was extracted for fuel, and increasingly deep excavation in the following centuries left water-filled pits between the remaining strips of land. Over time, these fragments of peat became the islands and narrow banks that define much of the landscape today.
Living here means adapting to that geography. A garden might end at a small jetty rather than a road. A boat can be as useful as a car, while the deck becomes a place to sit, eat, swim or simply watch the water. Houses are often modest timber structures, but their relationship to the landscape gives them a larger presence. The home does not stop at its walls; it continues onto the dock, through the garden and out onto the water.
all images by Erik Kruug
where the house meets the landscape in the netherlands
From the air, the houses become part of a much bigger pattern. Long strips of reeds and trees divide the waterways, while individual homes appear tucked into the vegetation. Some are almost completely surrounded by water, connected to the wider settlement by a narrow path or boat. Others sit within gardens that seem to grow directly out of the lake. There is something appealingly ordinary about these scenes, where nothing looks like a technological vision of the future. There are no dramatic floating structures or speculative habitats. Erik Kruug’s photographs show people making a home within the landscape they have inherited, gradually adjusting the boundaries between domestic life and the natural world.
The landscape is also more complicated than the picturesque images might suggest. The lakes have long been used for recreation and water sports, while much of the area is now protected for its ecological value. The Eastern Vecht Lakes form part of a Natura 2000 conservation area, and efforts have been made to protect banks from erosion and improve conditions for aquatic and riparian plants. At the same time, decades of agriculture and human activity have affected water quality and the lake ecosystem.
Erik Kruug’s aerial series explores how domestic life has developed within the fragmented water landscape
a domestic landscape of islands, gardens, and boats
Loosdrecht’s relationship with water is not a recent idea. The lakes were formed through centuries of peat extraction, when strips of land were gradually cut away and the resulting pits filled with water. Today, those remaining strips hold houses, gardens, reeds and small jetties, while the waterways connect them to the wider landscape. Recreation and conservation have since become part of the picture too, adding another layer to an already heavily worked landscape.
For the people who live here, this history is simply part of the setting. The boat is tied up outside the house, the garden runs towards the water, and the lake becomes part of the everyday rhythm of the home. In summer, the distinction between garden and water can feel particularly slight; in winter, the same landscape changes completely.
Erik Kruug’s photographs bring this way of living into focus. His aerial views show how these homes are scattered through the lakes, tucked between reeds and trees or sitting at the end of narrow strips of land. Seen this way, Loosdrecht is less a collection of waterside houses than a settlement shaped by the particular pieces of land and water available to it.
the Loosdrecht Lakes emerged from centuries of peat extraction
the settlement reveals the close relationship between habitation and the waterways that structure the area
many homes extend their domestic spaces directly toward the water
water is part of the everyday infrastructure
the houses occupy the remaining strips of land between waterways
Loosdrecht combines residential use with protected wetland and aquatic habitats
the aerial perspective reveals a dispersed form of habitation
project info:
name: Loosdrecht Lakes
location: Loosdrecht, North Holland, the Netherlands
photographer: Erik Kruug | @erikkruug
This article is part of designboom’s MODES OF HABITATION chapter, exploring how the spaces we inhabit can reshape the ways we live together. Discover more stories rethinking domesticity, shared living, and the many forms a home can take here.
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