The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) has designated a special room in the exhibition building for current themes. Within this framework the Dutch Pavilion for the EXPO 2000 in Hannover is shown, a design by the Rotterdam office MVRDV. The design illustrates the ability of the Dutch to make the most of the space they have in their small country. It is a building without facades, that consists of seven stacked landscapes to express the theme of the EXPO 2000; the balanced interaction between man, nature and technology.

Holland is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The limited space and the fight against the water have turned the Dutch into real artists in adapting their own environment. The water is not only kept out, but has, over the centuries, even been turned into land in reclamation projects. In the near future Holland might not only be extended widthwise but upwards too.

With its Holland creates Space theme, the design for the Dutch EXPO 2000 pavilion anticipates this development. The building is the ultimate expression of Holland's "makabihtyand" shows that nature and technology need not exclude each other but can even reinforce one another. Reaching a height of 40 metres, a number of Dutch landscapes have been stacked culminating in a water landscape. The building also accommodates a theatre layer, protected by a water curtain. Below, on the fifth floor, is a real wood. Ten metres above surface level is an underground? layer for the roots of the trees in this wood. One floor below the visitor will think he is in the middle of the famous Dutch bulb fields. A path meandering through a landscape of dunes leads down to the terrace, which is also the exit of the pavilion. And finally the brick basement houses the facility rooms, the representatives of the urban environment.

The MVRDV firm, founded in 1992 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, has, in a short time, earned an impressive reputation with its original, spectacular buildings and daring solutions. One of characteristics of the designs is the inventive use that is made of the available space.