The village has recently received more attention in architectural and urban discourse, in part due to a growing demand for spatial densification, climate change, and the pursuit of biodiversity. A need for a qualitative approach to village densification exists in the Netherlands and Belgium, in addition to an increasing interest in preserving and restoring the identity of villages and their surrounding landscapes. This edition of ‘OASE’ contributes to the discussion, examining villages not as the antithesis of modernity but as its complex product. Eight essays analyse images, inventories, idealisations, and makeovers of villages in light of currently shifting socio-political contexts.