Landscape Architecture and Garden History

Overview

  • Landscape Architecture: Art, planning, design, management, preservation & rehabilitation of the land and the design of human-made constructs.
  • A multi-disciplinary field including: geography, mathematics, science, engineering, art, horticulture, technology, social sciences, politics, history, philosophy & occasionally zoology.

Scope

  • Includes architectural design, site planning, housing estate development, environmental restoration, town or urban planning, urban design, parks and recreation planning, regional planning, landscape urbanism, and historic preservation.

Profession: Landscape Architect

  • A trained, experienced, qualified & duly licensed person to perform landscape architectural services.
  • Services range from public parks and parkways to site planning for corporate office buildings.
  • Also includes design of residential estates to civil infrastructure and management of large wilderness areas or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills.
  • Work on all types of structures and external space - large or small, urban or rural, and with "hard"/"soft" materials, hydrology and ecological issues.

History of Landscape Architecture

Ancient Egyptian Gardens

  • Symmetrical gardens with pools and trees symbolized paradise and renewal.

Architectural Elements:

  • Strategic Planting.
  • Sacred Flora: Plants of Rebirth and Fertility.
  • Plants as Divine Symbols.
  • Efficient Irrigation Systems.
  • Seasonal Considerations and Plant Cultivation.
  • Gardens as Reflections of Social Status
    • Royal and Noble Gardens - Symbols of Power
    • Commoners' Gardens - Utilitarian and Simple

Evolution Through Dynastic Periods:

  • Old Kingdom (C. 2686–2181 BCE): Gardens were mainly functional, serving the needs of the elite and religious institutions.
  • New Kingdom (C. 1550–1070 BCE): Gardens became more decorative, reflecting the growing wealth and influence of the pharaohs.
  • Ptolemaic Gardens (305–30 BCE): Introduction of exotic plants and advanced irrigation techniques, with gardens becoming even more elaborate, particularly in Alexandria and other royal centers.

New Plants and Techniques:

  • Cultural exchange with neighboring civilizations (Greeks and Persians) led to the introduction of new plants like the pomegranate, olive, and almond trees.
  • Brought new gardening techniques, such as more sophisticated irrigation methods and the cultivation of ornamental plants.
  • Evident during the Ptolemaic period, when Alexandria became a hub for the exchange of botanical knowledge, contributing to the rich diversity of plants in Egyptian gardens.

Efficient Irrigation Systems:

  • The Nile River provided the lifeblood for Egyptian agriculture, but gardens often had to be located on higher ground, away from the floodplain.
  • Shaduf: A hand-operated device used to lift water from the Nile and canals to irrigate gardens (New Kingdom period c. 1550–1070 BCE).

Shaduf Details:

  • Hand-operated device for lifting water, invented in ancient times and still used in India, Egypt, and some other countries to irrigate land.
  • Typically, it consists of a long, tapering, nearly horizontal pole mounted like a seesaw.
  • A skin or bucket is hung on a rope from the long end, and a counterweight is hung on the short end.
  • The operator pulls down on a rope attached to the long end to fill the bucket and allows the counterweight to raise the bucket.
  • To raise water to higher levels, a series of shadufs are sometimes mounted one above the other.
  • In India, the device is called a denkli, or paecottah.

Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Gardens

  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Three Kinds of Gardens:

  • Large, enclosed game reserves, like the Garden of Eden described in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
  • Pleasure gardens, which were essentially places where shade and cool water could be privately enjoyed.
  • Sacred enclosures rising in man-made terraces, planted with trees and shrubs, forming an artificial hill such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Greek and Hellenistic Gardens

*Vale of Tempe, Greece.

Ancient Greek Urban Life & Courtyards:

  • Houses built around central private courtyards (peristyles).
  • Courtyards lined with colonnades giving access to rooms.
  • Open to the sky and insulated from the street.
  • Included a garden with water supply and potted plants.

Hellenistic Age Transformations (C. 323–30 BCE):

  • Influenced by the East, leading to more luxurious gardens.
  • Prominent in colonies like Alexandria and Syracuse.
  • Featured precious materials and hydraulic automata (water-powered moving decorations).

Public Life & Recreation:

  • Much of life was lived in public spaces.
  • Sports grounds became gathering places, evolving into the academy and lyceum.
  • Included exercise grounds, spectator seats, porticoes, statues, and groves.
  • Influenced the Roman villa garden and 19th-century European public parks.

Roman Gardens

*Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana), Tivoli, Italy.

Roman Gardens & Greek Influence:

  • Derived from Greek gardens, especially in Pompeii and Herculaneum (1st century BCE).
  • Followed the Hellenistic pattern with small, enclosed town gardens.
  • Used painted landscapes on walls to visually extend space.
  • Villa gardens were more ambitious and carefully placed based on climate and location.
  • Nero’s Golden House (Rome).

Notable Roman Gardens:

  • Nero’s Golden House (Rome):
    • Covered 300+ acres (120 hectares).
    • Included an artificial lake (later site of the Colosseum).
    • Featured a pastoral landscape with plowland, vineyards, pastures, and woods.
  • Hadrian’s Villa (Tivoli):
    • Vast garden complex with extensive ruins still visible today.
    • More influential in later times than Nero’s gardens.

Islamic Gardens

*The Patio de la Acequia at the Generalife (Court of the Water Channel) – the summer palace of the Moorish sultans, in Granada, Spain.

Key Characteristics of Arab Gardens:

  • Arab Influence on Gardens (7th Century Onward):
    • Arabs expanded across western Asia, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain.
    • Spread Persian and Byzantine garden features across the Mediterranean, reaching Iberia.
  • Water Features:
    • Used in regularly shaped pools, often rectangular.
    • Simple fountains kept water in motion.
    • Narrow canals resembled agricultural irrigation channels.
    • Shallow pools appeared deeper due to blue tile linings.
  • Water as a central element, valued for its:
    • Ability to support plant growth.
    • Cooling effect in hot climates.
    • Soothing sound from its movement.

History of Landscape Architecture: Renaissance to Modern (15th to 20th Centuries)

Italian Renaissance Gardens

*Villa d'Este: hillside fountain.

Rise of Renaissance Gardens (Mid-15th Century, Italy):

  • Reflects growing European prosperity & confidence in shaping nature.
  • Medieval enclosures opened up, especially near Florence.
  • Gardens were designed in alignment with the central axis of the house, creating a cohesive architectural whole.
  • Villas were built for amenity rather than defense, making gardens more open and expansive.
  • Donato Bramante’s Vatican courtyard linking the Papal Palace & Villa Belvedere.

Key Features of Renaissance Gardens:

  • Openness
  • Axial layout and extension of space.
  • House & garden unity, with built stone elements.
  • Statuary & fountains were widely used.
  • Classical elements like grottoes, nymphaea, urns, and inscriptions.
    Nymphaeum

Planting & Vegetation:

  • Flowers were common but had short blooming seasons.
  • Beds were arranged in decorative geometric patterns, bordered by trimmed herbs (rosemary, lavender, boxwood).
  • Evergreens (ilex, cypress, laurel, ivy) provided shade and contrast to stonework.
    *VILLA GAMBERAIA (1610, SETTIGNANO)

Variations in Italian Garden Styles:

  • Villa Gamberaia (1610, Settignano):

    • Small, intimate compartments at the back.
    • Expansive views over Florence from the front.

  • Villa Lante (1564, Bagnaia):

    • Designed for a small, selective group rather than solitude or crowds.

  • Villa Farnese (1587, Caprarola):

    • Grander scale, intended for a discerning audience.
      *Giardini di Sopra (Upper Gardens), the fountain on the steps leading to a small casino Vinola designed a similar fountain in Villa Lante, la Fontana della Catena

  • Villa d’Este (1550, Tivoli):

    • Built on a steep slope using a powerful river for spectacular fountains, including a “water organ”.
    • Dramatic, theatrical garden designed to impress.

  • Boboli Gardens (1550, Pitti Palace, Florence):

    • Formal state garden, used for ceremonies.
    • Less dramatic and lifeless when not in use.
      approximately 111 acres (45 hectares) of lavishly landscaped gardens behind the Pitti Palace, extending to modern Fort Belvedere, in Florence

  • Orsini Castle Garden (Bomarzo):

    • Unusual “monster” garden, likely influenced by Far Eastern travel accounts.

17th and 18th Century French Gardens

*Jardins du château de Versailles (Gardens of Versailles) Aerial view of the gardens from above the palace

Introduction of Italian Garden Styles to France (Late 16th – Early 17th Century):

  • French invasions of Italy brought Italian garden design influences.
  • Château of Anet (1547–56) (by Philibert Delorme) was the first coordinated garden with a dwelling, though still medieval in character.
  • Dampierre introduced visual extension beyond the garden, with a moat transformed into decorative water features.
  • Château of Richelieu (1631) & Vaux-le-Vicomte (1661) perfected the central axis extension and garden-dwelling unity.
  • After Fouquet’s fall, his landscape designer André Le Nôtre was taken over by Louis XIV, leading to the creation of Versailles gardens.

Characteristics of the French Formal Garden:

  • Adapted to the flat plains of northern France, influencing its grand scale and expansive layouts.
  • Terraced designs (as seen in Villa d’Este) were used only where topography allowed (e.g., Saint-Germain-en-Laye).
  • Grandeur was achieved through vast axial developments, symbolizing power and control over nature.
  • Influenced by Baroque taste, incorporating:
    • Fountains & parterres for variety.
    • Boscages (wooded enclosures) with hidden gardens—not for privacy but for theatrical performances.
      *Villa d'Este, Tivoli UNESCO World Heritage Site (2001)

Distinctive Features of French Gardens:

  • Compartiments de broderie: Intricate garden bed patterns resembling embroidery.
  • Unlike Italian gardens, French designs were unified & highly elaborate.
  • Used box edging, flowers, colored stones, and sand instead of just plants.
  • Inspired by Persian garden carpets, but instead of bringing gardens indoors, the French laid out their gardens like carpets.
  • The French garden logically extended Italian garden principles to a more structured, grandiose, and theatrical level.
    *Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 km (34 mi) southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France.

17th and 18th Century English Gardens

*Jardins du château de Versailles (Gardens of Versailles) Aerial view of the gardens from above the palace

Early English Garden Influences (Pre-18th Century):

  • Adopted French geometric garden style, but emphasized grass lawns and gravel walks.
  • French gardens had axial vistas, while English gardens (e.g., St. James’s & Hampton Court) had radiating vistas.
  • Dutch influence (under William & Mary, 1689–1702) led to topiaried yew and box.
    *The English Grounds of Wörlitz, Germany one of the largest English parks in 18th- century Europe.

Shift to Naturalistic Gardens (18th Century):

  • Growing awareness of nature’s beauty led to rejection of formal, geometric gardens.
  • Writers like Alexander Pope & Joseph Addison criticized artificial topiary and promoted natural forms.
  • William Kent (with Richard Boyle) pioneered irregular garden layouts at Chiswick House (1734).
  • At Stowe, Buckinghamshire, gardens evolved from geometric to irregular, embracing natural tree forms & asymmetry.