Short description:

This book is a case-by-case study of thirty-seven significant, existing works of landscape design worldwide. An informative and easy-to-read reference volume for practitioners and students alike, it presents key precedents in landscape architecture using site plans and recent photographs to showcase each project.

Long description:

Designed Landscapes is a case-by-case study of 37 significant, existing works of landscape design worldwide, largely constructed since the Renaissance. Being an informative and easy-to-read reference volume for practitioners and students alike, it presents key precedents in landscape architecture using site plans and recent photographs to showcase each project.

Organised and presented in 12 sections based on project type, each project is examined based on date, previous site condition, designer(s), design intentions, current composition, unique features, ownership and management, and comparable projects. Each chapter offers an insightful critique of the featured projects.

Written by the authors of Great City Parks, the book posits that these carefully selected key projects have maintained their status throughout the ages because they express values and design intentions that continue to inform the practice of the landscape architecture in the present day. The book concludes with a ten-point summary of lessons for professional practice gleaned from the studies.

Including a wide range of case studies from countries including many in western Europe, the United States, Canada, India, Japan and China, and lavishly illustrated with over 200 full-colour images, the book is a must-have volume for anyone interested in the history and current practice of landscape architecture.

"Designed Landscapes: 37 Key Projects, is a beautiful and fascinating volume, and a pleasure to read. The book is a profusely illustrated exploration of a series of outstanding landscapes, all designed by human hand. Beyond providing a multi-dimensional and in-depth study of a broad spectrum of outstanding man-made landscapes, the book promotes understanding and preservation of designed landscapes generally, and inspires designers to achieve a high quality of work in their own projects."

Ron Williams, CSLA, RAIC, landscape architect, review for Canadian Architecture

"As an overview of a wide range of landscape designs and their settings, Designed Landscapes: 37 Projects would serve admirably as a textbook for students of landscape architecture or as a desk reference for more experienced practitioners of landscape architecture, urban design, or city planning. The book goes well beyond the typical introductions found in surveys of landscape architecture history. Aside from showcasing particular design aesthetics and stylistic periods while addressing the peculiarities of site, climate, or culture, it offers insights into each design's unique solutions to specific design problems."

S. Scott Shannon, Professor Emeritus at SUNY-ESF, review for Landscape Journal

"Organized in a dozen categories such as enclosed spaces, private parkland, and campuses, Designed Landscapes is an ambitious volume...Each case study presents an exhaustive history and design analysis and is accompanied by annotated drawings and photographs."

Review in Landscape Architecture Magazine

Table of Contents:

1. Water 1.1 Villa Lante, Bagnaia, Viterbo, Italy ? Terraced water garden 1.2 Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar, Kashmir, India ? Moghal pleasure garden 1.3 Miroir d?eau, Bordeaux, France ? Water feature / focus of urban regeneration 2. Landform 2.1 Dumbarton Oaks, Georgetown, Washington DC, USA ? Terraced hillside garden 2.2 Parc Diderot, Courbevoie, France ? Plunging landform 2.3 Northala Fields, Ealing, London ? Conical roadside earthworks 3. Plant Collections 3.1 Villandry, Indre-et-Loire, France ? Renaissance château garden + potager extraordinaire 3.2 Hidcote Manor, Gloucestershire, England ? Manor house garden 4. Enclosed Spaces 4.1 Courtyards of the Alhambra, Granada, Spain ? Moorish courtyards 4.2 Wang Shi Yuan, Suzhou, PR China ? Classical Chinese garden 4.3 Paley Park, East 53^rd Street, New York, USA ? Pocket park 5. Private Gardens 5.1 Entsu-ji, Kyoto, Japan ? Zen monastery garden 5.2 Miller Garden, Columbus, Indiana, USA ? Domestic garden 5.3 Little Sparta, Stonypath, Lanarkshire, Scotland ? Concrete poet?s garden 6. Commemorative Landscapes 6.1 Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA ? Rural cemetery 6.2 Skogskyrkog?rden, Stockholm, Sweden ? Forest cemetery 6.3 Kennedy Memorial, Runnymede, Surrey, England ? Memorial to president of United States 7. Private Parkland 7.1 Vaux-le-Vicomte, Maincy, France ? Baroque chateau garden 7.2 Rousham Park, Oxfordshire, England ? Arcadian parkland 7.3 Bloedel Forest Reserve, Washington State, USA ? Forest reserve 7.4 Kröller-Müller Sculpture Garden, Netherlands ? Sculpture garden 8. City Parks 8.1 Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Paris, France ? City park on restored site 8.2 Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York, USA ? American pastoral city park 8.3 Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Germany ? Post industrial city park 9. Campuses 9.1 Academical Village, University of Virginia, USA ? University campus 9.2 St Catherine?s College, Oxford, England ? University college campus 9.3 Deere & Company World Headquarters, Moline, Illinois, USA ? Corporate headquarters 9.4 Robson Square, Vancouver, Canada ? Government precinct 10. Linear Landscapes 10.1 Grand Rounds, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA ? Urban parkway 10.2 Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia and North Carolina, USA ? Rural parkway / national park 10.3 Promenade Samuel de-Champlain, Quebec City, Canada ? Riverfront boulevard 11. Housing Landscapes 11.1 Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, USA ? Garden suburb 11.2 Lafayette Park, Detroit, USA ? Inner city housing 12. Urban Landscapes 12.1 Pienza, Val d?Orcia, Italy ? Renaissance urbanism / medieval townscape 12.2 Savannah Wards and Squares, Georgia, USA ? Enlightenment urbanism 12.3 Place Stanislas and Place de la Carri?re, Nancy, France ? Enlightenment civic design 12.4 Edinburgh New Town, Scotland ? Georgian city extension