A Cultural History of Gardens in the Modern Age

Description

Landscape architecture and garden-making have witnessed huge changes during the twentieth-century, and the impact of these will continue to be discussed and interpreted in the twenty-first. New materials and responses to different social conditions, along with new attitudes to how gardens are perceived and interpreted and above all the relationship of built work to the larger landscape of territory and society - all have challenged long-held practices of garden-making, even while those same traditions continue to be at the centre of both designers and users. A Cultural History of Gardens in the Modern Age presents an overview of the period with essays on issues of design, types of gardens, planting, use and reception, issues of meaning, verbal and visual representation of gardens, and the relationship of gardens to the larger landscape.

John Dixon Hunt is Professor of the History and Theory of Landscape, Emeritus, at the University of Pennsylvania and Editor of the journal, Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. He is the author of many works including The Venetian City Garden: Place, Typology and Perception, Nature Over Again: The Garde Art of Ian Hamilton Finlay and The Afterlife of Gardens.

An exciting and unusual approach to a perhaps undervalued aspect of history . . . [that] usefully fills a niche area of research and study. [A Cultural History of Gardens] provides an important and fascinating insight through thought-provoking essays and will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of the garden . . . the development of human society in general. -- Louise Ellis-Barrett, St. John's School, Leatherhead, UK * Reference Reviews, vol. 28 *