Product Description
People have shaped the landscape around them since prehistoric times, creating places as diverse in form and meaning as Stonehenge, the Forbidden City of Beijing, Versailles, and New York’s Central Park. Overflowing with hundreds of plans, drawings, and photographs, many created specially for this book, this engrossing volume spans the history of landscape design and reveals a great deal about the development of societies, and how cities, parks, and gardens embody c… More >>
Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History
Tags: Architectural, architectural history, beijing, central park, Cultural, Design, forbidden city, History, Landscape, landscape design, parks and gardens, prehistoric times, s central, stonehenge, versailles
#1 by John B. Gray on March 25, 2010 - 3:14 am
This is one of the most tedious books that I’ve ever read. It focuses more on historical, cultural and politcal influences than actual garden design. I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you’re in need of a good night’s sleep.
Rating: 2 / 5
#2 by Ben Pershouse on March 25, 2010 - 4:26 am
This is a great book. It is very readable, and even if you are not particularly interested in landscape design/architectural history, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers will inspire you. This book follows landscape and cultural architecture through history and makes me wonder why all schools – from elementary on up – don’t attack history lessons from such a practical and fascinating point of view.
Also, compared with other landscape Arch books this is much less narrow and really weaves in many many threads of cultural and historical interest.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Geoffrey Brady on March 25, 2010 - 4:54 am
I had to purchase this book for my LA class and it’s a bug squasher. While the pictures are impressive, and the coverage of the subject in-depth, the author can be long winded. What she covers in a page could have easily been said in a couple of paragraphs. I also don’t care for the glossy pages. While they make the pictures look nice, reading the fine text that it’s printed can give one a headache.
Rating: 3 / 5
#4 by Kaitlyn E. Hay on March 25, 2010 - 5:31 am
Excellent excellent text- very thorough, good pictures. Even if you’re not in a class, good reading!
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Christopher Hupp on March 25, 2010 - 7:16 am
This book has so much information about the history of landscape design. If you want to trigger ideas this is where you should turn. It goes through several civilizations. It sparked me to more developed thinking.
Rating: 4 / 5