Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000002589442 | NA9064 A33 1993 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
On Order
Reviews 2
Publisher's Weekly Review
The 24 gardens unveiled here are in fact a choice few that encompass a great deal. Among the designers who are represented: Roberto Burle Marx, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Alvar Aalto, Isamu Noguchi, Frank Lloyd Wright and 18 others. Half of the sites, though, are American, which may speak for native interest or plain chance. Adams ( The French Garden, 1500-1800 ), a garden historian, notes at the outset that ``at the beginning of the twentieth century, opinions on the future of the garden were as divided as predictions on the future of painting, architecture, or the ballet. Passions could stir partisan action if not war.'' War seems less likely now, to some, but diversity of style has not diminished. Adams's survey takes in the high formality of Villandry in the Touraine, Philip Johnson's sleek-edged sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Wright's Japanese-influenced Fallingwater, integrated with multilevel elegance into nature. The author's thoughtful analytical look at the various sites is well complemented by full-color photos. Garden Book Club selection. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
This historical survey cites select garden landscapes and gives credit to the seminal figures who helped develop and shape modern garden design--Sir Edwin Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll, Beatrix Jones Farrand, and others who have been the focus of a good deal of recent gardening literature. However, Adams shows these innovative thinkers in the greater context of outstanding worldwide landscape design by tracing the exciting synthesis that occurred when new approaches were found to merge architectural concerns with the often passionate and personal urge to turn a plot of earth into a sublime visual and sensual experience. Many bold concepts in the realm of gardens are illustrated. One stunning example of a direct challenge to prevailing aesthetic notions about landscape design is architect Gabriel Guevrekian's cubist-inspired Art Deco garden for a French villa. And Everett Scott's exquisite photographic images contribute greatly to this study, with exemplary views of more than 20 gardens from highly varied locales as splendid reminders of an art form that is only now receiving much well-deserved attention. ~--Alice Joyce
