Illustrated History of Landscape Design

A visual journey through the history of landscape design

For thousands of years, people have altered the meaning of space by reshaping nature. As an art form, these architectural landscape creations are stamped with societal imprints unique to their environment and place in time.

Illustrated History of Landscape Design takes an optical sweep of the iconic landscapes constructed throughout the ages. Organized by century and geographic region, this highly visual reference uses hundreds of masterful pen-and-ink drawings to show how historical context and cultural connections can illuminate today's design possibilities.

This guide includes:

• Storyboards, case studies, and visual narratives toportray spaces

• Plan, section, and elevation drawings of key spaces

• Summaries of design concepts, principles, and vocabularies

• Historic and contemporary works of art that illuminate a specific era

• Descriptions of how the landscape has been shaped over time in response to human need

Directing both students and practitioners along a visually stimulating timeline, Illustrated History of Landscape Design is a valuable educational tool as well as an endless source of inspiration.

Amazon Exclusive: Q&A with the Authors

What are some of your favorite iconic landscape spaces?
Chip: The topiary garden at Levens Hall is so unusual and surreal. It’s survived the changing styles of landscape design over the centuries and remains a testament to wackiness.
Liz: I love the choreography of space at the Villa Lante.

Why an illustrated book?
Liz: It would be hard not to rely on images to describe space. Our book contains only hand-drawings (not photographs) which further help the reader be ‘drawn’ into a space—no pun intended!
Chip: As a kid I loved the Classics Illustrated series. Seeing an artist’s interpretation of a great narrative made it very real for me.

What makes this different from other history books?
Chip: We have included so many unique graphic features—plans, sections, elevations, perspectives, axonometrics, analytical diagrams, and storyboards—that distill and synthesize important concepts.
Liz: We really tried to present a broad context for historical works of landscape architecture. We started each chapter with a timeline of world events, and concluded each chapter with summaries of design concepts, principles, vocabularies and lists of ‘neat stuff’ that are typically not part of a traditional course in landscape architectural history.

How is studying landscape history relevant to today’s designers?
Liz: Everything we do as designers relates to what’s been done before—one can evolve a trend or totally challenge tradition.
Chip: Studying the past helps a designer build a vocabulary of form, and understand the context in which one is working.

What are some examples of using historical landscape designs in today’s design challenges?
Chip: Today’s emphasis on green architecture and sustainable design is rooted in the past. Throughout history, a culture’s survival depended on understanding the delicate balance of people and nature, garden and climate.
Liz: It’s exciting to think of how people use space and understand the landscape in a digital age. The forms and design vocabularies that will capture our culture’s values in the 21st century are still evolving.