Product Description

"Here at last is a book destined to restore a more affectionate and personal relationship with the garden. Charmingly written, profusely illustrated, this handsome book introduces the reader to the beauty and wide variety of gardens -- from the landscape designs of ancient China and India to those of Capability Brown and Walt Disney and the modern American suburban homeowner." -- John B. Jackson, landscape historian "The authors begin by establishing some basic principles of gardening, then go on to discuss 20 gardens from places as diverse as ancient Rome to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.... A provocative, challenging work." -- Washington Post

This is an entirely different garden book: a pattern book in which a score of landscapes and gardens are drawn, described, and analyzed not just as a bouquet of pleasures but as sources, lodes to be mined for materials, shapes and relationships, and ideas for transforming our own backyards.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #504298 in Books
• Published on: 1993-08-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780262631532
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
With erudition and uncommon imagination, the authors consider the social and aesthetic history of gardens, deftly compressing encyclopedic findings in urbane prose. Illustrations.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review


"Here at last is a book destined to restore a more affectionate and personal relationship with the garden. Charmingly written, profusely illustrated, this handsome book introduces the reader to the beauty and wide variety of gardens - from the landscape designs of ancient China and India to those of Capability Brown and Walt Disney and the modem American suburban homeowner."
—John B. Jackson, landscape historian



"The authors begin by establishing some basic principles of gardening, then go on to discuss 20 gardens from places as diverse as ancient Rome to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom... . A provocative, challenging work."
—Washington Post



"The book is theoretical, challenging, and a literary delight. That three architects, two of them professors, could have produced a book so felicitously written, and without a single footnote, astonishes me. Their breadth of teaming is dazzling. The subtlety and clarity of their insights fill me with admiration."
—Christopher Reed, Horticulture

About the Author
Charles W. Moore, one of America's best-known architects, is O'Neil Ford Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. William J. Mitchell is Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, and Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. William Turnbull, Jr. was Principal of William Turnbull Associates, San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Much more than a garden book
It's really about experiencing and analyzing the spacial environment. Well written & illustrated. I've used it as a supplemental text in a history of L.A. course, & students have found it really valuable. I've just plain enjoyed it.

Not a cofee-table book, a SERIOUS BOOK!!!
This book impressed me with the amount of information on garden design, styles and history it has. No, it is not a coffee table book with pretty pictures, but a serious study on the history of garden design. The pictures in it are black-and-white, as well as all diagrams and plans. It is an excellent reference book for students of landscape design and garden lovers alike!!!

A treasure of a book!
This is a book full of the breath of life. Like the great gardens described, it can be appreciated in many ways. At once a collection and a pilgrimage, combining East and West, always with a touch of humor, it makes you feel the joy of being alive!