Before the Second World War landscape architect Christopher Tunnard was the first author on Modernism in Landscape in the English language, but later became alarmed by the destructive forces of Post-war reconstruction. Between the 1950s and the 1970s he was in the forefront of the movement to save the city, becoming an acclaimed author sympathetic to preservation. Ironically it was the Modernist ethos that he had so fervently advocated before the war that was the justification for the dismemberment of great cities by officials, engineers and planners. This was not the first time that Tunnard had to re-evaluate his principles, as he had done so in the 1930s in rejecting Arts-and-Crafts in favour of Modernism. This book tracks his changing ideology, by reference to his writings, his colleagues and his work. Christopher Tunnard is one of the most influential figures in Landscape Architecture and his journey is one that still resonates in the discipline today. His leading role in first embracing the tenets of Modernism and then moving away from to embrace a more conservationist approach can be seen in the success and impact on the profession of those with whom he worked and taught.

The modern period in landscape architecture is enjoying the fascinated appreciation of scholars and historians in Europe and the Americas, and new themes, new subjects and new appraisals are appearing. This book contributes to the conversation by focusing on the work of a singular designer who spent his entire career in a province of the North Island of New Zealand. Ted Smyth practiced an assured landscape modernism without ever seeing the designs of his forebears or his contemporaries working in the UK, Europe and the United States. Designing in isolation from the mainstream of modernism, and a little after its high tide, Smyth produced a series of gardens that provoke a revaluation of the diffusionist model of influence. The book explains and describes the evolution of Smyth’s design vocabulary and relates it to the development of tropical landscape modernism in other Asia-Pacific sites. It shows how a culture of garden modernism can be generated from within a particular locale, and highlights Smyth’s engagement with Māori design traditions in search of a specific expression of the high modern essentialism of place.

Visionary landscape architecture and garden design at mid-century in North America is captured by the greats of the era, including Julius Shulman and Ezra Stoller in many previously unpublished photographs. The treasures of mid-century American architecture have long been celebrated. Less appreciated has been the landscape design that provides the framing for these masterworks. But more than frame, landscape architecture is an art worthy of the spotlight, particularly at mid-century, when the notion that “gardens are outdoor spaces for people to live in” was championed and brought to the fore; now gardens and landscapes are not just external attributes to the house but a continuation of it and its living spaces in a relationship of symbiosis, with its pools and terraces, its winding lawns, and its partly enclosed room-like spaces flanked by brick or stone or plantings in a range of colors and forms. Approximately seventy-five mostly residential projects are thoroughly documented and recounted. Landscape architects whose work is featured include Thomas Church, Lawrence Halprin, and Garrett Eckbo, among others. Highlights include the dramatic surrounds of Richard Neutra’s Perkins House in its Pasadena hillside setting and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin County Civic Center, where environment and building comingle in an extraordinary modernist vision of the future made real. This book is both a wishful gesture toward a realignment of building with nature and a must-have for anyone with a visceral appreciation for a designed environment understood as an integrated whole. Ultimately, the book underlines the fundamental importance of gardens and landscape design, intended in the widest possible sense, for the quality of living of all individuals.

Phenomenology, Materiality, Cybernetics, Palimpsest, Cyborgs, Landscape Urbanism, Typology, Semiotics, Deconstruction - the minefield of theoretical ideas that students must navigate today can be utterly confusing, and how do these theories translate to the design studio? Landscape Theory in Design introduces theoretical ideas to students without the use of jargon or an assumption of extensive knowledge in other fields, and in doing so, links these ideas to the processes of design. In five thematic chapters Susan Herrington explains: the theoretic groundings of the theory of philosophy, why it matters to design, an example of the theory in a work of landscape architecture from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, debates surrounding the theory (particularly as they elaborate modern and postmodern thought) and primary readings that can be read as companions to her text. An extensive glossary of theoretical terms also adds a vital contribution to students’ comprehension of theories relevant to the design of landscapes and gardens. Covering the design of over 40 landscape architects, architects, and designers in 111 distinct projects from 20 different countries, Landscape Theory in Design is essential reading for any student of the landscape.

This book examines the many theories of preferred landscape over the last half century and informs those readers teaching or in landscape practice of the main lines of argument so that they can make up their own minds.

In this handbook, 60 authors, senior and junior educators, and researchers from six continents provide an overview of 200 years of landscape architectural education. They tell the stories of schools and people, of visions, and of experiments that constitute landscape architecture education heritage. Through taking an international perspective, the handbook centers inclusivity with an appreciation for how education develops in different political and societal contexts. Part I introduces the field of education history research, including research approaches and international research exchange. Spanning more than 100 years, Parts II and III investigate and compare early and recent histories of landscape architecture education in different countries and schools. In Part IV, the book offers new perspectives for landscape architecture education. Education research presents a substantial opportunity for challenging studies to increase the pedagogic and didactic, the academic and historic, and the disciplinary knowledge basis. Through a boundary-crossing approach, these studies about landscape architecture education provide a reference to teachers and students, policymakers, and administrators, who strive for innovative, holistic, and interdisciplinary practice.

During the post-war era, the emerging consumer economy radically changed both the discourse and practice of architecture. It was a time where architecture became a mainstream commodity whose products sold through mass media; a time in which Thomas Gordon Cullen came to be one of Britain’s best-known twentieth-century architectural draftsmen. Despite Cullen’s wide acclaim, there has been little research into his life and work; particularly his printed images and his methods of operation. This book examines Cullen’s drawings and book design and also looks into his process of image making to help explain his considerable popularity and influence which continues to this day. It presents the lessons Cullen had to offer in today’s design culture and practice and looks into the post-war consumerist design strategies that are still used today.