The Hybrid of French Axial Symmetry and English Garden Avishek Subba Stage 2 Landscape AR532
The shaping of landscape varies from place to place. The landscape of a particular place is always different from another place, although some features might be similar. For example, English use the curved roads and oak trees in an open field, French make the long straight path leading to the distant horizon with trees planted on the sides and Japanese make garden around houses with short trees and small pond. Since ages, agriculture has been the basic use of land. Agriculture has played a major role in the organisation of landscape. The landscape of rural areas has always been shaped according to agricultural requirements. The paved paths along the boundary of agricultural field and division of cultivation land shape the land. The particular landscape that inspires me the most is the landscape of Paris and the English garden. The landscape of Paris is arranged in such a way that one can view to a far distant horizon because of simple straight lines that emerge from Arch de Triomphe in a circle. Paris is also considered the most romantic place in the world, so its landscape probably exhibits love to people walking through its landscape. The simple arrangements of houses along these lined roads make the French landscape really remarkable and easy to explore for tourists.
Arc de Triomphe, the centre point of Paris (www.portfolio.com) The geometry of building plays a major role in separating it from nature. Nature or wilderness is free of shape and boundaries, whereas the buildings and construction imply boundary, organisation and shaping of nature. The shaping of landscape brings a dynamic change in the way of perception and utilisation of the land. Houses are shaped and designed according to the features of landscape like slope, vegetation and climate. Japanese houses are usually rectangular and square shaped which gives them a prominent shape to their surroundings. The Parthenon in Greece sits on top of a hill on a podium and it has a rectangular shape that separates it from the surroundings. The houses with rectangular and square shapes give them sharp and clear presence in their surroundings. It also brings organisation and ease to the landscape. Herzog & de Meuron have done a lot of huge scale buildings in the spirit of classical modernism. Their Dominus winery project in California remains one of the most outstanding ones. In their Eberswalde Library project, they designed two solitary buildings which were completely different, but had a distinctive character to the whole campus. The conical seminar building has a student refectory and a garden cafe overlooking the river and the main building or the library is joined to the other one with a short corridor that looks like a bridge. (p.8 Eberswalde Library, Herzog & de Meuron, M. Gerhard, L. Valeria)
English Garden was inspired from French and Dutch gardens before the eighteenth century. It was inspired from European landscape paintings which made it picturesque. Later this traditional style of formal gardening changed to more natural style. The English landscape was mostly shaped by designers like William Kent, Lancelot Brown and Humphrey Repton. (Picturesque garden, Aug 6, 1999, Suite 101) Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain said that William Kent leaped the fence and saw that all nature was a garden.(p.13, The Genius of the place: The English Landscape Garden, John Dixon Hunt, Peter Willis, 1988) The main features of English Landscape are lawns with trees and water fountain. The lawns are paved with small smooth curved pathways that move around the trees and water fountain. The English landscape forces us to see the whole of nature as a garden.
Fountain in an English Garden (from Outdoor Living, p.36) French landscape has a strong axial symmetry in plan. Axis is a linear plan element that connects two or more points. It plays an important role in land planning. It acts as the dominant landscape feature. I intended to make axis around office and winery area in order to create a sense of organised working space. Axis creates direction and order whereas it looks dominating and monotonous at the same time. It is forceful and lacks the sense of relaxation, appreciation for nature and confusion that people tend to enjoy. At the same time, Paris, the capital city of France with its strong axial symmetrical plan is considered to be the most romantic landscape. The forcefulness in connecting element of axis and strong sense of law and order becomes diluted and humane in the context of landscape of Paris. It becomes less confusing to the perception of viewing landscape in distant horizon as the framed view of Arc de Triomphe.
The distant view of Arc de Triomphe (www.paristoolkitcom) The English garden is picturesque in view. It provokes openness and closeness to nature at the same time inspires romantic emotions. Its main feature is the English house overlooking to the pond through the garden. The trees are planted in distant to bring a sense of openness. The garden is usually featured with a fountain inside a round path where different paths meet. The axial landscape is the complete opposite of the natural landscape. The nature or the wilderness does not show axis or direction. Nature prevails in a free state of form. The garden without axis looks more relaxed and captivating. I wanted to create a garden area beside the office area in a decorative manner. Garden acts as a place for relaxation and enjoyment with nature. The formal English landscape garden in particular is picturesque and pleasing. The English garden follows the naturalistic features of Chinese garden. It is really classical that suits the average-sized garden. Neat circles, straight lines and symmetry create order and spontaneity in English Garden. (p.30, Nicholas Barnard, Outdoor Living) A new natural style of gardening was developed in England in the eighteenth century. The gardens were no longer formal with straight paths and lawns. It began to curve and wander with trees planted in clusters instead of in rows making it more open and spacious. Earlier English gardens before the eighteenth century were more formal with axial straight paths and symmetry. The Cottage garden is also a part of the English garden which features abundance of flowers and colour. These gardens are the base that inspired romantic novels, poets and films. These gardens are very soothing to the eye but it can be made energetic at the same time using hot, vibrant coloured flowers. English gardens have many variations in shapes, colours and sizes but they have a distinct English personality, (Deborah Harding, English style Gardens) Paths play an important role in shaping English landscape. They have purpose and appeal and lead us to a point of interest. In the garden of my design, I intend to create an informal curved path that leads to a fountain in the middle of the garden moving along oak trees on sides and, which finally leads to a seating area on far-east corner of the garden. People will be able to relax enjoying the view of garden and the surrounding buildings.
(Images of different types of garden from Outdoor Living, p.37) John Ely Burchard states that "The good life is not a matter of good gimmicks or of physical ease; it is a matter of things that uplift the spirit. High averages will not define it. The arch of Etoile and the tree lined streets that come to it and depart are more important to the good life of poorest Parisian than a tenth of one percent improvement in his substandard dwelling."(p.225, Landscape Architecture, John Ormsbee Simonds) The alignment of trees along the road towards Arc de Triomphe is truly remarkable. The view on the other side of the arch is framed by the columns which can be seen from a very far distance. Thus, axis also acts as a line of vision. The axial plan can also create beautiful boulevard on the sides for trees, grass and flowers. Paris is famous for its boulevard with trees by the river bank. The boulevard character is taken by every space projected from a main central structure like the gardens along the Eiffel Tower. In the context of landscaping, views of the surrounding play an important role. The views have been framed since the earliest period of classical architecture. For example the colonnades of ancient structures like the Parthenon not only gave support but provided frame towards the view of the surroundings. For our project, the main office building becomes the centre point that connects different places of the landscape. The paths from car park reach to the office building creating vineyard and small garden along the way as boulevards. The centre point or office building divides the whole landscape into four distinct parts- car park on north-east, winery on north-west, vineyard on south-west and garden on south-east. The main view from the central building is focused towards three main viewpoints- vineyard in south, pond and winery on west and garden on east. The picturesque English garden in my design is almost like an escape from work stress and force of industrial pressure for relaxation and leisure. The garden is the only place where trees do not align and pathways do not create axis in order to make it more natural and realistic as possible. The garden will be a quiet space with trees around and raised car park area to the north as a wall.
Traditional English Garden with Pond & house in the background setting at Lyme Park in Cheshire (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Plantation of trees and vegetation also help in defining a particular landscape. Trees and plants that are suitable for that landscape are planted. There is such a distinct difference in English and French landscape even if they are very near. This shows that the landscape varies from place to place as culture and tradition vary with different people. The French usually plant tall stout trees in alignment whereas the English plant broad trees like oak in free manner or in no particular order. The isolated trees especially oak with broad branches on slope plains look more picturesque and cinematic. The alignment of trees in Paris makes it more military like in nature. Trees also act as tool for concealment from the surrounding neighborhood. The view towards southeast where Canterbury lies will be planted with lesser trees in order to capture the view whereas the view towards west will be concealed by aligned gum trees in order to maintain privacy. These trees will act as canopy as they are tall and their branches spread wide. They also provide shading from sun. The main entrance to car park will be planted with aligned pine trees in order to give a sense of warm welcome. The garden will also have cherry plum trees on east side. The pink blossom of cherry tree in spring manipulates the landscape to a high level of richness. They are usually short and will not obstruct the views of Canterbury. The trees will be used to create an enclosure except the south side which will be open for allowing wind. The wind will blow from south and the vines on south and tall trees on west will act as wind hedges and barriers. As our site had a slope, the solution was to create a terraced design that moved with the land. An elevated deck outside the canteen area is more affordable and effective providing flat surface for sitting and dining outdoors.
The Oak tree in an open English garden area (www.flickr.com)
View of the Garden and building from seating on far-east corner Water features like lakes and ponds make up the English Garden. A garden is not possible to preserve without water. Water influences in the way we plan and manage our gardens and landscapes, not just because of its aesthetic and environmental value, but because its presence or absence ultimately dictates what is possible. (p.9, Nigel Dunnett, Andy Clayden , Rain Gardens) It brings our gardens and landscapes to life preserving wildlife and biodiversity. The water feature in my landscape will be in front of the winery and by the side of office building. This will help in cooling the building surroundings during summer. The landscape might vary from place to place but the relationship of landscape with nature is never apart. Landscape is always part of nature and it should preserve the wildlife and bio-diversity around that landscape. Good landscaping can help in enriching the culture, tradition and bio-diversity of a place.
Bibliography -Landscape Architecture, A Manual of Site Planning and Design, John Ormsbee Simonds, McGraw-Hill Professional, 1998 -English Style Gardens, Symmetrical and Patterned or a Profusion of Flowers, Deborah Harding, www.Suit101.com, Aug 4 2008 -Nicholas Barnard, Outdoor Living, Thames & Hudson, London, UK, 2005 -Rain gardens: managing water sustainably in the garden and designed landscape, Nigel Dunnett, Andy Clayden, Timber Press, 2007 -Eberswalde Library, Herzog & de Meuron, M Gerhard, L Valeria, Architectural Associations, London, 2000 -The Genius of the place: The English Landscape Garden, John Dixon Hunt, Peter Willis, MIT Press, 1988