History of

Landscape Architecture
PLN 1_Module 2
Ar. Michael Abuan
Landscape Architecture
Art, science and management of
landscapes
(IFLA, 2003)

Encompasses the analysis, planning,

design, management and stewardship
of the natural and built environment
(ASLA, 1899)
 Landscape
Product of creativity; exists first in the
mind before manifested in the
physical form
(Navarra, 2014)

It is based on the perception of

humans
what sets HUMANS apart from
ANIMALS?
Humans are capable of thinking.
We have a THOUGHT PROCESS.
 Perception Area of human
Deduction experience to
Thought Ability to mold his
Action Creativity produce work
Design environment
Process
Reaction to suit his
Interaction needs
design design
elements principles
Point Contrast

Line Scale & Proportion

Texture Balance

Form Rhythm

Color Hierarchy

Size Unity & Harmony

Emphasis
what is HISTORY?
Study of the past
HISTORY
establishes
IDENTITY
 HISTORY
is
EURO-CENTRIC
 Timeline of Landscape Architecture History

PRE-HISTORY ANCIENT MIDDLE AGES RENAISSANCE MODERN

Paleolithic Egypt Christian Europe Italy Garden Movements

Mesolithic Mesopotamia Islamic Spain France Landscape Architecture Now
Neolithic Persia England
Bronze Age Greece
Rome
PRE-HISTORY: Paleolithic

Character:
• ‘gatherer’ culture
• settlements were nomadic
• structures were made as burial
monuments
• landscape art was inspired by
nature and observed happenings

Terminologies:
• cromlech – circle of standing stones (i.e. Stonehenge)
• dolmen – type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting
of two or more vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal
capstone ("table"
PRE-HISTORY: Mesolithic

Character:
• ‘hunter - gatherer’ culture
• settlements were semi-permanent
• tools for hunting started to develop
• erected statues for gods
• introduction of fire
• once natural resources are exhausted, they move to another place
PRE-HISTORY: Neolithic

Character:
• agriculture started
• domestication of animals
started
• villages started to form
• forest clearing was prevalent
• there was already a concept of
night and day
• weaving and pottery started
PRE-HISTORY: Bronze Age

Character:
• villages grew to cities
• metal tools were invented
• farming became more
sophisticated
• the calendar was established
based on astronomy and
agriculture (harvest season)
ANCIENT: Egyptian
Character:
• features ponds as water storage
• mainly uses lotus (Nymphaea
sp.), date palm (Phoenix
dactylifera), and papyrus (Cyperus
papyrus)
• no grass in gardens because of
the sun’s heat
• water was mainly collected from
the river Nile Egyptian Garden on Plan
• gardens were rectangular and
walled
Terminologies:
• shaduf – basket for water
collection
• obelisks – amorphous stones to
worship the sun, often erected in
pairs, flanking the entrances of
temples Obelisk Cyperus papyrus
ANCIENT: Mesopotamian

Sumerian
• small gardens were made to
complement large agricultural
lands

Assyrian
• private parks
were created
for hunting
animals

Babylonian
• terrace technology (i.e. Hanging
Gardens by Nebuchadnezzar)
• open courtyards and broad
avenues
ANCIENT: Persian

Character:
• inspired by Paradise or the
Garden of Eden
• gardens are enclosed
• biaxially divided into four
quadrants
• employs water in pools
• a fountain is located at the
center
• lush planting for shade and
scent
ANCIENT: Persian

‘Qanat’
Underground Irrigation System
ANCIENT: Greek
Character:
• rocky topography
• invented adonis gardens (gardens with the statue of a god usually Adonis)
• belief in basic order and harmony of forms is reflected in architecture and
gardens
• sacred groves were used for worship or venues for academies

Terminologies:
• sacred grove – group of trees with sacred significance
• polis – city state
• peristyle – line of columns used as a perimeter of a courtyard , garden
or building
• oikos – Greek residential unit
ANCIENT: Roman
Character:
• relied on feats of engineering such as
the aqueducts and concrete roads
• copied the classical style of the Greeks
• gardens were geometric
• gardens at the villa urbana are
enclosed by peristyle colonnades
• villa rustica gardens are expansive
with numerous structures

Atrium at a Villa Urbana

Terminologies:
• villa urbana – city home
• villa rustica – country home
• atrium - central court
• forum – open space equivalent to
the Greek agora
Villa Rustica
MIDDLE AGES: Christian Europe

Character:
• medieval gardens
are organic in layout
due to topography
• medieval towns have
little open space
• monasteries were
built as self sustaining
communities
• gardens were used
as source of food
• precursor of the
modern edible garden
• lack of open space
caused the fast spread
of disease
MIDDLE AGES: Islamic Spain

Character:
• took off its layout from
monastic gardens
• courtyards were called
‘cloisters’
• geometric pattern still taking
off from the concept of Persian
gardens
• purely ornamental and not as
a source of food
RENAISSANCE: Italy
Character:
• geometric garden
layout
• symmetrical in
design
• usually on playful
topography or rolling
terrain
• focused on
proportions and
classical beauty
• ‘Renaissance’ means
rebirth --- pertaining
to the rebirth of the
classical concept of
beauty
RENAISSANCE: France

Character:
• curvilinear garden
layout
• flat topography
• to compensate for
flat lands, mounting
or viewing decks were
made
• more elaborate than
Italian gardens
• ‘topiaries’ or
sculpted shrubs were
prominent
RENAISSANCE: England

Character:
• followed the formal
garden layout which
are symmetrical
• added borrowed
landscapes as natural
backdrops to the
gardens
• since it borrowed
from the classics, the
term romantic was
coined meaning
‘from the Romans’
MODERN: Garden Movements

Garden City Movement City Beautiful Movement Parks Movement

• pioneered by Ebenezer • pioneered by Daniel • pioneered by Frederick
Howard Burnham Olmsted (father of
• urban planning theory • planning that showcases landscape architecture)
were cities were classical beauty and form • creation of parks as
bounded by greenbelts public amenities and
that these are located at
central places of the city
MODERN: Landscape Architecture Now

Character:
• landscape
architecture
today aims for
sustainable
design
• fusion of
landscape and
environmental
design
• interface with
site planning
and
architecture
References
Booth, N. and Hiss, J. (1999) Residential Landscape Design

Holden, R. and Liversedge, J. (2014) Landscape Architecture:

An Introduction

Lynch, K. And Hack, G. (1996) Site Planning

Rubenstein, H. (1969) A Guide to Site and Environmental

Planning

Simonds, J. (1961) Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site

Planning and Design