THE NEW AESTHETIC OF MODERNISM
 Modernism in landscape architecture refers to the
rejection of traditional styles and approaches and
the embrace of functionalism.
 The new aesthetic overcame the eclectic mix of
historical styles that was prevalent at the turn of the
century.
 Modern designers articulated in their work values
that were democratic, accessible, and reflective of a
new more casual lifestyle.
 Landscape designs were antiaxial and
omnidirectional, and incorporated nontraditional
materials, abstract shapes, and sculpture.
o Designers employed plants and sculptures
purely for aesthetic impact, not their
associative meanings.
The international style
 Designers were optimistic about the role of machine-
age technology and saw its potential to encourage
healthy and leisurely lifestyles.
 Architectural theorists promoted an International
Style that expressed industrial materials and
processes and that was free of any trace of
authority, hierarchy, social class, or vernacular
flavor.
o Objects and spaces expressed utilitarian
functions.
o Ornamentation was unnecessary; design
elements had to be purposeful.
 “FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION”
o The Bauhaus (Dessau, Germany)
 stressed the unity of art, industry,
and nature
 Students explored the use of
industrial materials and
technologies (less expensive -> more
egalitarian aesthetic)
 Walter Gropius: founder and
director (1925-1933) of the
Bauhaus. He became the head of the
Graduate School of Design at
Harvard (1933) and brought the
International Style to America.
 German Pavilion
o Ludwig Miles van der Rohe
o Barcelona Exposition (1929)
o The archetype of modern spatial
composition
 Its open floor plan and modular
system of support created a new
sense of space (interpenetrating
vertical and horizontal planes)
 Charles-Edouard Jeanneret:
o Applied the International Style to residential
design
o House -> “machine for living”
o Villa Savoye: raised up on pilotis (columns)
and disconnected from the landscape
 Nature functioned as a romantic
backdrop for architecture
Early influences on modernist gardens
 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs
et Industriels Modernes (Paris)
o Art Deco
o The temp. “viewing” gardens had an
enormous influence on early 20th century
landscape design.
 Gabriel Guevrekian
o Garden of Water and Light
o Modern Persian Garden
o Based on the use of triangular forms and
reflective surfaces, as well as on optical
color theories that created the illusion of a
3-D painting
o The plan formed a large triangle, broken up
by triangular planting beds and triangular
pools of water. The surrounding “fence” was
compose of tinted glass triangles. A rotating
spherical sculpture was made of faceted
reflective glass.
o conceptual artistic statement: plants
functioned as abstract masses of color
 Villa Noalles: “cubist garden” ->
created the illusion of representing
multiple points of view all at once
 Fletcher Steele
o His work can be seen as a link between
Beaux-Arts formality and modernism
o His purity of line, fluid geometric forms, and
use of color typify the Art Deco style.
o Naumkeag (Stockbridge, Massachusetts)
 Illustrated a new conception of the
landscape as a setting for outdoor
living
 30 years
 Rose Garden, Afternoon Garden,
Blue Stdeps
 Christopher Tunnard
o Wrote a book entitled Gardens in the
Modern Landscape: the garden as a social
concept; functional requirements dictated
form
o Advocated asymmetrical balance and a
harmony of indoor and outdoor spaces
Midcentury modernists in America
 Thomas Church
o Beaux-Arts trained landscape architect
whose practice primarily focused on
residential design
o Gardens are for People (book, 1955)
 Consider foremost the needs of the
client in designing landscape spaces
 Provided practical advice to
homeowners about how to exploit
unique aspects of a site
o He employed line, texture, and form in
asymmetrical compositions that were both
pragmatic and artistic settings for family life
and casual entertaining
o Hallmark: patterning of the ground plane,
w/ emphasis on the structure of space rather
than the planting
 He often juxtaposed curvilinear and
blomorphic forms against
orthogonal shaped
o Donnell Garden (Sonoma, Californina)
 Garrett Eckbo
o Dedicated to providing affordable,
functional and dynamic landscapes for
middle-class families
o Landscape for Living & The Art of Home
Landscaping (books, 1950 & 1956)
 Provided guidance appropriate for
the design of small-scale spaces
o Organization & Composition of Space: focus
of the garden
o Developed plans based on user needs and
functional spatial relationships
o One of the first landscape architects to rebel
against the Beaux-Arts formalism
o Inspired by contemporary cultural trends
(jazz, fashion, film, art)
o Concerned with progressive causes and
socially conscious design
o Farm Security Administration
 Designed migrant-worker housing
and community centers
o Alcoa Forecast Garden (1959)
 Laurel Canyon, California
 Financed by the Aluminum Company
of California
 Demonstrate how the new material
could be used in residential
applications
o Used his own backyard to showcase his
innovative design solutions (aluminum
screens, trellises, and fountain)
 Dan Kiley
o Demonstrated a concern with form and
spatial hierarchy
o Used strong geometries to order the
landscape and was able to achieve a sense of
directionality
o Developed a style characterized by the use
of overlapping planes and repeated
modules to create a dynamic
interpenetration of landscape space
o Miller Garden (Columbus, Indiana; 1955)
 Offset axes, long allees, and
rectilinear forms
Modern maverick
 Lawrence Halprin
o His work serves as bridge between the
modernist and environmental design
movements
o RSVP Cycles: Creative Processes in the
Human Environment (book, 1969)
 Outlined his ideas about the
relationship between humans and
nature
 A holistic site analysis was integral to
the development of a successful
design
o Developed an original technique for
“scoring” the landscape that maps natural,
social, and cultural patterns
o One of the first advocates for citizen
participation in the design process
o Sea Ranch (Gualala, California)
 An excellent example of his
commitment to working
collaboratively w/ other
professionals and w/ the forces of
nature
 Clustered the houses and tucked
them into slopes to preserve open
space, maintain view corridors and
provide shelter from the wind
o Valued urban life and promoted the
revitalization and greening of cities.
o Public Plaza in San Francisco
 Old Ghirardell Chocolate Factory
 One of the first examples of
successful adaptive reuse
o Ira Keller Fountain (Portland, Oregon)
o Freeway Park (Seattle, Washington)
o Levi Strauss Plaza (San Francisco, California)
o FDR Memorial (Washington, DC)
 Environmental art  Fernando Caruncho (Mas de les Voltes, Spain)
o Wheat Parterres: reinterpreted the
Nature as medium
ferme ornee
 LArchs became more focused on corporate culture
o Structures the landscape with agrarian
(1960s)
geometry, combining plants, water, and
 Environmental artists work w/ the earth as their
mineral elements
medium.
 Earthworks: large-scale landscape interventions that
required heavy machinery to realize; often in remote
locations, distance and solitude became part of the
experience
 Robert Smithson
o Spiral Jetty (Great Salt Lake, Utah)
 Andy Goldsworthy
o Works w/ nature and time to construct
temporary sculptures
o Uses natural materials (ice, leaves, stones,
wood) found on a particular site to create
patterns and forms in the landscape
 Env. Art & Land Art: gave visual expression to
ecological processes and brought the idea of the
landscape as an expressive medium
Artistic trends in lands. Design
 A focus on form-giving through the manipulation of
color, texture and line
 Burle Marx
o A Brazilian landscape designer whose work
reflected his interests in botany and
planting.
o Treated the ground plane as a canvas on w/c
he painted abstract compositions w/ colorful
masses of typical native plants
o Monteiro/Fernandes Garden (1948)
 Treats the space as a purely visual
experience
o Banco Safra Plaza (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
 Barragan
o Mexican architect known for his colorful,
minimalist, spatial compositions
o Used walls to subdivide landscape
space in a way that recalled the
courtyards of the Alhambra (Spain)
o Horse Farm (San Cristobal)
 Kathryn Gustafson
o Folds and pleats the ground plane like
fabric
 Patricia Johanson (Dallas, Texas)
o Translates organic forms into built
elements
o Leaonhardt Lagoon: translated the form
of an aquatic plant into a path system at
Fair Park