1000 Details in Landscape Architecture: A Selection of the World's Most Interesting Landscaping Elements
Readers with either a keen or a hazy grasp of what landscape architecture entails will gain an altogether sharper and more encompassing understanding after absorbing the 1,000 examples from around the world presented in this brightly delineating volume. Architect Zamora Mola provides a crisp introduction, explaining that landscape architecture applies cultural, artistic, technical, and scientific knowledge to the design of an open space, most often in cities. The reigning concern now, alongside accessibility and appeal, is environmental preservation and improvement. From those basic needs spring astonishingly creative approaches to parks, gardens, waterfronts, train stations, airports, cemeteries, museums, campuses, factories, plazas, shopping malls, and green roofs. The small but sharp color photographs, effectively sequenced by theme, are accompanied by succinct and genuinely informative captions. Traditional materials––stone, plantings, and water—are combined with myriad innovations, both futuristically high-tech and down-to-earth playful, such as low walls built of stacked books sprouting mushrooms. Styles vary from minimalist to rococo, but a thousand times over these gracefully designed spaces are welcoming and dynamic, living proof of our ability to dwell in harmony with nature. --Donna Seaman