Opening Spaces

The art of designing both unites and divides landscape architecture and architecture. Despite having a long tradition, landscape architecture has lacked a concise and illuminating presentation of the fundamental principles underlying its design and planning concepts.
This much sought-after book has evolved out of more than twenty years of teaching experience. The authors distinguish between the variable factors such as climate, growth of vegetation etc. which are determining parameters in landscape architecture, and the more abstract element of design. They describe the ideal design components and demonstrate the extent to which natural features such as surfaces, spaces, paths, borders, hard and soft materials shape and determine the designs. This book clearly reveals how concepts such as order and chaos, way and goal, intention and reaction form the basis for landscape design, just as they do in architecture.