Islamic Gardens - The Expression of Garden and Style with which I Most Strongly Resonate from this Semester

Julián Huertas

16 May 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Ten:

Which expression of garden art / garden style that we have studied this semester resonated most strongly with you personally?  Explain why.

            The expression of garden art and style that we studied this semester that I most strongly resonated with was that of Islamic gardens. In this final blog post, I will discuss and analyze the features, elements, and style of these types of gardens and how they relate to my academic, spiritual, and aesthetic interests.

            As a studio art and art history major at school, I have taken courses focusing on Islamic art. Never before, however, have I specifically studied Islamic gardens. In class, we discussed how lack of anthropomorphic forms, arabesque, geometry, and calligraphy elements of Islamic art and how these components are evident in Islamic gardens.  I knew before studying Islamic gardens here at DIS that the text and layout of the Qur’an is a form of art within itself, which is demonstrated in the text of the Blue Qur’an from Tunisia in Kufic calligraphy shown at the MET Museum.  As we analyzed how the text of the Qur’an sets a blueprint for Islamic gardens, this expanded my interest in Islamic art to the Islamic garden as an art form. For this reason, I resonated strongly with Islamic gardens because it increased my already current interest in Islamic art.

            Although I am an individual who is not religious, I resonate strongly with the garden in regard to its spiritual and religious expression. Unlike gardens of other cultures, the Islamic garden is supposed to represent an earthly paradise. There are over 120 references in the Qur’an of jannat al-firdaws, which translates to “gardens of paradise.”  Thus, the Islamic garden is supposed to be a physical manifestation of the heavenly afterlife that a faithful Muslim enters after death. Even though I am not religious, I can identify with the importance of this spirituality. When I enter quiet, secluded exterior or interior spaces, I always to take the time to sit down and reflect.  The Islamic garden offers a Muslim a space to find a spiritual connection with him/herself and his/her own faith.  In a similar manner, I seek a spiritual connection with myself and the nature of the quiet, secluded space allows for this reflection to occur.

            Lastly, I resonate with Islamic gardens simply due to their beautiful aesthetic appeal. There are many water features such as fountains, pools, and water rills and channels. The chahar bagh creates a quadripartite design and square garden beds with plants and flowers. There are generally fruit trees, evergreens, and/or shrubs in these gardens as well. Thus, the gardens are pretty to look at it and to imagine myself walking around in. This is not to say there is not aesthetic beauty in other gardens, but I take more aesthetic interest in these types of ornate, geometrical features rather than the rolling landscapes of the English Landscape garden or the open and lack of ornate modernist gardens.  It is for these reasons that I most strongly resonate with Islamic gardens from this semester.

Here is a link for the MET Museum's Blue Qur'an. It is produced on parchment, which is made from animal's skin, and is written in gold and silver ink to demonstrate the beauty in the text and layout of the Qur'an.

The text of the Blue Qur'an (late 9th- to early 10th-century) from Tunisia in Kufic calligraphy demonstrates how the text and layout of the Qur'an can be a form of art within itself.

The nature of the quiet, secluded space in this Islamic garden in the Palace of Generalife allows for reflection on the self and Islamic faith to occur.

This is an example of a modern garden in the UK. It is beautiful in its own right with its open space and precise lines, but it is quite different than Islamic gardens. I personally find the ornate water and plant features of Islamic gardens to have more aesthetic beauty than this type of modern garden.

The Arts and Crafts Character, Form, and Contents of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens Gardens

Julián Huertas

9 May 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Nine:

Citing examples, define and describe the character, form and contents of the Arts and Crafts garden created by the Gertrude Jekyll & Edwin Lutyens partnership.

The Arts and Crafts Movement as whole began around the 1870s when the skill and fashion of traditional craftsmanship became widely appreciated. The movement was anti-industrial as people believed that the machine could not mass-produce an object as beautiful as an individual craftsman could. Due to its anti-industrial nature, the Arts and Crafts movement supported economic and social reform.  Within this movement, a gardener – Gertrude Jekyll – and architect – Edwin Lutyens – formed a partnership in 1889 that formed new ways of designing gardens.

Gertrude Jekyll was trained as an artist and became a gardener. She teamed up with Edwin Lutyens the architect, and the team together created a new form of garden design. As an artist, Jekyll is known for being the first to use painterly color theory when planting flowerbeds. When working together, Jekyll and Lutyens merged the house and garden with external surroundings.  In general, they are known for having geometrical patterns in the gardens along with outdoor rooms, hedges, vistas, pergolas, courts, flower-filled rills, water features such as pools and fountains, and circular steps. They incorporated the character of the space and its owners into the design.

An example of Jekyll and Lutyens’ work is Munstead House in Surrey.  Lutyens designed the house for Jekyll, which became her residence. They began their work in 1897, and this is where Jekyll first began using her painterly color theory for flowerbeds. She utilized irises and lupine flowers, which come in a variety of warm and cold colors. In addition to the color theory, Jekyll’s skill as a garden designer can be seen into how she calculated the plants for the garden in regard to flower time and plant form and height. This is not easy, yet Jekyll accommodated into the design of the garden.  Another example of the team’s work is at the garden of The Deanery in Sonning. They worked from 1899-1901. In a general sense, Lutyens did the house and garden framework as Jekyll did the beds and plants. Jekyll designed a spring garden, red garden, and rose garden within the house’s garden. The garden was ornate and each flower had its “correct neighbor” so that it would successfully grow in large compartments together and merge with the wild plants of the surrounding countryside.

Another distinct work is the garden at the Manor House in Upton Grey. The team worked from 1908-1909 and designed plans for four and a half acres of the garden on a sloping site. There is a wild garden, which has grass paths, wild flowers, different species of roses, and a small group of trees. There is also a formal garden, which has a rose garden with herbaceous borders and has no curved organic lines. She utilizes the painterly color theory as the flowers go from cool blues and whites to hot reds and oranges and back to cool colors again.

Although we are currently a little more than a century removed from the Arts and Crafts Movement, several features are still relevant to contemporary garden design in the UK. The garden designer John Brooks is working in Britain to combine interior and exterior surroundings to conform to the character of the site, just like Jekyll and Lutyens. He has studied gardens in warmer European climates and has adapted the features of these types of garden to be suitable for the UK climate and way of life. Additionally, Professor Musgrave discussed in class that in part of his PhD he analyzed why British gardens largely have not conformed to the modernist trend. On a basic sense, I got the impression that it is because there is too much of an interest, love, and fascination with non-modern plants and flowers in Britain. Modernist gardens do not incorporate these types of features.  In a similar manner to this, Jekyll had a love for these types of plants and flowers, and, thus, it appears that this type of concept in current UK gardens persists to this day.

Here is the website for the contemporary UK garden designer John Brookes. His portfolio is demonstrating how he is combining interior and exterior surroundings to conform to the character of the site, just like Jekyll and Lutyens.

The dynamic duo themselves, Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens. They met in 1889, when Jekyll was 46 and Lutyens was 22. Their personalities and characters clicked, and they formed a team that would change garden design in the Arts and Crafts Movement for the UK and the rest of Europe.

The garden of The Deanery in Sonning. In a general sense, Lutyens did the house and garden framework as Jekyll did the beds and plants. Jekyll designed a spring garden, red garden, and rose garden within the house’s garden. The garden was ornate and each flower had its “correct neighbor” so that it would successfully grow in large compartments together and merge with the wild plants of the surrounding countryside.

The garden of the Manor House at Upton Grey. There is a wild garden, which has grass paths, wild flowers, different species of roses, and a small group of trees. There is also a formal garden, which has a rose garden with herbaceous borders and has no curved organic lines. She utilizes the painterly color theory as the flowers go from cool blues and whites to hot reds and oranges and back to cool colors again.

The Influence, Form, Content, and Stlye of Victorian Villa Gardens

Julián Huertas

1 May 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Eight:

Describe the form, content and style of the Victorian villa garden. Include in your answer the inspirations for this garden type.

            The Inspiration for the Victorian garden type derives on a whole from the rise of Britain as the world’s first super power. As the United Kingdom colonized other regions of the world, industrialized, and accumulated a mass amount of wealth, there was a substantial redistribution of wealth among different socioeconomic classes that led to new trends of urbanization and suburbanization in the UK. The middle class gained more money and expanded, and there was greater emphasis on family life and homely privacy in lifestyle. This change brought about new form, content, and style to Victorian villa garden design in the UK.

            A new profession developed in the UK for workers in garden design – the florist/commercial flower grower. This development occurred as plants and gardens became viewed as household decorations.  This synched with the increase of family life and homely privacy. The form and content of gardens and plants became quite ornate as it was a representation of wealth and taste, education, and good taste in the contemporary fashion.  Specifically in regard to style, bedding, complex geometric patterns, and gravel paths became key components of Victorian gardens. The invention of the lawnmower in 1832 and importation of artificial fertilizers allowed for ornate styles to be created and mass-produced.  Additionally, arboretums and conservatories became popular as ways to experiment and display the growing of foreign, exotic plants, such as ferns, evergreens, foliage plants, tropical rhododendrons, and – especially – orchids. These types of plants displayed education and worldly knowledge as they were both native and non-native species to Britain.

            The form and content of Victorian gardens can be traced to Biddulph Grange and Chatsworth garden.  In 1840, James Bateman began his work at Biddulph Grange. In this garden, Bateman went all in to the point that he went bankrupt after twenty years from financing the garden. He made the garden resemble more like a theme park, with different areas representing different locations of the world, such as plants and styles from Egypt, Italy, and Japan. Art and nature contrast in this type of garden. In Chatsworth garden, however, art and nature coexist. In 1824, Sir Joseph Paxton began his expansion of Chatsworth that came to include the arboretum, Great Conservatory, Rockwork, and Emperor Fountain over the next twenty years. The arboretum had the largest collection of trees in Europe, and the Great Conservatory had the largest glass building of the world at the time that also happened to be heated.  These two gardens influenced the form, content, and style for Victorian gardens. They demonstrate the focus on beauty, ornateness, novelty, the foreign and exotic, and education and knowledge.

Here is a website/article that discusses a theme similar a to a video we watched in class - the symbolism behind different flowers in the Victorian Era.

The Industrial Revolution in the UK changed anything in specific regard to the UK, there was a substantial redistribution of wealth among different socioeconomic classes that led to new trends of urbanization and suburbanization in the UK. This significantly affected Victorian villa garden design.

A Victorian villa garden. The form and content of gardens and plants became quite ornate as it was a representation of wealth and taste, education, and good taste in the contemporary fashion.  Specifically in regard to style, bedding, complex geometric patterns, and gravel paths became key components of Victorian gardens.

A part of James Bateman's Biddulph Grange, representing the influence of Japan garden design.

Map and layout of Chatsworth House after its expansion. The the arboretum, Great Conservatory, Rockwork, and Emperor Fountain are the most prominent features of the garden.

Copenhagen Urban Greenspaces and Their Benefit to 21st Century Urban Living

Julián Huertas

17 April 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Seven:

Describe the character and uses of the different urban greenspaces created in Copenhagen the 19th century and explored on our Field Study, and the ways in which these parks are relevant and beneficial to 21st century urban living.

 

            The modernization and redevelopment of Copenhagen’s primary urban greenspaces began in 1872 when the City Council created several new parks.  To this day, greenspace is still of vital importance to the government and people. Although it has not happened yet (though there is still time in the year!), the city wants to allow for all urban greenspaces to be within a fifteen minute walk – not just a bike-ride, trainride, or drive – of each individual by 2015.  In this blog post, I will analyze three major urban greenspaces within the city and how they demonstrate the city’s focus on urban greenspaces.

            Ørstedsparken is the central park right next to to Nørreport Station and Torvehallerne, the glass market. It covers about sixteen acres and is highly accessible by everyday people. There is a small pond within the park surrounded by trees, an array of different plants and flowers, and open grassy areas. When walking at this park as a class, it was evident how much the park functions as a space for everyday use. People walk through the park to get from the street Nørre Voldgade to Torvehallerne. Others amble around the park, while others relax on the open grassy areas in front of the pond. Although it is easy to be aware of the city’s presence while in the park (due to the city skyline and sounds of cars, buses, and bikes), it serves as a relaxing retreat in the center of the city.

            The botanical gardens, Botanisk Have, had two other city locations before being settled in its current location within Østre Anlæg park. It currently belongs to the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Science. The botanical gardens is used for research and education. It not only educates university students but everyday people who visit the garden. Going throughout the different rooms of the botanical gardens informs the visitor about different plant species. One not only learns their technical names but can infer their optimal climates for growth based on the climates of the rooms. When visiting as a class, it was evident how the glass windows and walls of the rooms served as an efficient means of keeping the plants at a warm climate. The gardens not only served as a nice retreat from the city but as a warm way to escape the windy day.

            Frederiksberg Park used to be the summer palace and gardens for King Frederik IV beginning in 1699.  When there was the 18^th century influence of English landscapes and gardens, Frederiksberg Park underwent a transformation to make it a more romantic landscape that combined artistic and natural elements.  These inspirations were landscape paintings, rediscovery of classical texts, the Grand Tour, anti-French sentiment, and a general philosophical shift.   Winding paths control the sights of the viewer, and the park seems separate from the city as if it were in the countryside.  The ponds and canals throughout park imitate natural settings and serve as good contrasts to the winding paths.  The Apis Temple on a periphery path of the park demonstrates the influence of classicism.  The Swiss cottage and Chinese gazebo demonstrate the “worldliness” of the park to visitors and how it can function as an “escape” from normal European citylife.  When we interviewed random people in the park, they appreciated the different functions of the greenspace. Individuals run through the park, relax by the park, and celebrate May Day, International Workers’ Day, at the park.

            These urban greenspaces are relevant and beneficial to 21^st century urban living in a number of ways. They all serve everyday use – such as relaxation, recreation, and passing through – along with research and education.  The Third Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, believed that the spirit of nature interacted with the human mind to bring about emotions and motivate intellect and curiosity.  This greenspaces serve this function and, consequently are beneficial for 21^st century urban living, by keeping people more active and in touch with nature through each greenspace’s proximity. This is especially important within a city as it sets a good example for other cities as they undergo their own urban development.

Here is a link for sustainable urban development by the American Society of Landscape Architects. It discusses how greenspaces should be interconnected and create sustainable solutions for living, commuting, and planning. It cites international organizations attempting to carry out these types of concepts and cites international cities already successful at implementing or developing urban greenspaces.

Ørstedsparken is the central park right next to to Nørreport Station and Torvehallern. This view captures the pond, walking path, surrounding trees, and city skyline. It is a park that serves for recreation, relaxation, and passing through.

 

Botanisk Have, the Botanical Gardens, currently belongs to the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Science and is used for research and education.

Once a summer palace and gardens for King Frederik IV, Frederiksberg Park in Copenhagen is currently used for recreation, relaxation, and passing through. This picture shows individuals lounging on the central open green. This is likely on May 1st, known as May Day for International Workers' Day, which is coming up soon!

The Style of the Most Influential Designers of the 18th Century English Landscape Movement: William Kent, Lancelot "Capability" Brown, and Charles Bridgeman

Julián Huertas

27 March 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Six:

For the three most influential designers and innovators of in the18th century English Landscape Movement - Charles Bridgeman, William Kent & ‘Capability’ Brown - write a brief paragraph to describe the style - form, layout, content, purpose - of their landscapes.

 

            William Kent (1685-1748), Lancelot “Capability” Brown (1717-1783), and Charles Bridgeman (1690-1738) are the most famous designers of the 18^th century English Landscape Movement.  In this blog post, I will analyze the style – the form, layout, content, and purpose – of each respective English designers landscapes.

            William Kent was a proponent of the picturesque landscape. His most famous projects include Chiswick House in Chiswick, Rousham House in Oxfordshire, and Stowe House in Buckinghamshire. He combined art and nature to create classically inspired landscapes. His design is noted for closely representing the landscape paintings like those of French painters Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. He appealed to emotions and moods with his landscapes and idealized nature. He utilized soft lines and edges, classical temples, and “borrowed views,” in which he drew the eye into the landscape and natural landscape beyond. Although brilliant, Kent was known for being both unreliable and impractical.  He could create terrific 2D representations in plan but was not knowledgeable about how to turn these into actual designs. His purpose for designing was for profit and to create an idealized landscape. Kent’s style and inability to be practical contrast to both Brown and Bridgeman.

            Lancelot “Capability” Brown is potentially England’s most famous landscape designer. He designed numerous gardens and landscapes across the UK, but his most famous projects are Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and the Hampton Court gardens in Surrey. He began his career designing gardens for big estates but transitioned later in his career to designing massive landscapes. Rather than appealing to the classicism of earlier designers and landscapes, he used the nature of England as an inspiration. The function of his landscapes was for pleasure but also for profit. At both Stowe House and Blenheim Palace he sculpted and designed the landscapes to have large open spaces, trees, lakes, and water channels. The greatest irony of Brown’s designing career was that he was brilliantly subtle with his designs. It is for this reason that Sir Horace Walpole is noted for saying that Brown’s work will be forgotten because he copied nature so well that it does not look like the hand of man influenced the design.  Unlike Kent, Brown was practical and successfully implemented his designs on a massive scale.  

            Charles Bridgeman began by working on several ornate estates across England but his most famous work is on Stowe House in Buckinghamshire. Bridgeman has a unique style that combines traditional, transitional, and progressive styles. These are comprised of parterres, avenues, and lakes (traditional); garden buildings and lawn amphitheaters (transitional); and borrowed views, in which the eye is drawn into the manmade landscape and natural landscape beyond. Bridgeman’s most famous feature that he created is the ha-ha. He created this ditch when separating Kensington Gardens from Hyde Park for Queen Caroline. It is used as a natural separation that also usefully deters animals from going onto land. Thus, in a similar manner to Brown, Bridgeman was successfully able to implement his designs in landscapes – not just plans and ideas like Kent – and became known for his eclectic style and for the innovative landscape feature of the ha-ha that became used around the UK.

Here is a website that describes the history of the ha-ha, where the ha-ha is mentioned in literature, and where the ha-ha is utilized in gardens and landscapes across the UK.

Claude Lorrain's 1661 "Landscape with the Rest on The Flight into Egypt."  William Kent designed his landscapes with
this type of classical painting in mind to create an idealized, picturesque landscape.

The massive Blenheim Palace landscape by Lancelot "Capability"Brown. This landscape demonstrates the reason why Sir Horace Walpole noted that Brown’s work will be forgotten. Brown copied nature so well that it does not look like the hand of man influenced the design.

Case and point of the function of Charles Bridgeman's innovative ha-ha feature for gardens. It is used as a natural ditch that separates land and also usefully deters animals from going onto land.

Divinity, Power, and Prestige - The Versailles Palace and Gardens

Julián Huertas

19 March 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Five:

Without simply repeating the lecture notes explain why Versailles Palace and Gardens were built, and the role they played during the rule of King Louis XIV.

            The Versailles Palace and Gardens as we know today began in the 1660s when Louis XIV ordered for the remodeling of the former hunting lodge of his father. The construction occurred throughout the rest of the century to produce a monumental, majestic display of power and greatness. In this blog post, I will analyze the three primary reasons why the palace and gardens were built and the role they played during the rule of King Louis, who was in rule from 1643 to 1715.

            The first reason for the design and construction of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles was for Louis to display the divinity, power, and prestige of himself. Louis believed in the divine right of kings. In short, he believed that God crowned him as the King of France and that he himself was divine. Thus, a massive palace and gardens unlike any other in history would display his divinity to France and the rest of Europe. As European power was volatile at the time, it was important for any monarch or king to assert his strength and power. The palace and gardens were a physical and aesthetic way to do this. How Louis related this to the political and social dynamic of France leads to the second point.

            The second reason for the design and construction of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles was for Louis to consolidate power away from the royals and nobility of France.  Ever since The Fronde, the civil wars in France from 1648 to 1653, Louis XIV had been skeptical about the royals and nobility in France. He did not trust them and feared they would mutiny for power of France. Thus, Louis made Versaille the seat of government. Not only was Versaille splendid and ornate, but it was also located outside of Paris. By having all royals and noblemen live at the palace, Louis consolidated his kingly power and wealth. He provided housing, food, and entertainment to the noblemen to keep them happy and satisfied. As a result, Versaille was a palace and gardens of control – a gilded cage. Louis XIV could look over all noblemen and, thus, maintain his power.

            The third reason for the design and construction of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles was to represent the power and greatness of France itself.  As mentioned above, the palace and gardens displayed the divinity, power, and prestige of Louis XIV but it was additionally significant for the country as a whole. Everybody in France and the rest of Europe would understand that France was a divine kingdom.  Louis made his claim that France was the most grand, ornate, and powerful country in Europe and the world. The size, scale, and ornate features of the gardens were so influential that they impacted garden design throughout Europe, such as in Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, and Austria.  This influence represents the significant impact France had across Europe in regard to garden design.

Here is a link for a website with cool and quirky facts about the Palace and Gardens of Versaille.

Louis XIV, the Sun King himself in all his glory.

The Palace and Gardens of Versaille in 1623 when it was a hunting lodge.

The Palace and Gardens of Versaille after its final design and construction. The palace and gardens combined are absolutely massive. It is 1.7 km long and 67,000 square meters total!

As Europe Began its Period of Colonization, Was There an Indigenous American and Caribbean Influence on European Garden Design?

Julián Huertas

11 March 2015

Professor Musgrave

Garden Art in European History

Blog Post Four:

In light of what we have so far studied, compose and answer your own question.

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As Europe began to colonize American and Caribbean territories at the end of the 15^th century, did the cultures within these different territories and their relationship to nature affect European garden design?

            Most of the material we have studied thus far has been Euro-centric. This makes sense as our class is about European garden history, but European colonization of American and Caribbean territories began at the end of the 15^th century.  The cultures of these territories have similar and different relationships to nature.  I am wondering if European colonization of these territories affected European garden design. This may be a topic we cover later in the course with more information, but I feel it is appropriate to ask and examine this question now.

            When analyzing Islamic garden design, we touched upon how Middle Eastern influences came over to Europe in the form of design and knowledge. The House of Baghdad (also known as the House of Wisdom) was the intellectual center of the Middle East, if not the world, until its destruction in the mid-thirteenth century. Scholars there made advances in the science, mathematics, and geography, and this knowledge was fundamental for European society and scholars.  The Spice Trade was also active during this time. Spain and Portugal were primary importers of different spices and products from Asian countries and territories. Thus, there is an important influence in Europe from outside regions – the Middle East and Asia – during this time.

            During this point in time in the Americas, indigenous tribes had both similar and different relationships to nature as compared to Europeans.  Many indigenous tribes in the Americas – current Canada, North America, Central America, and South America – had (and some still have) animism and shamanism as religions. In general, these religions view nature as directly related to the spiritual world.  Plants and animals have souls and consciousness and, thus, are holy. Indigenous tribes live and identify with nature. Although animism and shamanism were not major religions in Europe during this time, the idea of holiness within nature is not foreign to Europe. As we have seen, religion is of primary importance in European garden design. Blog Post Two examines how gardens played a role in Roman, Mediæval and Muslim religions.  Blog Post Three additionally examines how the Renaissance spirit and Humanist ways of thinking influenced the idea of a divine order in nature and gardens.

            This blog post does not attempt to answer if American and Caribbean territories and their relationships to nature affected European garden design.  Rather, it shows how the influence in Europe of outside territories was fundamental and analyzes the similar and different aspects of indigenous American and Caribbean relationships to nature as compared to Europe. This blog post does not attempt to answer the question because have not covered this aspect yet in class and also this may be a topic that has not been significantly enough researched to reach a definitive finding.  If not, do you think there are ways to carry out research that could answer this question? Or is this a topic that will remain merely speculative?

Here is a website/paper that discusses indigenous tribe animism in great depth.

The House of Baghdad (also known as the House of Wisdom). It was the intellectual center of the Middle East, if not the world.

This is a map of the Spice Trade and Silk Road. This trade between the East and West was vital in allowing for knowledge to spread and new products to be imported and exported.

A graphic that illustrates the religion of animism and the concept of nature being directly related to the spiritual world. Plants and animals have souls and consciousness and, thus, are holy.  Indigenous tribes live and identify with nature.