Man And The Landscape

MOST of the earth is beyond the walls of buildings, and is untouched in appearance by the art of the sculptor or the painter.

Yet the beauty of this outdoor world has an importance to man of the same sort as the beauty upon which his highest effort has been lavished in the arts of architecture and painting and sculpture. No one but a prisoner in a windowless house can escape being influenced by the beauty or ugliness of his outdoor surroundings.

The appearance of the land and objects upon it, the effect upon the eye of their infinitely various and changing forms and colors and relationships, seen in connection with the sky and all that it contains, is what we call landscape. The meaning of the word is well brought out in Hamerton's phrase, that land belongs to its owners but the landscape belongs to him who beholds it. In this broad sense, the "landscape" of the world includes every sort of outdoor scene, — in mid-ocean, in the heart of the city, or in the depths of the country.

Whether we know it or not, whether we wish it or not, the landscape of the world, amidst which we live and move and work and play, continually affects the state of our nerves and our state of mind — in short, affects our happiness — by its beauty or its ugliness, by its infinite varieties of character.

— Frederick Law Olmsted

Man And The Landscape - No one but a prisoner in a windowless house can escape being influenced by the beauty or ugliness of his outdoor surroundings.
Man's Influence Over Landscape - The appearance of the land and the objects upon it generally results from the control which man himself exerts over the materials and forces of nature just as truly and as completely as the sculptor controls the appearance of the natural stone which he shapes.
Appreciation of Landscape Beauty - Rules, recipes, and arbitrary preconceptions, like that landscape slogan, reflecting a half-truth, "Avoid straight lines," are the resort of the lazy and the superficial in matters of landscape as in all branches of art.
Landscape Design As A Fine Art - Landscape design may be regarded as the art of choosing wisely between any practical alternatives which present themselves to us in dealing with land and the objects upon it.
Qualities Peculiar to Landscape Compositions - The creations of landscape architecture — namely landscapes — are made by altering, adapting, or perfecting real landscapes existing in advance as such, much as an architect alters an old building to adapt it to new uses while respectfully conserving its fine qualities.
Importance of Utilizing Qualities Making for Unity - Since without unity there is no beauty but only distraction, it becomes peculiarly important to note other inherent qualities making for unity in landscapes.
Humanized Mode in Landscape Design - The older, simpler, and more direct mode, the "humanized" mode, frankly appeals, as do most works of art, to the deep-rooted human pleasure in exhibitions of the skill and power of man, and in evidences of man's control over nature.
Naturalistic Mode in Landscape Design - A simple example of the naturalistic is found in the treatment of a trail through a mountain wilderness, where the mere removal of obstructing vegetation may open beautiful landscapes.
Historic Styles in Landscape Design - Several designs in the "grand manner," which extended influence over Europe, even into Russia, and were often carried to extremes by incompetent designers, invited, as we have seen, a reaction towards the naturalistic mode.

Man And The Landscape

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