INDOC. Documentation Centre about Art and Nature

Landscapes in History

This meticulously documented book looks at how people have gradually moulded the territory they inhabit to meet their needs, and how over the centuries we have gradually become more aware of landscape. The book’s American authors divide their work into two sections. The first focuses on the evolution of landscapes in Europe and Asia, and the second is specifically concerned with North America.

The starting point for the book is the idea that patterns of human utilisation of the landscape from prehistory to the present have been shaped by physical and cultural circumstances. The work also addresses the need to synthesise traditional and contemporary information about land planning and design. To this end, the book examines the role of six issues in human interaction with the environment:

• the relationship of society to the natural environment;

• the effect of technology;

• human values concerning rural, urban and natural landscapes;

• the symbolism of landscape;

• the social role of design;

• the role of aesthetics in land planning and design.

The exploration of these issues relies on two sources of information: existing literature and documentation on design, archaeology, geography and aesthetics, and field observation and analysis. This approach enables the authors to achieve a broad overview while also engaging in a detailed analysis of such a complex notion as landscape and its relationships to human society.

Details:

• Landscapes in History : Design and Planning in the Eastern and Western Traditions. Written by Philip Pregill and Nancy Wolkman. Nueva York : John Wiley and Sons, 1999. 844 pages with black-and-white illustrations. Written in English.

More information:

• Available at INDOC, Art and Nature Documentation Centre.

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