Breaking Ground - Softcover

Dickey, Page

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1579652387 ISBN 13: 9781579652388

Publisher: Artisan, 2003

Synopsis

Not since Martha Schinz's masterful Visions of Paradise, published in 1984, has there been such an important survey of garden design and style as Breaking Ground. Whereas Visions of Paradise featured classic European garden design, Breaking Ground takes an in-depth look at the work of ten contemporary garden designers living and working in America and Europe today.

The two hundred glorious full-color photographs by Erica Lennard and the lucid text by garden writer and designer Page Dickey capture the spirit and genius of the ten designers. A chapter is devoted to each designer--his or her sources of inspiration, style, philosophy, and method of creation. From the bold Southern California designs of Nancy Power to the urban geometries of Madison Cox to the updated French formal style of Louis Benech to the romantic country gardens of Nancy McCabe, Breaking Ground profiles the artists who are redefining garden design categories.

Inspirational, informative, contemporary, and beautiful, Breaking Ground is a spectacularly crafted object in itself--sure to be one of the major garden gift books of the season.

About this title

Review:

This lush book features 10 dynamic modern garden designers who have exploded the boundaries of formal garden design. Some--such as Southern Californian Nancy Power, who designs gardens for Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry, and desert dweller Steve Martino, whose gardens often include large monuments and earthworks--start from a tradition that is less formal and rigid, and it is entirely natural for them to design with bold strokes and startling shapes and colors. Others, including Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, whose gardens often contain very structured hedges and topiaries; French designer Louis Benech, who helped update the garden at the Tuileries; and New Englander Patrick Chassé, who blends Oriental aesthetics with Maine practicality, have found ways to twist formality to their liking and combine it with natural plants and landscapes. The text explores each designer's philosophy, background, techniques, and major commissions with a sense of excitement, and Erica Lennard's photography catches each garden in the perfect light, so that it almost seems to shimmer with dew.

Book Description:

Now, for the first time in paperback, award-winning garden writer Page Dickey and acclaimed photographer Erica Lennard take an in-depth look at the work of ten master garden designers living and working in America and Europe today.

Filled with glorious full-color photographs, sketches, and garden plans, Breaking Ground provides innovative design solutions for a range of gardens to help inspire adaptations for the home gardener. From the bold Southern California designs of Nancy Power to the urban geometries of Madison Cox, and from the updated French formal style of Louis Benech to the romantic country gardens of Nancy McCabe, Breaking Ground profiles the artists who are redefining garden design categories.

About this edition

• Publisher: Artisan
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1579652387
• ISBN 13: 9781579652388
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208