24 LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



in itself, and yet if it is hung in a dark corner, or 

 where the light reflects from its surface so as to 

 interfere with its enjojrment, it is decidedly out of 

 place, and is therefore bad design. Design in this 

 and every other case, as far as final usage is con- 

 cerned, deals as much with the placing of the ob- 

 ject as with the object itself. 



In landscape, a plant grouping or a piece of 

 sculpture, an architectural accessory or a vista, 

 may be beautiful in themselves, but if they are 

 placed in wrong relation to their surroundings, 

 they are "bad design." 



How is one to judge of the proper interrelation 

 of the parts of a design 1 This is again a question 

 of use. The province of a designer is to combine 

 the material with which he has to work to the best 

 possible advantage. Every part of a design must 

 be placed where it can function freely and to the 

 best advantage. It must not only perform its 

 function well, but must look as if it did. Painters 

 often meet with the reverse of this difficulty. In 

 working out compositions where the human figure 

 appears, they often find that it is impossible for 

 the model to assume the supposedly graceful poses 

 which had appeared easy to them when they were 

 thinking only of lines and not of functions. All 



