STTLES OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



35 



and obvious way of making it express man's will, the term formal has 

 often been used in the sense of man-made or man-dominated, but the 

 two terms are not synonymous, for there are many informal designs 

 which nevertheless are definitely and obviously humanized. The 

 arrangement of their parts will consist in a more subtle sequence and 

 an occult balance of interest among the objects composed, in pleasant 

 harmonies and contrasts of the natural character of these objects, and 

 in studied compositions of their individual effects for the greatest 

 result in the effect of the whole. The hand of the designer and his 

 artistic achievement may be recognized as fully in this design as in 

 man's formally arranged compositions. (See Plate 6.) 



From among the various styles of landscape design, we have chosen Examples of 

 for discussion in this chapter several of the more clearly defined as -^"'ortc 

 examples. Some analysis of the causes which brought each style about, ^ 

 some appreciation of the particular esthetic effect which is the stamp and 

 the soul of each style, should give us a clearer idea of how our predeces- 

 sors in landscape design have met their problems and what the essential 

 considerations arewhichwe inour turnmust bear in mind in meeting ours. 



The Moorish gardens in Spain had for their direct prototype the The Moorish 

 gardens of Persia and Syria. The first Moorish gardens in Cordova ^'>'^^ '" 

 may well have been laid out by men who remembered the gardens of ^'"'* 

 Damascus, and some of the fruits and flowers which to us are almost 

 t}-pical of Spain were introduced from the East by the Moorish invaders. 

 In the hot and dr>- climate of southern Spain, the Moors had no need 

 greatly to change their inherited method of life; and their social 

 customs, and the constant wars, little and great, through which the 

 countr}' went, made it natural that the gardens should be almost in 

 even,' instance patios partly or wholly surrounded by buildings, 

 accessible only to the owner, and defended from the outside world. 

 Of the many gardens which must have existed in Cordova, Toledo, 

 Seville, and Granada, few have remained to the present day. Two 

 notable and beautiful examples remain essentially unchanged in the 

 gardens of the Alhambra and the Generaliffe at Granada. (See Draw- 

 ing III, opp. p. 36.) 



Shade and coolness were the things which the climate made most 

 desirable. A love for the color and scent of flowers, the Moors had 



