LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION 1^9 



Decorative details of all kinds, particularly those which are re- 

 peated, are of course much more cheaply cast in cement concrete than 

 they are carved in stone. Mechanical difficulties prevent the casting 

 of very sharp edges or very delicate forms in concrete, and the surface 

 of the concrete as it comes from the mold is of a rather unpleasant 

 texture, certainly not to be mistaken for any other material. Such 

 decoration, then, when used to imitate stone, is likely to have the double 

 disadvantage of not being a convincing imitation and of not being in 

 itself as beautiful in form or texture as the stone would be. These 

 objections apply, however, only to poor imitations of stone by concrete. 

 Cement concrete, handled with proper consideration of its advantages 

 and limitations, whether used in separately cast blocks or in masses 

 cast in place, is a material which holds out special attractions of cheap- 

 ness, permanence, and beauty to the landscape architect.* 



Where a balustrade is a purely decorative feature, where for in- 

 stance it crowns a building, the use of copper in the form of stone has 

 considerable excuse : it fulfills its esthetic function as a form well 

 enough, it is cheaper, lighter, sufficiently permanent, and it has no 

 economic use to which its flimsiness would render it unsuited. A simi- 

 lar balustrade on a terrace, where people could see it close at hand and 

 touch it, would certainly be displeasing because its evident hoUowness 

 and lightness would unfit it, or seem to unfit it, for the practical pur- 

 pose which it is there to serve. The use of wooden columns, or wooden 

 balusters, of forms more properly applicable to stone, is less a matter 

 of any attempted illusion than one of a design relation which is likely 

 to be unpleasant between one material and a form typically associated 

 with another. 



There are many cases in which the skillful designer who is intent Illusions of 

 upon the beautiful appearance of his design will construct shapes which ^hape 

 are surprising when accurately shown on plan.f It is often desirable, 

 particularly In the case of pools which reflect an object beyond them, 

 to elongate the dimension of some unit of the ground parallel to the 

 line of sight of the observer in order that this unit may occupy suffi- 

 cient space In the view. Within limits and under the proper circum- 



* Cf. Chapter X, p. 205. 



t See footnote reference to article on Villa Gamberaia, p. 117. 



