CHAPTER III 



PRINCIPLES OF PARK DESIGN 



PRINCIPLES are always considered obnoxious, whether they be 

 scientific, religious, or individual. There is something autocratic 

 and sacerdotal about them. The knowledge of them seems bound to 

 deter one from acting as he would wish, from doing the things he would 

 like to do. Principles suggest laws which must be rigidly adhered to 

 and disobeyed at one's peril. It is hard to work up enthusiasm over 

 the study of principles. 



Close application to principles is not only irksome, but frequently 

 reactive to the point of tempting one to " take the dare " and disregard 

 all rules and precepts just to see what will happen. In one or two 

 intrepid instances, however, where the writer has done this, he has 

 found himself formulating new rules w r hich paradoxically proved to 

 be, if not exactly the same, at least very similar to the ones he desired 

 to evade. In short, principles are aids resulting from experience, and 

 not mandates or dogmas. Principles represent pioneer knowledge 

 which has been set down for the guidance of those who follow. 



DOCTRINES, NOT DOGMAS 



The principles of park design herewith outlined are not conclusive 

 rules ; neither are they to be considered in the nature of precise informa- 

 tion that will lead to inevitable success in park building. They are 

 merety an assortment of well-tried recipes which the writer has col- 

 lected and formulated, and found valuable in application to his own 

 problems. Examples of successful park design are extremely difficult 

 to copy or emulate from mere surface examination, and it is only by 

 analysing the result, in relation to the essential factors which wrought 

 its shaping and contributed to its success, that similar work may be 



NOTE See diagram in Appendix. 



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