To Design Landscape: Art, Nature & Utility

Catherine Dee

jul 2012 · Routledge

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To Design Landscape sets out a distinctively practical philosophy of design, in accessible format. Based on the notion that landscape design is a form-based craft addressing environmental processes and utility, Dee establishes a framework for approaching such craft with modesty and ingenuity, using the concept of "aesthetics of thrift".

Employing numerous case studies-as diverse as Hellerup Rose Garden in Denmark; Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, USA; Rousham Gardens, Oxfordshire, UK and Tofuku-ji, in Kyoto, Japan - to illustrate her ideas, the book is a beautiful portfolio of Dee's drawings, which are both evocative and to the point.

The book begins with a 'Foundations' section, which sets out the basis of the approach. 'Principles' chapters then elaborate eleven significant considerations applicable to any design project, regardless of context and scale. Following on, 'Strategies' chapters reinforce the principles, and suggest further ways of designing, adaptable to different conditions. Dee ends with a focus on 'Elements', case studies and verb lists providing sources for the designer to consider how the components - vegetation, water, terrain, structures, soils, weather, and the sky - might be engaged, mediated and joined.

Catherine Dee’s book is for all those who would craft landscape, from the gardener, to the professional landscape architect, to the student of design

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Catherine Dee trained in fine art before studying landscape architecture, and today practises both. She is author of Form and Fabric in Landscape Architecture: a visual introduction (Routledge 2001) and several articles on the relationship between design, drawing and art. She is a founding editor of the Journal of Landscape Architecture (JoLA) (2006) and creator of its peer-reviewed visual essay section ‘Thinking Eye’. A highly regarded design teacher, she holds an academic post in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield, UK.