Modern Domestication of Nature

By Tyler Silvers

As cities become more and more dense with man-made constructions, the demand for creative allocation green spaces has risen substantially. Landscape architects are challenged to form space that speaks toward both the natural beauty of the site and cater to the human need for order and structure. In the process, however, modern urban landscapes seem to have lost much of what makes nature in itself a space that overflows with an unmatched splendor through the slow but steady domestication of nature in form.

Although beautiful, modern urban landscapes, such as Gabriel Guevrekian’s cubist garden at Villa Noailles, tend to cater more to the human need for structure rather than turning their focus on the natural forms and processes particular to the site before human occupation. With his cubist garden, Guevrekian seeks to form an elegant oasis for the occupants – with much success in this aspect. His use of formed concrete and subtle terraces lead the eye toward a central node while the triangular shape of the space plays on the perspective of the eye.  The design of the garden allows occupants to enjoy the elegance of the architect’s interpretation of the landscaped area. The garden focuses the viewer attention on just that – a highly domesticated space. Rather than enjoying the natural, native beauty in itself, occupants are enthralled with a diluted, stylized version of the architect’s vision for the site. On a grander scale, the effect designing more and more controlled environments creates an inaccurate representation of how “nature” truly defines itself; the interdependent ecosystems making up nature are lost in the folds of modern urban garden design.

Image Courtesy of stylepark.com

In order to reform the correct representation of nature in the minds of the general populace, designers have begun to look back to a time before the rise of urbanization. Alan Sonfist’s Time Landscape, for example, offers a new form of urban landscape that takes root deep in the history of the particular site – Manhattan, New York. Sonfist’s green space is designed around the idea of bringing back the landscape that was once prominent in the area before the arrival of Dutch settlers in the 17^th century. As noted by the New York Government Park Services, Sonfist conducted “extensive research” on the “botany, geology, and history” of the community and utilized native trees, shrubs, rocks, soil, and flowers to create a living memorial to the natural landscape that once dominated the area. The simple idea of the Time Landscape seems to have been well received in the surrounding community as people gathered to assist in the construction of and subsequent maintenance for the park. With his seemingly simple design, Sonfist provides an effective manner by which to reintroduce nature (in its true sense) into the context of the modern city.

Time Landscape: Past, Present, and Future

Painting by Paul Rodgers

As urbanization continues to rise and cities continue to advance, nature, in its true form, will continue to be diluted of purity. Perhaps one of the most effective manners by which to truly preserve natural form is to realize the loads of history below our feet.

The Inhumane Garden: An Analysis of the work of Gabriel Guevrekian

By Joel Pominville

Is cubism relatable to the human? Is there a certain disconnect from human emotion and cubist art? Maybe more importantly so, is there a disconnect from the human figure and cubist and modern gardens designed for human habitation? These are questions I asked myself as we discussed the cubist gardens by Gabriel Guevrekian. The answer can be found in an in depth comparison between cubist art, cubist architecture, and human emotion.

Cubism was originally crafted by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris between 1907 and 1914. Cubist artists wanted to turn away from how nature is really seen. They strove to take the geometrical forms of nature, and reduce them to a scale and depth that represented the canvas on which they were painted. This was a notion that partly gave way to modern architecture, also stemming from movements such as minimalism and primitivism. In cubism, however, there is a fault in the simplicity of the geometry presented: the loss of human connection to the nature in which it represents. To observe this, one can look to artist Robert Delaunay and his painting Homage to Bleriot. When most viewers see a piece of artwork, there is normally a starting point or a point that draws attention to itself. With cubism, there is not a point in which to begin viewing. The viewer must see it, try to understand, and interpret it him or herself. In this flattening of dimension, the depth of nature is stripped away, leaving the viewer in a state lacking human relation to the painting.

This lack of connection is not necessarily needed in a painting, as it is not something the viewer can fully sense. By this, I mean it is not a place in which the viewer can feel, experience, and inhabit. However, in architecture, it is more important to keep a connection to the human. This leads the conversation to the cubist gardens designed by Gabriel Guevrekian. The first garden designed by Guevrekian in a cubist manner is the Jardin d’eau et de Lumiere. Although this garden was meant to be viewed and not traversed, I believe it still lacks a connection to the human element that most gardens. As one can see in the picture, the fragmentation of the garden leads the viewer to believe that they are an entity outside of the garden, not a part of it. In this case, there is a focal point, but even still, the fragmented sections block the viewer from experiencing the centerpiece, as I believe they should be allowed to.

The second garden, and Guevrekian’s most famous cubist garden, is the Garden of the Villa Noailles. This garden is considered one of the most influential modern gardens, especially in France. Although it does not draw quite as much from cubism, it still faces the same problems previously discussed. In the same way as cubist art, this garden has no true start or end. There are two points of entry, but the circulation throughout the space is a continuous loop, with no place to pause, reflect, or rest. Also, the center of the garden seems completely uninhabitable. This makes for quite an emotional disconnect from what most garden offer. Most people experience gardens in a way that they reflect upon different spaces, but also identify the overarching path of circulation in order to move between these spaces. Guevrekian’s Garden of the Villa Noailles allows for only one action: continuous movement around the uninhabitable centerpiece. Overall, the gardens are beautiful works of art. They just do not seem like works of architecture that allow for human relation and interaction.

Info about architect

http://www.vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/drops/08.020/1734

Info about cubist art
http://artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm

Pictures

http://www.photographersdirect.com/buyers/stockphoto.asp?imageid=2720011

http://paisajimopueblosyjardines.blogspot.it/2010/11/cubismo-y-arquitectura-paisajista.html

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/d/delaunay/homage_to_bleriot.jpg.html