Settings and Stray Paths: Writings on Landscapes and Gardens

Studies of the landscape have ranged from discussions of cultural geography at one end and botany at the other, with quite a mix in between. In this book Marc Treib focuses on the subject of the designed landscape, which he takes to include gardens, cemeteries, plazas, as well as a number of other landscape forms. His writings begin with an investigation of order and its perception: How have humans organized landscapes so that the experience of them could be directed, or even "read," decoded, and understood? His writings include analyses of both historical and contemporary works, with a geographic distribution that treats Asia as well as Europe and North America. Certain essays address the question of content in landscape design, others its meaning; others examine the lives and contributions of major figures in the field, for example, cultural landscape historian John Brinckerhoff Jackson and landscape architect Garrett Eckbo; subjects such as influence also receive the author's attention. As a whole, theessays cover a remarkable range, examining issues that few other writers have attempted to explain in detail. Treib brings a designer's eye to his work, paring observation and formal analysis with a more theorical formulation of the ideas from which or by which landscape architecture is produced. Photographs by the author complement his writings, adding a visual dimension to the provocative ideas outlined in the essays. While all of these essays have appeared in print over a period of some twenty-five years, many have been published in specialist journals or in a foreign language. Settings and Stray paths assembles a vital collection of Marc Treib's writings on landscape architecture, for the first time in a single source book.