LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE IN ANCIENT GREECE

GREEK GARDENS

OWN CIVILIZATION HAS PRODUCED

NOTHING ABOUTGREEK GARDEN

CULTURE

OTHER ARTS WERE RAPIDLY ADVANCING

TO THEIR HIGHEST POINT OF DEVELOPMENT

NO SPACE EVEN AT THE TIME OF

GREATEST EXPANSION FOR THE

CULTIVATION OF PRIVATE GARDENS

GREEK ART WAS MOST SPECIFIED

TO THE DESIGN AND

LAYOUT OF THE CITIES

GREECE MAINLAND – FOTRESSES,

DENSELY PACKED HOUSES, CASTLES

LESS ROOM FOR GARDENS.

INDICATIONS OF GARDENING ARE DUBIOUS

INTERNAL INFLUENCES

INFLUENCES ON GREEK LANDSCAPING

MAGNIFICENT PARKS OF EASTERN RULERS ORIENTAL AND EGYPTIAN GARDENS

Political System

Philosophy

Climate

Geology

Religion

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

GEOLOGY

Mountains cover 70 to 80 percent of Greece, divide land into regions

Rugged landscape, lack of large rivers made transportation hard• made it difficult to unite Greece under single

government

Rocky land; only 20 to 30 percent good for farming; mostly in valleys• but over half of Greeks were farmers, herders

•Mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers

•about 50 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, about 80 degrees in summer

•Climate encouraged outdoor activities, like athletic competitions

MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE

•Greece lacked natural resources and metals—had to be found elsewhere

•Had stone for building and plenty of good harbor sites

RESOURCES

CLIMATE

GREEK LANDSCAPE UNITS

ACROPOLIS AGORA

AMPHITHEATRE SACRED GROVE

PEDESTRIAN ZONES

• Central to every Greek city and town was the agora, a marketplace and meeting place. • Busy and bustling, the agora was a vital area for a community.

AGORA(market place)

Public fountains in agoras

•A sacred grove is a grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture.•Sacred groves were important features of the mythological landscape and cult practice in ancient greece.

SACRED GROVES

• SOUND PRINCIPLES GUIDED THE DESIGN OF GREEK AMPHITHEATRES.

• GREEK THEATRES WERE BUILT OUTDOORS AND INTO HILL SIDES FOR SEATING.

• ROMANS RAISED THE STAGE WALLED IT AT THE BACK AND MADE SEATS HIGHLY TIRED

AMPHI THEATRE

• AROUND 1500BC- RECTANGULAR ARENAS OF STONE SEATING AT SAME LEVEL.

• 500BC- SEMI CIRCULAR AMPHI THEATRE WITH CONCENTRIC ROWS OF MARBLE SEATS OFTEN RAISED ON A LOWSLOPE.

THEATRE OF EPIDARUS-LAYOUT

ROMAN GARDENS

500 B.C.Kitchen Gardens

100 B.C.Ornamental gardens

27 B.C.Fall of Roman Republic

80 A.D.Widespread imperial

and aristocratic gardens

150 A.D.Increase in private

Gardens

324 A.D.Shift of capital to Constantinople

350 A.D.Roman Garden

techniques wane

490 A.D.Western Empire

collapses

DEVELOPMENT OF ROMAN GARDENS

• Narrow water canals/rills graced many ancient Rome gardens. The best known example is in the garden of Lorieus Tiburtinus in Pompeii.

PERSIAN

• Principal Greek influence was on exterior architecture.

• The art of ornamental garden was also imported from Greece. Romans used a lot of Greek inspired statuary.

GREEK

• A symmetrical layout with water features

• Brightly painted pavilions

• Terraces• Avenues of trees• internal courtyards

EGYPTIAN

INFL

UEN

CES

PLEASURE• Cultural activities, dining and relaxation took

place in pavilions.• Pavilions square/circular in shape.

HEALTH & EXERCISE• Gymnasiums for walking • Stadiums for horse riding• Private baths

FOOD PRODUCTION• Fallowing and crop rotation practiced.• Grafting and cross pollination were also

popular.

FUN

CTION

S

OPEN

• Formal• Informal• Terrace• Portico

ENCLOSED • Pe r i st y l e

TYPES

ROMAN GARDEN-

ELEMENTS

FENCING/BALUSTRADES

GARDEN WALLS

WATER FEATURES

PLANTING

DRIVEWAY/PAVING

BUILDINGSBELVEDERE

PERGOLA/ARBORS

GROTTO

SHRINES

Formal gardens of Pliny, the Younger

GROTTO

BOWLFOUNTAIN

SYMMETRICAL LAWNS REMINISCENT OF EGYPTIAN GARDENS

Court of the Lions, Alhambra, Spain, Granada, features a colonnade and fountain, reminiscent of the peristyles of Roman gardens.

INFLUENCE ON ISLAMIC GARDENS

Villa d’Este, TivoliTall cypresses and evergreen hedging flank the central walk of this Renaissance garden, which leads to a grotto like fountain niches similar to those found in Roman gardens

INFLUENCE ON RENAISSANCE GARDENS

Stourhead Garden, Wiltshire, England (18th c.)Inspired by the painting of Roman Campagna by Claude Lorrain. The design of the domed temple of Apollo was derived from the Temple of Venus at Baalbek.

Temple of Venus, BaalbekTemple of Apollo, England

INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH GARDENS