Landscape Topics

If it form the one landscape that we the inconstant ones
Are consistently homesick for, this is chiefly
Because it dissolves in water.
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)

The architect ... has something in common with the landscape gardener. Everyone can grasp the fact that the gardener’s success depends on whether or not the plants he selects for the garden thrive there. No matter how beautiful his conception of a garden may be it will, nevertheless, be a failure if it is not the right environment for the plants, if they cannot flourish in it. The architect, too, works with living things—with human beings, who are much more incalculable than plants. If they cannot thrive in his house its apparent beauty will be of no avail—without life it becomes a monstrosity. It will be neglected, fall into disrepair and change into something quite different from what he intended. Indeed, one of the proofs of good architecture is that it is being utilized as the architect had planned.
—Steen Eiler Rasmussen (1898–1990)

While the focus in the landscape of Old World cities was commonly government structures, churches, or the residences of rulers, the landscape and the skyline of American cities have boasted their hotels, department stores, office buildings, apartments, and skyscrapers. In this grandeur, Americans have expressed their Booster Pride, their hopes for visitors and new settlers, and customers, for thriving commerce and industry.
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)