building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici

If, on the one hand, it is correct to say that the people who devised this particular
way of referring to the American landscape were Europeans, or rather of European
origin, on the other hand the meaning of their particular experience and of the
novelty of exploring the Great Plains and mountain ranges of America should never
be forgotten.
Back in Old Europe, man had had the possibility of getting to know and making his
mark on the landscape, of gauging and changing it within the realms of possible,
and had done so by superimposing projects and cultures lasting hundreds of years.
Tested ownership systems controlled the enjoyment and understanding of the
landscape, at least in this day and age. Not by chance was the idea of a public park,
interpreted as a natural landscape to be preserved for large numbers of citizens,
developed in the new continent, far from the horti conclusi (walled gardens), from
the Renaissance gardens, from the parks of the great royal palaces and from the
hunting reserves, wonderful private landscapes, owned by the noble aristocracy or
by the rich bourgeoisie.
Thus, the Renaissance tradition of considering the garden project as an integral part
of the architecture merged with the American need to plan increasingly large areas.
They did not wish to limit the latter to a chessboard pattern of geometrically
aligned avenues, parterres and rond‐points (circular areas where avenues meet), but
preferred to follow the English tradition of reproducing or enhancing pre‐existing
and perhaps even picturesque sites, using sophisticated reproductions to create a
convincing marriage between the work of man and the work of nature.
The work of Thomas Jefferson (1743‐1826) in Monticello, Virginia is a typical
example of the landscape, which was being created at the time, a cross between a
geometrical and a scientific approach, where the landscape architect became an
attentive land surveyor, farmer and botanist.
Whereas, in the course of the nineteenth century, Europe was experimenting new
approaches to the art of territory and town planning by redefining public spaces
and reconsidering housing policies with close reference to the social
transformations of the time, America initially introduced an intellectual discussion
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