Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This paper is intended to provide a picture of which associations water can wake in the human
mind from the perspectives of garden history as well as from that of environmental
psychology. I hope to paint a fairly broad picture of our perception of water that can serve as a
basis for discussion and as a starting point for different forms of design work in landscape
architecture. The historical perspective emphasizes the importance of water as a condition for
the emergence of gardens and in a wider perspective the importance of water in early cultures.
Also, I describe a picture of how water has been used throughout the history of gardens from
early Egypt to the baroque era. The garden history analyzed from an art historical perspective
gives a picture of human associations to water, and the history behind these associations is
presented. As a compliment to the art history approach, I have chosen to highlight our
associations with water from the perspectives of environmental psychology and evolutionary
science. Finally, I will return to the historical use of water and discuss how this could have
been influenced by our biological and psychological preferences. My conclusion is that our
biological background can have been an important factor in the shaping of mythology and art
in gardens.