Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

As a historical and cultural connection, the Chinese traditional landscape not only reflects the different historical backgrounds of all the successive dynasties, the social economical vicissitude, architectural techniques, and gardening levels objectively and veritably, but also reflects the evolution of Chinese point view on nature, life and world. It was characterized by different types, and these types were divided by different owners’ identities or different locations.
The Renaissance period of Western landscape design was characterized by the formal landscape garden which had the character of symmetric axis or formal layout of architecture. It often used sculpture with the materials of marble or moorstone, and orderliness flowers and the lines of trees. This style was characteristic of the Italian Renaissance landscape, the French formal garden, but the English landscape garden departed from this style.
Due to different social, economical, and cultural developmental conditions, there are important differences between Chinese traditional landscape design and Western landscape design. These differences have been analyzed both in the western and the Chinese literature. According to different writers, there are many different opinions. The main difference is: Chinese traditional landscape design emphasized the understanding and development of the natural beauty, whereas Western landscape focused on the refining of the natural elements as an abstract sense of order and formal beauty (Li, 2009).
The English landscape garden shifted from the regularity of art as expressed in the formal garden, to the irregularity of nature in the early eighteenth century. It is thought to have been inspired by Chinese traditional landscape, which has much in common with Chinese traditional landscape, which also differed from the formal landscapes at this period. These two landscape styles show a all love of nature so they must have some similarities but should also have some differences. The similarities were discovered by those ideas spread from China to England in 18th century, and also the aesthetic perspective and the way to express emotion by landscape.
Chinese traditional landscape influenced the French, where Confucian virtues were praised (Siren, 1950). The English also liked Chinese gardens without order. Sweden, which was in close commercial communication with China, is perhaps the only country in which the elegant new style took permanent root (Jellicoe and Jellicoe, 1975). During the development of modern landscape design, western landscape style gradually became popular in China. This thesis is concerned with the interaction between two very different ways of approaching landscape from an architectural perspective, and how we today can learn from both approaches.