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Book
Review
Richard Wright
 This
is the time of year when people dream about
what they will do in the garden when the weather
improves. If your dreams are more those of an
architect than the everyday gardener Radical
Landscapes by Jane Amidon could be the book
for you. This is definitely a coffee table tome
– a spectacular mind enhancing book to
be enjoyed indoors on a wet winterÂ’s day.
Claiming
to "reinvent outdoor space" it describes
and illustrates a variety of projects using
natural and man-made materials. It suggests
these ideas can be applied to different surroundings.
But beware, there is little for the small-scale
private garden, with most of the book devoted
to large scale public projects. Some of these
are certainly impressive, such as a fibre wave
created in Japan, where 150 free standing carbon
fibre rods sway in the wind. The stuff of dreams
it may be, but at £29.95 this is a very
specialised book for a limited market, offering
little in the way of practical advice.
However
if you are interested in contemporary landscape
architecture and want something to stimulate
your imagination, then there may be something
in this book for you. It describes the use of
light, colour and texture, the creation of movement
and the arrangement of objects of a site. It
considers the context of the design, and devotes
a whole chapter to urban landscapes. But for
most amateur gardeners I am afraid this is a
book likely to remain on the coffee table.
Radical
Landscapes
Jane Amidon
Publisher Thames & Hudson
Price £29.95
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