ARHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE

From ancient times people hade changed and shaped nature.At first,they did it to assure their daily life and later on to create a favourable microclimatearound their homes.For different peoples worshipping nature from early times lead to the creation of gardens connected to their religion.Among palaces and big houses there were beautiful gardens whose purpose were the enjoyment and pleasures of the rich and powerful.A long tradition in creating gardens hase lead to the evolution of a true art wich was put to practice by gardeners.This art has evolved in time,using in essence the same means of creating a garden: natural and artificial elements wich were either submitted to a geometrical discipline or arranged in patterns that could be found in nature or to which they added certain symbols. The architecture of gardens has thus become a real art wich its own rules and different styles,theorised by different creators and put to practice in countless gardens and parks all over the world,until to day. Landscape architecture,or to be exact the architecture of landscapes has appeared in the middle of the 19th century and belongs to the American architect F.L. Olmstead )who designed Central Park in New York). LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Garden architecture has become a practical art with its own rules and styles,theorised by different artists and put to practice in countless gardens and parks all over the world.Why do we put together the terms architecture and landscape ?Because it expresses the object and means of this science:the organization and construction of exterior spaces by different principles and techniques through the association of the natural elemens of an landscape (land,rocks,water,plants) with artificial elements (circulation,practical and decorative construction,furniture etc) with the purpose of performing certain functions. THE IMPORTANCE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Having a direct connection with the assurance of the ecological equilibrium of environment,landscape architecture is preoccupied with the preservation and development of landscape and their associated values for the benefit of current and future generation. Landscape help improve the quality of life trough their social functions,too.They created a favourable environment for public or private recreation,embellish cities,work places,some of them having also a cultural importance:garden museums,exhibition gardens,historical gardens etc.or a scientific one:botanical garden,reservations,national parks.