Theory of Gardens, Paperback

Jean-Marie Morel (1728-1810), a leading French landscape designer and theorist, is now mainly remembered as the author of one of the fundamental eighteenth-century texts in the history of landscape architecture the Th orie des jardins (1776; second edition, 1802). With his background as an engineer, Morel also played an instrumental role in shaping the profession of landscape architecture, opening up a new professional domain by coining the term architecte-paysagiste, the precursor to the modern designation "landscape architect."

Morel stands out among eighteenth-century theorists because of his interest in the natural processes that underlie the formation of landscape. His unique theoretical contribution was, therefore, an attempt to develop an approach to garden design grounded in the new understanding of natural processes, which brought together picturesque theory and landscape practice, taking into account a wide range of environmental factors that had an impact on the work of an architecte-paysagiste. Morel believed that an awareness of the character of each landscape was particularly important because of the emotional response that it was likely to elicit.

This translation marks the first time that the 1776 edition of the Th orie des jardins is available in English.