LARCH 340 – Landscape Architecture: The Villa and the Garden

The Course explores villas and gardens to better understand how men and women, from different times, cultures, and countries, transformed the landscape for aesthetic and leisurely purposes, reflecting their idea of the relationship between Architecture and Nature. We focus on the dynamic relationship between historically relevant landscapes, villas and their gardens, Ancient, Renaissance, and Modern in Italy, where gardens were conceived as part of a multifaceted architectural system. The ‘villa & garden’ complex originates in the Mediterranean area, especially ancient Greece and Rome. Renaissance Tuscany shaped the early formal garden, later becoming the ‘rational’ geometrical garden as an extension of the architecture of the villa. From our base in Florence, where we explore villas commissioned by the Medici family, we look South to villas commissioned by Popes and Cardinals outside Rome. Then we look North, to 16th-century examples in Mantua and the Veneto Region. We look East, to a different way of opening architecture to nature, changing villa life in the 19th century. We study the impact of Orientalism and English Romantic Garden on the design of villa & garden complexes in Tuscany. We study the conflict of Modernism and Tradition in villa design, and the rebirth of interest in Italian Formal Gardens, in Fascist Italy. Introductory lectures indoors, based on PowerPoint presentations, will be followed by discussion and direct experience of villas & gardens on site visits, in Florence and surroundings.

Below are the course’s learning outcomes, followed by the methods that will be used to assess students’ achievement for each learning outcome. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• describe what they see in Landscapes, Villas and Gardens, with greater precision and accurate terms (Mid-Term Exam, Presentation, Class Discussion;)
• identify the building materials and techniques employed, and explain the impact of these aspects on architects, and on the appearance of the actual Villas and Gardens (Intermediate Tests, Final Exam, Term Paper;)
• explain the function and message of Villas and Gardens (Final Exam, Term Paper, Class Discussion;)
• explore what these can tell them about the society that created them (Class Discussion, Final Exam, Term Paper).
• distinguish between documented facts and interpretative perception of Landscapes, Villas and Gardens (Reading Review, Reading Presentation, Term Paper.)