Overview

The Garden of Ideas tells an inspiring and engaging story of Australian garden design. From the imaginings of emigrant garden-makers of the late eighteenth century to the concerns of twenty-first-century gardeners, this book charts its way across four centuries through a handsome and satisfying fusion of images and text. The Garden of Ideas is embellished with an unparalleled array of images - paintings, drawings, prints, plans, and photographs - each richly evocative of their time and most never previously published. Unearthed from around Australia, and many from overseas, these images carry the story of Australian garden style down the years, in the process criss-crossing social and cultural history across the wide extremes of our continent. Richard Aitken, whose book Botanical Riches was published in 2006 to popular and critical acclaim, brings a lifetime of experience to The Garden of Ideas. He achieves fresh insights and presents our passion for garden-making with wit and flair. The Garden of Ideas is a valuable source book for the sophisticated gardener and an indispensable companion for the garden lover.

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9780522857504

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Aitken has analysed worldwide garden trends over the centuries and traced Australian garden design, from the aspirations of the emigrant garden-makers to the climate change and sustainability concerns of 21st century gardeners. -- Age

Author Information

Richard Aitken is a Melbourne-based architect, historian, curator and poeticist. His books include The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens (2002), Gardenesque (2004), Botanical Riches (2006), and Seeds of Change (2006). He has also contributed chapters to The Art of the Collection (2007), showcasing landscape paintings of the State Library of Victoria, and Reframing Darwin (2009), published to accompany exhibitions at the University of Melbourne's Baillieu Library and Ian Potter Museum of Art. He has been in private practice since 1978 and has prepared conservation plans for many of Australia's most significant historic gardens, including the botanic gardens of Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. In 2006 he was awarded honorary life membership of the National Trust of Australia for his advocacy role in the identification and conservation of significant gardens and designed landscapes. He is currently co-editor of Australian Garden History (quarterly journal of the Australian Garden History Society) as well as researching the history of Australian garden styles for The University of Melbourne's Faculty of Architecture, Building, and

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