Introduction to Landscape Design

"Introduction to Landscape Design" is a very comprehensive, theoretical and philosophical introduction to Landscape Design. It is composed of 4 parts (concepts and overview, design influences, contemporary application, and the future) including 17 chapters. It covers a number of subjects such as landscape meaning (method of study, meanings, axioms for reading the landscape, and landscape interpretation), people, attitudes and perception, education and design thinking, landscape process, available resources and technology, sensual and temporal aspects of perception, visual arts, geometry and circulation as ordering mechanism, spatial development, architecture and site development, placemaking and community building, professional practice, site design as problem solving, an ecology of design and landscape design education. JOHN L. MOTLOCH, PhD, ASLA, is very knowledgeable. He is a licensed landscape architect, architect, and interior designer, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin, Texas. He is able to give a very comprehensive discussion on landscape design as a synergism of art and science, and the interplay between buildings and sites. He also discusses aesthetic, human, environmental, and technological issues associated with landscape design and various forces that influence land design. "Introduction to Landscape Design" has 352 pages and many line drawings and interior black-and-white photos. It is a very comprehensive, theoretical and philosophical introduction to Landscape Design. Gang Chen, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Author of "LEED GA Exam Guide," "Architectural Practice Simplified," "Planting Design Illustrated," and other books on various LEED exams, architecture, and landscape architecture

This book is an excellent introduction to the practical aspects of landscape design. After every chapter, the student can find an extensive bibliography for further study or reference. All concepts are clearly explained, especially spatial perception and projects. If you are looking for a one-in-all book, this is it. However, do not expect it to say much about the history of landscape design. This is a practical book only, but first quality!!!