Greenspace as a Garden

Green Space
 

Greenspace just north of Copenhagen. Courtesy of Bing Maps.

I think it is fascinating how political thought and culture influences the amount of green space in a certain area. For the sake of this post I will say that green space is anything from personal gardens to parks, nature preserves, forests and so on. I think that Copenhagen is especially good at preserving these spaces for people to enjoy and how it really reflects the nature of the government. Check out the map below to see how much visible green space there is that is open to the public at no cost! The further you zoom in on the map the more green space you can see. I tried to give the best scale to show you how many big parks there are but it’s important to note that there are little pockets of green tucked away all over Denmark.                              


 

“A Beech Wood in May near Iselingen Manor, Zealand” P.C. Skovgaard 1857. Courtesy of Google Art Project (which is so cool by the way!)

The 1857 painting titled “A Beech Wood in May near Iselingen Manor, Zealand” by Danish painter P.C. Skovgaard explores the idea of democratic nature and national identity. This Danish landscape shows an idealized beech tree forest which is the national tree of Denmark. This painting shows the importance of people being able to enjoy the benefits of nature regardless of class. The people in the forest is important because it shows people enjoying the Danish landscape which was, by this point much smaller than it once was.

 

The reason I am writing about parks and landscapes in a blog about gardens is because they serve very similar purposes. They are both planned out and serve can serve the function of a place to retreat. They are both considered forms of art. Parks and greenspaces in Denmark though are different from a garden like Versailles because Versailles was used as a display of power, whereas Danish greenspace is a display of commonwealth and democracy. Both of these places are a reflection of political systems. Check out the high level of order and the ridiculous expenses in maintaining Versailles. Compare it to the lake and path near my house Dyssegård (a suburb of Copenhagen).

 I took the picture of the lake and the image of Versailles is from http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/ARTH110/ARTH110_SL17.html




If you want to read more Greenspace in Denmark check out http://www.visitdenmark.com/east-jutland/nature/denmarks-national-parks-0 or look at a map and bike to the nearest green blob near you!

Check out http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/statens-museum-for-kunst?projectId=art-project for more Danish Landscapes with little snippits about Danish National Identity!

The Italian Renaissance Garden

The “rediscovery” of the classics and new Humanist ways of thinking were expressed in the design of the Italian Renaissance in a beautiful and influential way. The Italian Renaissance garden was really able to fully encompass the Renaissance spirit. Some of the most important aspects of Renaissance thinking were expressed in these gardens. The renaissance was defined by a shift from inward thinking to a drive to understand and question the world in a broader and more conclusive way. Humanism, religion, science, nature, architecture, physics and of course, the Greek Classics, were all part of the Renaissance and all present in various aspects of the Italian Renaissance gardens.

The Italian Renaissance gardens spanned large areas and were an integral part of the architecture of the Villas that they were built with. These differed greatly from the Hortus Conclusus which were small inward looking gardens in Medieval castles. The Italian Renaissance gardens had beautiful water features that required a great knowledge of hydraulics and the manipulation of the land in order for the water to flow where it was wanted. A water organ was in the garden at Villa D’Este which was powered by hydraulics which provided music for anyone in the garden.

 

I think this is the epitome of the Renaissance because the nice music was playing it was done in a way that had science behind it. The revival of Greek classics in Italy brought about this idea of Humanism. Humanism didn’t replace or reject religion but it was characterized by questioning. The writings of Pliny and his villa also brought back the idea of escaping city life and spending time in controlled nature. These gardens were designed as a way to study nature. By studying nature that was first improved by man (maybe in the form of a garden, or painting) people were able to study God and his creations and thus get closer to Him.

This picture from the Piccilomini Gardens in Italy is an excellent example of the link between man and nature and how the combination of the mountains and the garden were thought to reflect the work of God.

Because it was believed that nature is ordered by god and to understand god is to understand nature. Sculptures with symbolic meaning were also important aspects of the garden which allowed yet another form of art to flourish within these gardens. The Italian Renaissance gardens were artistically symbolic of renaissance thought so much as that they were not altered very much as the renaissance spread throughout Europe. These gardens were an art form that symbolized renaissance thought but also were just a beautiful and enjoyable place to be.

 

If you are interested in Italian renaissance gardens read more at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/i/italian-renaissance-villas-and-gardens/

 

 

Image Sources in the order they appear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_d%27Este_01.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pienza
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304259304576373020703249648