Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Timeless Design

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis = Art is long, life is short

After reading a post by Style Chronicle and Things that Inspire about trends that define the 2000s and The Trends of Tomorrow, I began thinking about trends in landscape design.

Gardens pictured above: Versailles, Filoli, and home designed by DLA in Atlanta, GA

Although we have had the famous names of those we remember as altering landscape design as we know it, (i.e. Olmsted, the first landscape architect and Thomas Church with the modern movement) I believe that one of the great things about garden design is that well designed gardens last forever.


Ars longa, vita brevis is from The Aphorisms of Hippocrates meaning that life is short, but art will live on long after we are gone. A well designed garden built with sustainable materials can last forever. There are several world famous gardens that we continue to study and learn from that prove this theory. Although they may be on quite expansive scales, the basic elements are still the same components that we use in garden design today.



Claude Monet's garden at Giverny
Gardens, of course, have altered somewhat through the years. As our lots get smaller, gardens become more of an extension of our home. So build a porch, extend a patio, buy some classic outdoor furniture, and watch your garden spring into life.

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