Books: Landscapes You'll Never Forget

If there's one thing for certain about the gardens designed by landscape architect Ken Smith, it's that you'll never forget the ones you've experienced, whether in person or on the printed page.

A new book, Ken Smith: Landscape Architect (Monacelli Press, 2009) surveys Smith's most important works to date, from huge public projects to small private gardens. Some are natural, some are artificial, some serious and some quite humorous.  Some of the installations are temporary and others permanent.  All of them have a lasting impact.  

In the introduction to the book, John Beardsley, a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and director of garden and landscape studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, says of Smith:

"Is he a landscape architect or an installation artist? A public servant or a provocateur? An elite gardener or a populist? A careful site sculptor or an in-your-face simulator? The perplexing truth is that Ken Smith is unapologetically all of these things -- and others as well."

If you haven't seen one of Smith's projects, this book will introduce you to the plastic rocks and boxwoods and black Mexican beach pebbles made of rubber ... and the other lightweight materials that made the roof "garden" atop the MOMA in New York possible. For a private residence on Long Island, Smith crafted a bridge of wooden planks to connect long views; and an arbor made of wood, aluminum and frosted acrylic.  Perennials, including sage, yarrow, lavender and daisies are planted in drifts to reflect the dune-like setting and Hollywood junipers are randomly placed for color and texture throughout all four seasons.

The book also includes profiles of many other Smith landscapes, including the Santa Fe Railyard Park, 7 World Trade Center in New York City, and Orange Country Great Park in California.

I recently attended a lecture Smith gave at Dumbarton Oaks, entitled "Big Little Skip the Middle." Smith explained that he likes to work on big ideas that are brought to fruition by working on the little details.  He added that the lecture title also reflects his current thinking about the practice of landscape architecture:  that there's "too much in the middle and a lack of critical thinking."

After reading this book, you'll realize that Ken Smith certainly isn't in the "middle" of landscape architecture. As Beardsley puts it, "Ken Smith injects an element of experimentation into a profession that all too often can seem all too conventionalized.  For this, ladies and gentlemen, hats off to him -- whatever fashion you profess." 

This large format book (9"x 10.5") includes more than 200 color images (some of them Ken's "plans") in beautiful detail. 

A great Christmas present for anyone interested in gardens, landscapes, or modern art.