Minimalist Garden (Mitchell Beazley Gardening S.) [Paperback]

Christopher Bradley-Hole (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mitchell Beazley Gardening S. | Publication Date: February 17, 2005

Minimalist gardens, with their emphasis on clean lines, pure form, and a strong sense of space, are closely related to contemporary architecture and lifestyles. This book draws together a wide variety of minimalist gardens from around the world - large and small, urban and rural. The projects are grouped into thematic chapters, and the designers represented include Vladimir Sitta, John Pawson, Luis Barragan, Seth Stein, Jacques Wirtz, Tadao Ando, Martha Schwartz, Shodo Suzuki, and Isamu Noguchi; the book looks at the inspiration behind each garden and the frequent use of unusual materials and imaginative planning. The author also explains the philosophy of minimalism in gardens and related arts, as well as parallel trends in relaxed and ecologically aware planting. Also included are directories of materials and suitable plants for the minimalist garden.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Bradley-Hole was trained as an architect and received a graduate degree from the Architectural Association in London in the study and conservation of historic gardens and landscapes. His own garden designs range from small city courtyards to immense country estates. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group (February 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184533065X
• ISBN-13: 978-1845330651
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,436,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lot of pictures and few contents, April 29, 2001

By 

Federico Santarsiero (La Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Minimalist Garden (Hardcover)

This book is a neat collection of photographs which show the several appearances that a minimalist garden could take. Some of them are very well know for anybody who has read a gardening book once at least. Tadao Ando, John Pawson and Claudio Silvestrin among others famous architects had been chosen as well as icons in minimalism concept like Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. There are few pictures from a wide range of gardens all around the world and a brief explanation of each one. There are some hints of what minimalism is, but it is not a deep and accurate publication about minimalism and the way a garden should be built following minimalist principles. But if you are looking for a book with beautiful and inspiring photographs and very well designed this book is what you need.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detail, utility, beauty, February 22, 2000

By 

Adam Greenfield "Clean living under difficult... (Helsinki, Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Minimalist Garden (Hardcover)

If you're looking for an invaluable resource to assist you in the creation and enjoyment of a certain type of streamlined garden, you've found it. *The Minimalist Garden* is a trove of useful and detailed information about the theory and praxis of, well, minimalist gardening. I was thrilled to find that such a book exists, and happier still to put it to use. I particularly liked the detailed guides in the rear section, and the overall sense that minimalism need mean neither a slavish imitation of Ryoan-ji nor a flat modernist sea of polished granite. My only caveats are that the book is riddled with typos and misprints - which is simply unacceptable in any book, let alone a Monacelli tome that'll set you back $50 - and that too many of the photographs used to illustrate the projects are recycled from the front section. And (a quibble really) it would have been nice to see the project that Larry Ellison decreed for his stately pleasure-dome, instead of Charles Jencks' soi-disant "chaos" garden, which is really starting to get overexposed, aside from being a misprision of contemporary complexity theory. Overall, the book you want and need if you find both elements in the title appealing.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great inspiration, March 30, 2000

By 

feli "felio" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Minimalist Garden (Hardcover)

What stands out about this book are the incredible photographs, showing the endless possibilities using textures, colors and shapes in designing gardens and landscapes. This is not a book about traditional garden design but rather about architectural landscapes. Wonderful layout and pictures that really inspire.