Italian Gardens

ITALIAN GARDENS
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ( 6 TH S E M ) BY: Asst Prof Ar CHETANA R

ITALIAN GARDENS
• The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden

which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and
Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty.
• They were intended for the pleasure of the view of the
garden and the landscape beyond, for contemplation, and
for the enjoyment of the sights, sounds and smells of the
garden itself.
• In late renaissance, the gardens became larger, grander and
filled with fountains, statues, grottoes, water organs and
other elements to delight their owners and amuse and
impress visitors.

MAJOR CONCEPT
• The classic Italian garden utilizes a single or double
axis to divide the entire site.
• An axis can be thought of as a dividing line creating
equal parts on both sides of the garden space.
• Symmetry and balance are paramount in the Italian
style.
• Plantings, walkways, and other elements are
balanced on either side.

ITALIAN GARDENS
• The first Renaissance text to include garden design was De Re Aedificatoria ('The Ten Books of
Architecture'), by Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472).
• The purpose of a garden from Pliny’s letters was "otium," which could be translated as
seclusion, serenity, or relaxation, which was the opposite of the idea of "negotium" that
often classified busy urban life.
• Alberti proposed that
• ‘a villa should both be looked at and a place to look from; that the house should be
placed above the garden, where it could be seen and the owner could look down into the
garden’.
• “You should place
porticos for giving shade,
planters where vines can
climb, placed on marble
columns; vases and
amusing statues,
provided they are not
obscene. You should also
have rare plants.... Trees
should be aligned and
arranged evenly, each
tree aligned with its
neighbours."
ITALIAN GARDENS
• Style emerged from rediscovery by Renaissance scholars of classical Roman models.
• Innovated the art of gardening and architecture of waterways.
• Architects- design build special devices- create fountain with continuous flowing water.
• Villas located- countryside with exceptional views where cooling breeze would reach them
above the valleys.
• Within villas – courts, colonnades- designed for every phase of wind and weather.
ITALIAN GARDENS
• POWER AND MAGNIFICENCE - the political symbolism of the Renaissance garden –
• Early Italian Renaissance gardens were designed for contemplation and pleasure.
• the Medici, the ruling dynasty of Florence, used gardens to demonstrate their own
power and magnificence.
• LITERARY INFLUENCE on the Italian Renaissance Garden –

• A book named Strife of Love in a Dream, published in 1499 in Venice by the monk
Francesco Colonna, also had an important influence on the gardens of the
Renaissance.
• Described the voyage and adventures of a traveler, through fantastic landscapes
looking for his love.
PRINCIPLES & ELEMENTS OF ITALIAN
GARDENS
• Roman gods and goddesses were

inspirations for commissioned artwork
displayed in the gardens.
• Domestic and wild animals influenced the
shapes of topiaries.
• The entire landscape of the garden was
meant to be practical as well as
aesthetically pleasing.
• It was made a part of the landscape of the
home, complimenting the house instead of
being hidden from view.
• The ancient Roman garden's depicted in
artwork and literature were a major part in
the inspiration for such gardens.
FEATURES
• Formal lines that intersect
• Geometrically patterned parterres
• Few flowers
• Outlined with evergreens for texture and shape
• Sculptural elements
• Shaded walkways
• Water features
• Steps, urns, balustrades
• Garden furniture
• Structures
• Terracing
• Arches and pathways
• Custom made- should reflect the family that lives in the villa. Some gardens have the family
name written in box hedge.
FEATURES
• Outlined with evergreens for texture and shape
• Box hedge, myrtle, rosemary, and other evergreen plants
are trimmed into a hedge shape to divide the beds.
• Hedges provide shape and green even in the garden's
winter months because the Renaissance Garden is meant
for year-round pleasure.
• Topiary and statuary

• Topiary, evergreen plants shaped, trimmed and pruned into amusing shapes, are used
to add humor and playfulness to the garden.
• Statuary, when it is used, is normally a central feature in a fountain or grotto.
• It is never vulgar or offensive, but humorous or graceful.
FEATURES
• Fruit Trees
• Clipped and well-tended. Some - potted, others are
planted in open ground, most often against walls.
• Citrus fruit plants are often potted up so they can be set
outdoors during warm months, and moved indoors
during winter months.
• Other fruit trees are usually trained as arches or over
pergolas, when they're not formed as an esplanade
against a South-facing wall, for early ripening of the fruit.
• Arches and Pathways
• Evergreens often line path ways. Laurel, Yew, Cypresses, Fir,
Oaks, Plum, and Juniper trees are used to create green walls,
arches and living pergolas.
• Footpaths are designed -offer varied walks with varied views
through the garden
• Often taking the long way
around.
• Paths - grass paths, mown
down regularly or dirt paths
weeded regularly.
FEATURES
• Trellises and Climbing Plants
• Trellises are used to divide "rooms" and line
paths in the garden. They are trained with
climbing plants like ivy, roses, honeysuckle, or
grape vines.
• The climbing plants are also trained over
structures such as pergolas, porticos and
pavilions. Flowering climbers are preferred.
• Terracing
• Terraced on a gently sloping hillside. The
various levels are joined up by paths and
short flights of steps.
• Terraces are used mainly to divide the garden
into "rooms" with varying "moods", and to
limit the views and vistas.
• A connecting terrace should come as a
surprise when climbing up the garden.
• Looking down from the villa, however, the
terraces should create a tableau of pleasing
vistas, artistically sculpted views.
FEATURES
• Potted Plants
• Terra-cotta pots, often covered with figures and designs, are common decorative
features in Renaissance Gardens.
• Flowers, fruit trees and herbs can be potted up and moved around the garden for
variety and added color. They are almost always displayed in balanced symmetry.
• Water Features
• Water always plays a part in Classical Italian Gardens.
• Primarily the water is for irrigation to keep the plants from drying out.
• Secondarily, the water is used for features such as grottos, fountains, streams, and ponds.
• These features
can be central
features in
"rooms", or as
in the case of
grottos, off to
the shady sides
of the garden.
FEATURES
• Planned with the Villa
• The villa is always taken into account when planning a Renaissance Garden.
• The villa is treated as a feature of the garden, usually the central view.
• Shapes on the exterior and interior of the villa are often mirrored in the garden shapes
and structures, creating a harmonious blend of the two.
• But just as important are the beautiful vistas from the Villa when looking out of the
windows and doors into the garden.
• Garden Furniture
• Seating is spread around the garden so the various vistas and "rooms" can be
contemplated and enjoyed in repose.
• Seating can include benches, small patches of lawn for picnics, chairs, tables with
chairs. They are best in natural materials such as stone and wood.
• Covered seating areas are normally provided for protection from sun and rain alike.
• Pergolas covered in vines or flowering plants are a typical covered structure.
• Renaissance Garden or Classical Italian Garden is a light, open, peaceful, symmetrical,
soothing garden.
• There should be nothing dark, melancholy or gloomy.
• Custom made- should reflect the family that lives in the villa. Some gardens have the family
name written in box hedge.
VILLA MEDICI
• Created in the 15th century; this villa was located on a rocky hillside with a view over Florence.
• The Villa Medici followed Alberti's precepts that a villa should have a view 'that overlooks the
city, the owner's land, the sea or a great plain, and familiar hills and mountains,' and that the
foreground have 'the delicacy of gardens.’
VILLA MEDICI
• The garden has two large terraces, one at the ground floor level and the other at the level of
the first floor.
• From the reception rooms on the first floor, guests could go out to the loggia and from there to
the garden so the loggia was a transition space connecting the interior with the exterior.
• Unlike later gardens, the Villa Medici did not have a grand staircase or other feature to link the
two levels.
• This villa is well-known for its resemblance of a fortress.
• The garden is even more spectacular than the villa itself, boasting several antique fountains, a
variety of topiaries, and several trees.
• The garden does not have a lot of flower species .
SECTION
PLAN
THANK YOU

Italian Gardens

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ITALIAN GARDENS

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ( 6 TH S E M ) BY: Asst Prof Ar CHETANA R

• The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ( 6 TH S E M ) BY: Asst Prof Ar CHETANA R

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ( 6 TH S E M ) BY: Asst Prof Ar CHETANA R

• LITERARY INFLUENCE on the Italian Renaissance Garden –

• Roman gods and goddesses were

• Topiary and statuary

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ( 6 TH S E M ) BY: Asst Prof Ar CHETANA R

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