Environmental Design Library @ UC Berkeley

Landscape Architecture 101 - Fundamentals of Landscape Design

Landscape Architecture 101 - Fundamentals of Landscape Design is a strategic and bibliographic research guide to UC Berkeley library and web resources for UCB students taking LA 101. Here you'll find research techniques and sources for your precedent study. For additional assistance, please consult the Environmental Design Library reference staff, 210 Wurster Hall.

Deconstruct Your Precedent
Fill-in the Blanks With Basic Facts
Find Images & Plans
Find Books - use library catalogs
Find Articles - use indexes
How to Draw
Campus Libraries

= Recommended

Deconstruct

DECONSTRUCT your precedent to uncover its complexities, to focus your research, and to increase your search vocabulary (for example, the more ways you have of describing and thinking about your precedent, the more likely you are to find a plan or section). Add to your 'deconstruction notes' as you learn more about your precedent.

• Write down your precedent.
  Example: Golden Gate Park
• Ask the 6 journalist's questions about your chosen precedent: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, How?
  Example:
  Who designed it? / Who built it? / Who paid for it? / Who were the intended users?
  What kind of park is it? / What were the design constraints?
  Where is it located? (city, state, neighborhood, country)
  When was it built? (date completed, century)
  Why was it designed?
  How did the city approve the project?

Do your best to answer these questions. Remember to include alternative spellings or variant names.
Example: Olmsted or Olmstead; parc or park or parque; Nationsbank or Nations Bank or National Bank

• Pay attention to the questions you can't answer about your precedent. Look for for the answers in the specialized reference sources in the following section.
• For additional ways to explore the concepts and social factors influencing your precedent, see Finding Information on Buildings and Places. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/research_buildings.html

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Fill-In the Blanks Bibliographies | Dictionaries | Landscape Architects | Encyclopedias & Handbooks | Histories & Surveys

FILL-IN THE BLANKS with basic facts. Search reference sources for an overview of your precedent.Note particular keywords, terms, authors, bibliographies, and footnotes. Learn specific project names, designers, locations, and dates designed and constructed. Add this information to your deconstruction notes. Use your facts to help your search. If you don't have enough information on your specific site, try searching for the designer, the style of the site or a survey of multiple sites within that country.

• Environmental Design Library Research Guides for research in the history of the built environment. Guides include both print and web materials.
• Biographical Information on Landscape Architects http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/landscape_biography.html
• California Landscape Architecture & Gardens http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/landscape_california.html
• History and Literature of Landscape Architecture http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/alacarte/course-guide/80

• Dictionary of landscape architecture and construction, by Alan Jay Christensen. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
EnvDesign SB469.25 C48 2005 Reference Desk
• Encyclopedic dictionary of landscape and urban planning: multilingual reference in English, Spanish, French, and German - UCB only Klaus-Jürgen Evert. Berlin: Springer Berlin, 2010. Directions:Whether searching for a specific term or browsing, with your initial click on an entry, you will be directed to an abstract page. The definition and alternate language terms are not on this page. Click on the View HTML option under the cover image of the book. The View HTML will take you to the definition and translation page or a see also page. For see also pages, click on the alternate term given. The following link is a video walk through of how to navigate the dictionary.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-540-76455-7/
• Lexicon of garden and landscape architecture, by Meto J. Vroom. Boston: Birkhauser-Publishers for Architecture, 2006. Contains short illustrated articles on landscape architecture concepts and practices.
EnvDesign SB469.25 V76 2006 Reference Desk
• Oxford reference online - art and architecture - UCB only Search multiple online art and architecture dictionaries published by Oxford University Press.

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• American landscape architecture: designers and places, William H. Tishler, ed. Washington, DC: Preservation Pr., 1989.
EnvDesign SB470.53 A441 1989 Reference Desk & circulating
• Dictionary of today's landscape designers, Pierluigi Nicolin, Francesco Repishti, eds. London: Thames & Hudson, 2003. For 86 international contemporary landscape architects and designers, engineers, artists, and more, provides a biographical note, a list of works and related bibliography, and color photographs of significant designs.
  EnvDesign SB469.37 D53 2003 Reference
• Influential gardeners: the designers who shaped 20th-century garden style, by Andrew Wilson. NY: Clarkson Potter/Publisher, 2002. Includes illustrated biographies of 57 international landscape architects and designers.
EnvDesign SB469.9 W55 2002
• Pioneers of American landscape design, Charles A. Birnbaum, Robin Karson, eds. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Contains excellent biographical essays about 160 American landscape architects and designers and their work. Each essay includes a brief bibliography. Illustrated.
EnvDesign SB469.9 P56 2000 Reference Desk
• Shaping the American landscape: new profiles from the pioneers of American landscape design project, Charles A. Birnbaum, Stephanie S. Foell, eds. Charlottesville: Univ. of Virginia Pr., 2009. Contains excellent biographical essays about 160 American landscape architects and designers and their work. Each essay includes a brief bibliography. Illustrated.
EnvDesign SB469.9 S53 2009 Reference Desk

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• The Architecture handbook: a student guide to understanding buildings, by Jennifer Masengarb with Krisann Rehbein. Chicago: Chicago Architecture Foundation, 2007. See Chapter 7: Orientation of the building to the site and Chapter 8: Topography & Landscape.
  EnvDesign NA2540.M37 2007
• Great city parks, by Alan Tate. NY: Spon Press, 2001. Covers 20 public parks in 14 American and Western European cities.
EnvDesign SB484 E8 T37 2001 Reference & circulating
• Grove art online (now included in Oxford art online) - UCB only Electronic version of The 34 vol. Dictionary of art, Jane Turner, ed. NY: Grove, 1996. Contains 45,000+ articles on the visual arts, including architecture, from prehistory to the present. Excellent bibliographies and links to images and related sites. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/
  Print ed.: EnvDesign N31 D5 1996 Reference, Index: v.34
• Encyclopedia of gardens: history and design, Chicago Botanic Garden. Candice A. Shoemaker, ed. 3 vols. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001. Excellent source for landscape design history. Substantive signed articles are illustrated; each includes a brief bibliography. Chronologies of selected projects are given for landscape designers.
  EnvDesign SB465 E63 2001 Reference Desk
• European gardens: an historical atlas, by Virgilio Vercelloni. NY: Rizzoli, 1990. Chronological arrangement with great illustrations, some color. Index, bibliography.
  EnvDesign fSB466 E9 V4713 1990 Reference
• The Oxford companion to the garden, Patrick Taylor, ed. NY: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2006. Table of contents. A one-volume encyclopedia of short authoritative articles on notable gardens, landscape designers, garden features, etc. New ed. of the classic The Oxford companion to gardens. Selectively illustrated. Bibliography: pp.531-538.
EnvDesign SB 469.25 O951 2006 Reference Desk & circulating
• Wikipedia Web-based, collaboratively-authored encyclopedia. Useful for confirming a research starting point. READER BEWARE: Content is non-authoritative, and in some instances has been demonstrated to be deliberately false. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

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• 1000 x landscape architecture, project coordination, Chris van Uffelen. [London: Thames & Hudson distributor], 2009. Includes photographs, plans, and drawings of gardens and parks. International. Coverage is approximately 1999-2009.
EnvDesign SB472 A15 2009
• Architecture and landscape: the design experiment of the great European gardens and landscapes, by Clemens Steenbergen and Wouter Rey. Rev. and expanded ed. Boston: Birkhauser, 2003. Includes some measured plans and topographical details. Western European focus.
EnvDesign SB470.55 E85 R44 2003
• The Architecture of western gardens: a design history from the Renaissance to the present day, Monique Mosser and Georges Teyssot, eds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Pr., 1991. Well-illustrated with photographs and plans.
EnvDesign SB466 E9 A7313 1991 Reserve & circulating
• The Art of the Islamic garden, by Emma Clark. Ramsbury: Crowood, 2004. Includes an extensive bibliography.
EnvDesign SB457.8 C58 2004
• Changes in scenery: contemporary landscape architecture in Europe, by Thies Schroder. Updated and rev. ed. Boston: Birkhauser, 2002.
EnvDesign SB470.55 E85 S3613 2002
• Contemporary history of garden design: European gardens between art and architecture, by Penelope Hill. Includes a selection of 20th and 21st century designed landscapes at various scales. Illustrated. Boston: Birkhauser, 2004.
EnvDesign fSB466 E9 H5613 2004
• Decorating Eden : a comprehensive sourcebook of classic garden details, Elizabeth Wilkinson and Marjorie Henderson, eds. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c1992.
EnvDesign SB469.25 .H67 1992 Reference
• Gardens of paradise: the history and design of the great Islamic gardens, by John Brookes. NY: New Amsterdam, 1987.
EnvDesign SB457.8 B761 1987
• The Golden age of American gardens: proud owners, private estates, 1890-1940, by Mac Griswold, Eleanor Weller. NY: H.N. Abrams, in association with the Garden Club of America, 1991. Includes extensive notes and bibliography.
EnvDesign SB466 U6 G75 1991
• The History of garden design: the western tradition from the Renaissance to the present day, Monique Mosser and Georges Teyssot, eds. London: Thames & Hudson, 1991. 652 illustrations and 51 specially drawn plans.
EnvDesign SB465 H673 1991 Reserve & circulating
• Landscape architects, by Martin Ashton. Mexico D.F., Mexico: Atrium Internacional de Mexico, 2002. Features the work of 19 international modern landscape architects and firms. Well-illustrated. Text in English and Spanish.
EnvDesign SB470.5 A85 2002
• Landscape design: a cultural and architectural history, by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers. NY: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.
  EnvDesign SB470.5 R64 2001 Reference Desk, Reserve & circulating
• The Landscape of man: shaping the environment from prehistory to the present day, by Geoffrey & Susan Jellicoe. 3rd ed., expanded & updated, rev. & enl. ed. NY: Thames and Hudson, 1995. Includes black and white photos, plans, and drawings.
EnvDesign SB470.5 J43 1995
• New landscape architecture, by Nicolette Baumeister. Berlin: Verlagshaus Braun, 2007. Includes photographs and plans. International.
EnvDesign SB470.55 G3 B38 2007
• The Park and the town: public landscape in the 19th and 20th centuries, by George F. Chadwick. London: Architectural Pr., 1966. Covers the development of public parks in the U.S. and Europe. Includes illustrations and a bibliography.
EnvDesign SB481 C47
• Urban spaces: new city parks, by Jacobo Krauel; text contributed by the architects, ed. and transl. by William George and Jay Noden. [Barcelona]: Links, 2008. Includes photographs and plans. International.
EnvDesign SB481 K73 2008

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Find Images & Plans

Also see landscape architecture histories and journal articles.

• Aerial photos: The Earth Sciences & Map Library (EART) has an excellent collection of aerial photos of California, 1939--present. A master index is available in EART.
• Aerial photography and image interpretation, by David P. Paine, James D. Kiser. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2003. Online table of contents.
Bioscience & Earth Sci TR810 P25 2003
• Catalog of aerial photography--Non-California & International (Microsoft Co.) Site includes links to online aerial photo resources.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/other.html
• Some digitized aerial photos of the San Francisco Bay Area are available on The Library's SunSite.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/aerial2.html
• MSR maps (Microsoft Co.) Formerly TerrraServer-USA, the site offers free, public access to online maps and aerial photographs of the United States.
http://terraserver-usa.com/
• ArtStor - UCB Only - Digital library of more than 1 million images including architectural images.
http://www.artstor.org/
• Image sources for the built environment - Environmental Design Library research guide.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/research_images.html
• Decorating Eden : a comprehensive sourcebook of classic garden details, Elizabeth Wilkinson and Marjorie Henderson, eds. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c1992.
EnvDesign SB469.25 .H67 1992 Reference
• Great European gardens: an atlas of historic plans, by Sven-Ingvar Andersson, Margrethe Floryan. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Pr., 2005.
  EnvDesign fSB466 E9 A5351 2005 Reference
• Index to Italian architecture: a guide to key monuments and reproduction sources, Edward H. Teague, comp. NY: Greenwood Pr., 1992. Indexes illustrations of approximately 1,800 architectural works in standard books on Italian architecture (UC Berkeley call numbers are annotated in the front of the book). Includes landscapes. Lists the type of illustration to be found, e.g., plans, sections, and elevations.
EnvDesign NA111 T4 1992 Reference Desk
• Landscape architecture: an illustrated history in timelines, site plan, and biography, by William A. Mann. NY: John Wiley, 1993.
  EnvDesign SB470.5 M37 1993 Reference Desk & circulating
• The Phaidon atlas of contemporary world architecture. NY: Phaidon, 2004. Includes color photographs and measured drawings for buildings and landscapes, constructed from 1998.
  EnvDesign fNA687 P42 2004 Reference & noncirculating
• The Phaidon atlas of 21st century world architecture. NY: Phaidon, 2008. Includes color photographs and measured drawings for buildings and landscapes, constructed since January 2000.
  EnvDesign fNA687 P42 2008 Reference
• The public chance : nuevos paisajes urbanos = New urban landscapes, by Aurora Fernandez Per, Javier Arpa. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain : a+t ediciones, 2008. Well-illustrated with plans and photographs. International scope.
  EnvDesign fNA9053 S6 F362 2008
• SPIRO, UC Berkeley Architecture Department, Visual Resources Center (VRC). SPIRO is the public online image catalog of approximately 20% of the VRC's collection of over 200,000 35mm slides. The collection itself is available to UCB faculty and graduate students.
http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/spiro/
• World architecture index: a guide to illustrations, Edward H. Teague, comp. NY: Greenwood Press, 1991. Indexes illustrations of 7,200+ architectural works in standard books on world architecture (UC Berkeley call numbers are annotated in the front of the book). Includes landscapes. Lists the type of illustration to be found, e.g., plans, sections, and elevations.
  EnvDesign NA202 T4 1991 Reference Desk & Reference

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Find Books

FIND BOOKS for an in-depth discussion of your precedent. Note that for many topics you will not find an entire book; instead, you may find a chapter or an essay in a book focussed on a general aspect of your precedent (refer to your deconstruction list for ideas). Example: a book on urban parks might include information about Golden Gate Park.

In the Library's catalogs use keywords or subject headings to search for title, subject, author, or corporate author.

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Find Articles

FIND ARTICLES for current and retrospective information. Use PERIODICAL INDEXES to identify articles within periodical and newspaper titles.

Journals, Periodicals, Magazines, and Serials -- these terms refer to the same thing. Journal articles are generally NOT included in the Library Catalogs.
Use Environmental Design Library indexes and abstracts to expand your search on your topic:
Architecture Indexes | Landscape Architecture Indexes | City Planning Indexes
Use the UCB list of Electronic Resources: Article Databases to identify other related indexes.
Not all articles or journals are available electronically, full text. Some indexes use to look up call numbers and locations for print journals. Use Library's catalogs to look up journal call numbers in indexes that don't use UC e-links. Search under the title of the journal.

Here is a selection of indexes that are especially helpful for landscape architecture research. When searching for your precedent, remember to use truncation or wildcards (* or ?) for variations of words (e.g., park*)

• Academic search complete - UC Only
  Includes articles from popular and scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences. Citations, abstracts and some full text for nearly 11,000 journals; can limit to scholarly journals.
  Coverage.: 1865--present
• America: history and life - UCB Only
  Citations, abstracts and some full text on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada from prehistoric times to the present.
  Online ed.: 1964--present
  Print ed.: 1954--present; Main Stack E3 A43
• Art full text- UC Only
  Contains citations to items from over 300 international publications.
  Online ed.: 1984--present
  Print ed.: EnvDesign N18 A72 Index
• Art index retrospective - UC Only
  Bibliographic database that cumulates citations to Art Index, volumes 1-32.
  Online ed.: 1929-1984;
  Print ed.: 1929-1994; EnvDesign N18 A72 Index
• Avery index to architectural periodicals - UCB Only
  Indexes articles in 1,000+ periodicals in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, & related disciplines.
  Online ed.: 1890--present;
  Print ed.: 1890-1995; EnvDesign fNA8 C64 1973 Index
• Bibliography of Asian studies (BAS) - UCB Only
  Contains records on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide.
  Online ed.: 1971--present;
  Print ed.: 1956-1991; Main, Moffitt, S/SEAL DS511 A12 B6
• Bibliography of the history of art (BHA)
  Online ed.: 1990-2009;
  Print ed.: 1991--present; Main N1 B51
• Historical abstracts - UC Only
  Indexes and abstracts journal articles, books, and dissertations covering the history of the world. Excellent for cultural history. Excludes the U.S. and Canada.
  Coverage: 1450--present
• JSTOR - UCB Only
  Full text archive of interdisciplinary scholarly journal literature, including the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, except for the most recent five years.
  Coverage varies
• Periodicals index online - UC Only
  Indexes the contents of thousands of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues. International scope. Titles indexed include Landscape Architecture and Landscape History.
  Coverage: 1665-1995
• Research library - ProQuest - UCB Only
  Indexes more than 2,500 magazines and journals on art, business, humanities, health, social sciences, and sciences. Includes some full text.
  Coverage: 1971--present

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How to Draw

Here is a selection of books to help you create your graphic presentation about your precedent. See the research guide Design Drawing - Resources for Skill Development for more resources.

• Color drawing: design drawing skills and techniques for architects, landscape architects, and interior designers, by Michael E. Doyle. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley. 2007.
  EnvDesign NC892 D69 2007
• Design drawing, by Francis D.K. Ching with Steven P. Juroszek. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1998.
  EnvDesign NA2708 C49 1998 Reserve & circulating
• Digital drawing for landscape architecture: contemporary techniques and tools for digital representation in site design, by Bradley Cantrell and Wes Michaels. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
  EnvDesign SB475.9 D37 C36 2010
• Drawing the landscape, by Chip Sullivan. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004.
  EnvDesign NC795 S86 2004
• Landscape architectural graphic standards, Leonard J. Hopper, ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons, 2007. Online table of contents.
  EnvDesign SB472 L36 2007 Reserve
• Landscape graphics: plan, section, and perspective drawing of landscape spaces, by Grant W. Reid. Rev. ed. NY: Watson-Guptill, 2002.
  EnvDesign SB476.4 R45 2002 Reserve & circulating
• Plan graphics for the landscape designer: with section-elevation and computer graphics, by Tony Bertauski. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007.
  EnvDesign SB472.47 B47 2007 Reserve

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Campus Libraries

Here's a selection of UCB campus libraries with collections of interest to LA 101 students.

• Art History/Classics Library 308 Doe Library http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ARTH/
• The Bancroft Library Note: Noncirculating only. No photocopying allowed. http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
• Doe Library Reference Center 2nd floor; stack portal, 1st floor http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/reference.html
• Earth Sciences & Map Library 50 McCone Hall http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/
• Environmental Design Library 210 Wurster Hall http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/
• Visual Resources Center 232 Wurster Hall - Note: Open to UCB faculty & graduate students for classroom presentations. An orientation is required before first use of the collection. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ARCH/

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