Japanese Gardens

by Gunter Nitschke

Nature crafted by man. The Japanese garden, like all gardens, is more than mere nature; it is nature crafted by man. It needs the hands of the designer to give it meaning. The Japanese garden belongs to the realm of architecture; at its best, it is nature as art. The phases of its history document the constant redefinition of man's position within and towards nature. Its changing forms respond both to socio-economic developments and to religious and philosophical trends, and thereby reflect the spiritual climate in which its architecture was conceived.

At the same time as detailing the characteristics distinguishing and differentiating each of the five major epochs in the history of the Japanese garden, the author identifies the common motif which underlies them all: the recurrent attempt to unite beauty as natural accident and beauty as human-perfected type, to achieve an aesthetic symbiosis between the seeming randomness of natural form and the strict geometry of the right angle.

"This extraordinary book provides a detailed, engrossing history of Japanese gardens with separate chapters for each historical era. It is beautifully illustrated with color photos as well as historical black and white."
—Suite 101, New York

Genres: Gardening, Japan, Nonfiction, Art, Design, Architecture, Coffee Table Books

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Japanese Gardens by Günter Nitschke has inspired me very much, with its gorgeous imagery. As a painter, the book has been of much help and inspiration.

[Vander Alves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Japanese gardens are very interesting, and so is much of the information here, but the whole thing is devoid of apt storytelling; it's a painful read.

[Beroha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce live se consacre à l’histoire des jardins japonais des origines jusqu’à nos jours, notons que les jardins japonais actuels ne sont traités que dans une petite partie faisant office de conclusion. On découvre les principes qui parcourent ces jardins tels que la géomancie, l’influence chinoise ou encore l’alliance de l’angle droit architectural et des formes de la nature.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

You pick up this coffee table book and don't expect a whole treaty on Japanese gardens. The text is extensive and exact, it takes you trough 1500 years of Buddhism and Zen gardens. Very much a slow read, it could be improved by more didactic images, even though you find plenty of diagrams and photos of several gardens.

[George Garkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много яка книга. Градинарството, както се очертава в източните онтологични традиции, е доста chad. Е, разбира се, и Епикур говори за разни там градини, но тук метафизиката е на много по-висш level. Трябва да си направя алпинеум.

[Wayward Child · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uninteresting, boring, very confusing when it comes to historical facts and divisions, hard to follow, it just jumps from one thing to another, instead of following some kind of a linear path. Beautiful pictures, though.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again...that silly notion that I might actually be able to do somethign like this.

[Steve Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive book providing an historical account of the development of Japanese Garden design. It's a classic, beautifully illustrated and well researched

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the best pictures of the jgbooks I've sampled but adequate, and interesting, well-organized historical information.