Gardens and the Metaphysics of their Era
Written and posted by Tadej Pirc. November, 2023.
Gardens represent more than an urban planning element; they symbolise a crucial evolution in our bond with nature. This bond has woven itself into the fabric of urban landscapes and architecture, evolving in expression over the past centuries.
In gardens, a selection of trees, plants, water features, and artistic elements combine to form an aesthetic spectacle with significant practical value. More than their beauty, gardens are symbolic spaces balancing metaphor and utility. They offer a secluded haven for enjoyment, reflection, relaxation, or emotional release. Consider monastic gardens: they are not merely places for reflection but also stand as self-contained sanctuaries, symbolic islands complete unto themselves, whether nestled in a forest or amidst urban sprawl, bounded by stone walls and gateways that selectively open to the world beyond.
Historically, from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the grandeur of 17th-century French landscape art, gardens have signified more than refuge or productivity—they have been emblems of power. Versailles’ head gardener’s work, beautifully presented in Érik Orsenna’s booklet “André Le Nôtre: Gardener to the Sun King,” (first published in French, in 2000) epitomises this, reflecting not just the friendship between Le Nôtre and Louis XIV but also the garden’s role as a metaphor for man’s dominion over nature.
The European garden par excellence was designed for a man who ruled over a nation and believed he ruled the world. Versailles’ garden, with its meticulously sculpted flora, served as a dramatic stage for performances, illustrating power in its design—power over nature, power to create endless botanical arrays. This symbolism is a testament to the era’s metaphysics, where gardens, designed with epistemological intent, became mediums of communication and even propaganda, shifting from botanical curiosity to visual installations of the sophisticated style of the times.
The design, in its quest for perfection, needed to be constant, which was unachievable with only plants due to the challenges posed by growth and seasonal changes. Often, the garden featured more inorganic color materials than plants to create the effect of a vast carpet stretching out in front of the palace. The ability to evoke admiration in visitors was particularly important, achieved through encountering decorative symmetries and their complex forms. The potentially infinite series of arrangements visually suggested an extraordinary force and symbolised the wealth necessary for constructing and maintaining a garden of such magnitude. The garden, emblematic of the entire 17th century, attests to the notion that secular power was perceived as divine simultaneously.
Photo by Chateau de Versailles
Today, the concept of controlled nature extends beyond the walls of private spaces to public areas in cities, where gardens or parks primarily fulfill a public role. This shift from enclosed spaces and the expansion of the garden concept into the broader landscape, visually speaking, emerged during European Romanticism, or a bit earlier in England. With this new perspective on nature, it became an object for observation and contemplation. The landscape transitioned from being merely a backdrop or setting for events to being the focal point itself. In this way, the landscape turned into a spectacle of its own. While the formal garden, with its geometric motifs, symmetries, and endless perspectives, was designed as an artificial representation and control of nature, the English-style landscape garden went a step further, creating a garden that mimicked nature itself. By imitating almost wild landscapes, these design approaches subtly integrated with nature, forming a harmonious union.
In the 18th century, despite the strong influence of English styles, the French formal garden design spread across continental Europe. However, unlike the typical parterres de broderie of Versailles, the focus in these gardens was on their dimensions and complexity. This created an impression that the artistic creation surrounding the palace was a miniature city, embodying the pinnacle of accumulated knowledge and technology up to that point.
As always, gardens continued to mirror the metaphysics of their era.