Ranging widely across Asia and Europe, its chapters examine ideas, narratives and practices from the 4th-century Chinese poet Tao Yuanming, to the 12th century Iranian polymath Omar Khayyam, through to the late 20th-century British artist and film-maker Derek Jarman. Drawing upon traditional Asian philosophies like Buddhism, Daoism and Sufism and combining these with more recent western philosophies, the aim is to question how the unique virtues of gardens and designed landscapes can help to poise, educate, and possibly transform attitudes and behaviours in a time of personal, environmental, or cultural crisis.
At once poetic, scholarly, and rigorous, this book provides insightful reading for students and researchers in landscape architecture, garden history, architectural history, art history, and cultural history.
