Language of Landscape

Unexpected Indiana reveals the beauty and power of the natural world in Indiana. Ron Leonetti and Christopher Jordan have covered the entire state, photographing the parks and preserves in all four seasons. From the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in the north to the cypress sloughs in the south, the full breadth of Indiana’s diversity is represented, revealing a hidden splendor. Nothing manmade intrudes upon these striking photos, which range from close-ups to sweeping landscapes of forests, rivers, prairies, dunes, and swamps.

Unexpected Indiana represents a unique collaboration between two photographers. Jordan and Leonetti share a deep love of nature and a fascination with the hidden gems that can be found within the state. Working in traditional medium and large film formats, the photographers have produced a spectacular body of work that captures the essence of Indiana’s natural beauty.

Unexpected Indiana: A Portfolio of Natural Landscapes (Quarry Books)

This book explores new forms and modalities of relations between people and space that increasingly affect the life of the city. The investigation takes as its starting point the idea that in contemporary societies the loss of our relationship with place is a symptom of a breakdown in the relationship between ethics and aesthetics. This in turn has caused a crisis not only in taste, but also in our sense of beauty, our aesthetic instinct, and our moral values. It has also led to the loss of our engagement with the landscape, which is essential for cities to function.

The authors argue that new, fertile forms of interaction between people and space are now happening in what they call the ‘intermediate space’, at the border of “urban normality” and those parts of a city where citizens experiment with unconventional social practices. This new interaction engenders a collective conscience, giving a new and productive vigor to the actions of individuals and also their relations with their environment.

These new relations emerge only after we abandon what is called the “therapeutic illusion of space”, which still exists today, and which binds in a deterministic manner the quality of civitas, the associative life of people in the city, to the quality of urban space. Projects for the city should, instead, have as their keystone the notion of social action as a return to a critical perspective, to a courageous acceptance of social responsibility, at the same time as seeking the generative structures of urban life in which civitas and urbs again acknowledge each other.

People and Space: New Forms of Interaction in the City Project (Urban and Landscape Perspectives)

Land and Light in the American West

Post’s deep affection for the landscape of rural Maine, where he summered and eventually lived, is evident in his soft-focus capturing of the essence of apple trees in blossom, fields at harvesttime, and most notably snow and water lilies. Like contemplative, Japanese-inspired poems, Post’s subtle platinum prints are quiet homages to his spiritual communion with nature. 

Minneapolis Institute of Arts curator Christian A. Peterson follows Post’s life and work and assesses his creative accomplishments, illuminating his important place in photographic history and the unique and sophisticated beauty of his photographs. 

Christian A. Peterson is curator at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. 

Distributed for The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The Quiet Landscapes of William B. Post

Robert Adams: Questions for an Overcast Day

Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally

Reflecting Nature: Garden Designs for Wild Landscapes

In My Mind’s Eye: Seeing in Black and White

West of Last Chance

Terence Conran’s Garden DIY: Over 75 Projects and Design Ideas for Making the Most of Your Garden

Modern Ruins begins with an introduction by architectural essayist Geoff Manaugh, who offers insight into why people are so drawn to ruins and what they might mean to us in a larger psychological sense. Brief essays by noted historians Curt Miner, Kenneth Warren, Kenneth Wolensky, and Thomas Lewis offer social and historical contexts for the sites documented in the book. These sites include Eastern State Penitentiary, Bethlehem Steel, and the Bannerman Island Arsenal, among others. The book concludes with an interview with the photographer that touches on his fascination with ruins and explores some of the processes and procedures he uses to document them. Modern Ruins is a compelling collection of stunning and melancholy photographs, one that helps us hear these abandoned places speak.

Modern Ruins: Portraits of Place in the Mid-Atlantic Region (A Keystone Book)

Galleries of Garden Plants (The Best of Fine Gardening)

Using LANDCADD

These hidden masterworks of modern gardening are unlocked for us by the authority, experience, and resources of House & Garden magazine. Every page is an invitation to explore landscapes that have never before been seen by the public–and may never be seen again. International in scope and lavish in its production, this book is the last word on the state of design in the garden world.

340 color photographs

The New Garden Paradise: Great Private Gardens of the World

Patio & Stone: A Sunset Design Guide

Ancient America

Spon’s Landscape Handbook

Gardening Secrets Revealed! How To Love Your Garden, Beautify It, & Take Care Of It Simply & Easily!: How To Have The Amazing Garden You’ve Always Wanted!

The images presented here are a visual record of the Northwest at its most pristine and poetic. During her many years of finely tuned observation, Randlett has learned to take the time to ponder the essences of what she sees — the curl of a bird’s drifting feather, a water strider not quite breaking the surface of the water, fog ascending a hillside, the moment a pond’s surface turns to ice.

The magnificent photographs are accompanied by text that sheds light on the artist and her work. Anchoring the book is an essay by the internationally renowned poet Denise Levertov about Randlett the artist, along with seven of her own poems that were directly inspired by Randlett’s photographs. In another essay, Washington artist Barry Herem situates Mary Randlett among the major figures in Northwest art. Photographer/actor Ted D’Arms offers an introductory essay addressing Randlett’s place in photography and in the Northwest. Jo Ann Ridley provides a biographical chronology and Joyce Thompson remembers Randlett’s seventieth birthday party. Randlett adds a technical note in which she shares details about the cameras, lenses, film, and printing techniques she has used, as well as pertinent information about time, place, and circumstances.

Mary Randlett Landscapes

The City, Seen as a Garden of Ideas

The most influential alternative to the Victorian city was Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City, an idea he sketched in his modest book To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform. First published in 1898, To-Morrow attempted to improve the material condition of working-class families through a vision of new communities which would provide a better quality of life. Howard’s legacy grew throughout the twentieth century in garden cities, suburbs, and green towns; a century later, architects and planners are still motivated by his ideas.

Published on the one hundredth anniversary of Garden Cities of To-Morrow (1902), the more familiar version of Howard’s pathbreaking book, the ten essays in this new volume place Howard’s legacy in its historic context and show its continuing relevance for urban, regional, and environmental planners. Following a biographical essay, three articles trace the influence of Howard’s ideas on the development of the modern metropolis, while another four address his concepts regarding the arrangement of housing and community life and show how they have influenced subsequent development. Two closing essays assess critical aspects of Howard’s legacy for the twenty-first century.

The contributors focus on the timeless significance of Howard’s ideas about limits to growth, the effectiveness of agricultural greenbelts in growth management, and the use of physical space to promote human interaction, as well as the relevance of Howard’s work to the New Urbanism and sustainability movements.

International in scope, with original and provocative scholarship, From Garden City to Green City is a tribute to Howard’s ideals of cooperation, justice, and environmentalism in urban planning.

From Garden City to Green City: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard

How to Start a Home-Based Landscaping Business

USA assembled a group of eleven photographers and asked them to capture the character of America. Each artist’s vision was as unique as the people and places they photographed. From Alaska to New York, the subjects they encountered are a stunning reminder of our country’s diversity. The musicians and mothers, fisherman and farmers, athletes and artists, at home, at work, and at play, are a true representation of what it means to live in America today.

Legendary photographers Mary Ellen Mark and Sylvia Plachy are joined by Dawoud Bey, Jeff Dunas, David Eustace, and Eric Ogden and emerging talents Marla Rutherford, Anna Mia Davidson, Joe Fornabaio, Eric McNatt, and Richard Renaldi, each of whom brings their unique style and interest to bear on the subject of character.

Featured Photographers:
Dawoud Bey Photographed a diverse cross-section of young Americans near Chicago’s Columbia College.
Anna Mia Davidson Photographed portraits of sustainable farmers in Washington State.
Jeff Dunas Shot a color series in and around Los Angeles documenting the American summer experience.
David Eustace Shot portraits and landscapes as he traveled along the entirety of Route 50, one of the oldest transcontinental roads.
Joe Fornabaio Photographed individuals at barbershops and salons in the New York metro area.
Mary Ellen Mark Documented the spirit of New York festivals, parades and summer traditions.
Eric McNatt Photographed the “wild and wooly, quiet and intense, quirky and idiosyncratic spirit” of his hometown, Brownwood, Texas.
Eric Ogden Shot portraits of idiosyncratic American musicians who all hail from Michigan, including Iggy Pop, Andrew W.K., Bootsy Collins, Deastro, Andre Williams, and Detroit Cobras.
Sylvia Plachy Photographed the spirit of the South in Mississippi, in color and black-and-white portraits and panoramas.
Richard Renaldi Photographed the character of Alaska on its 50th anniversary as a US state.
Marla Rutherford Shot individuals from around Los Angeles who had never before been professionally photographed.

American Character: A Photographic Journey

The Sea Ranch

As it becomes clear that climate change is not easily within the boundaries of the 1990’s, society needs to be prepared and needs to anticipate future changes due to the uncertain changes in climate. So far, extensive research has been carried out on several issues including the coastal defence or shifting ecozones. However, the role spatial design and planning can play in adapting to climate change has not yet been focused on.

This book illuminates the way adaptation to climate change is tackled in water management, ecology, coastal defence, the urban environment and energy. The question posed is how each sector can anticipate climate change by creating spatial designs and plans.

The main message of this book is that spatial design and planning are a very useful tool in adapting to climate change. It offers an integral view on the issue, it is capable in dealing with uncertainties and it opens the way to creative and anticipative solutions. Dealing with adaptation to climate change requires a shift in mindset; from a technical rational way of thinking towards an integral proactive one. A new era in spatial design and planning looms on the horizon.

Adaptation to Climate Change: A Spatial Challenge

Rodale’s Weekend Gardener: Create a Low-Maintenance Landscape to Enjoy Year-Round

Robert A. M. Stern is dedicated to the synthesis of tradition and innovation. In more than thirty-five years of practice, he has produced a wide range of building types with a variety of stylistic influences, all inspired by the great legacy of American architecture. His firm, Robert A. M. Stern Architects, was first recognized for its distinguished houses, and residential design remains the cornerstone of the practice. This beautifully illustrated monograph—a companion to the best-selling Robert A. M. Stern: Houses—presents twenty-six of the firm’s most memorable houses.

Located in diverse settings across North America—from a valley in Colorado with sweeping views of the Aspen mountains, to a bluff overlooking Long Island Sound, to an island off the coast of British Columbia—these remarkable houses reveal the architect’s emphasis on the importance of context and his dedication to exploring the nature of place. Each house invokes the vernacular architectural heritage particular to its region, while gracefully reflecting its unique natural surroundings. Whether they are shingle style “cottages” by the sea, colonial Georgian country estates, or elegant Regency designs, Stern’s houses are unique both for their timelessness and their ability to evoke a conversation with the past—a dialogue he believes lies at the heart of architecture.

Robert A. M. Stern: Houses and Gardens

The term terraforming originated in Kim Stanley Robinson’s science fiction trilogy about the colonization of Mars, in which that planet is reshaped for human settlers. The panoramic format of Brown’s photographs is partly inspired by space photography—with their long and low perspectives of the horizon, these photos give us views of our own planet as it might be seen by the Mars explorer. But if many of the images look like alien landscapes, they reveal a familiar shift in American geography: the wild, agricultural terrain of our early frontier gives way to densely built suburban communities.

Brown’s photographs are neutral about what they record, dramatizing some of the tensions and dualities that comprise our society’s complex relationship to nature. She shows the invasion of unspoiled territory by the high-tech developments we so often label with the pejorative term suburban sprawl. At the same time, however, she uncovers surreal stillness and beauty in the built environment, searching for a postindustrial idea of the sublime.

Taken during the last decade of the twentieth century, these photographs serve as an archive of change at a specific place on the coastal edge of California at the turn of the millennium. But these images have larger relevance for all of us, exploring our ideas about what constitutes a home and what defines our sense of community.

The book is divided into three sections, each prefaced by a poem by Los Angeles poet Martha Ronk; it concludes with an essay by renowned writer and conservationist Charles E. Little. Recent Terrains is a major photographic work—a thoughtful, serious book of time and place.

Recent Terrains: Terraforming the American West (Creating the North American Landscape)

Water Garden (Gardening Library)