| buy book | ACROSS THE OPEN FIELD By Laurie Olin. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1999 American architect Laurie Olin was captivated by his first experiences of the Cotswolds in 1972, influencing his determination to become a landscape architect. He evokes a compelling sense of place in the juxtaposition of enthusiastically detailed descriptions of the village and its landscapes with a multitude of delightful pen and ink drawings which are bursting with energy or are seriously serene, depending, one suspects, on the state of the prevailing weather. A decade later he returns, this time to the small Wiltshire village of Longbridge Deverill. In this personal unravelling of the influences which to this day shape the patterns of the English landscape, Olin has immersed himself in archaeological and ancient history through to contemporary political, planning and transportation issues. In the Deverills he traces ‘in microcosm the history of man’s pragmatic and rewarding relationship with the land’. Reminiscent of the vicar of Selborne, there is an ecological sensibility interwoven: John Evelyn on trees, impacts of enclosure, field pattern changes, industrialization, and today’s continuing loss of hedgerows and general diversity. The final section is devoted to the emergence and development of the English landscape movement, involving the likes of Roger Morris, Burlington, Colen Campbell, Kent, Bridgeman, Capability Brown and Chambers, as illustrated by a number of significant stately homes and parks concentrated in the same small area. There is an intertwining of personal histories, classical and mythological references (Stourhead) and feuds among designers, accompanied by graphic descriptions and illustrations of the experience of the gardens. Anyone interested in exploring the English countryside and/or design history will find this a scholarly, stimulating and delightful companion. Throughout, Olin fuses his passion and his fine drawing skills, the personal and the universal. ELSA LEVISEUR |