Introduction
The 20th century with its innovative solutions and the technological breakthrough clearly redefined a variety of areas, including not only the industry but also art, architecture being one of them. Among the people that contributed to the evolution of art to the greatest degree, Thomas Dolliver Church deserves to be mentioned. A globally renowned landscape architect and the creator of the California style, he changed the principles of garden design in architecture drastically by suggesting a switch from the Neoclassical to Modernist style (Thompson 41).
Definition
Known as the “California style” design, the approach suggested by Church implied that the form and function should coexist in harmony. Therefore, the philosophy that Church promoted implied that the design of a garden should incorporate beauty and utility. Particularly, the use of space and the idea of creating a flow between the garden and the house needs to be mentioned as an innovative concept that made the California style so memorable and easily recognizable.
The concept of combining a form and function in the design of gardens led to the promotion of simplicity as the foundation for the garden design. The convoluted and overly complex elements that were supposed to represent exquisiteness were no longer a part of the garden design. Instead, to make a garden look engaging, Church suggested changing the scale of some objects to create unique illusions and original landscapes (Ching 310).
Significance
The importance of Church’s contribution to architecture, in general, and the design of gardens, in particular, can hardly be overrated. Although the very fact that Church was awarded the Rome Prize for his accomplishments in architecture speaks for itself. Furthermore, Church clearly reinvented the idea of using space as a means of promoting diversity in architecture and incorporating seemingly alien elements in a harmonic work of art. Thus, he heralded a new era in architecture, especially in garden design.
Along with the freedom of elements, which can be deemed as the foundational principle of the modernist philosophy in architecture, Church also promoted the concept of the “outdoor room” (Starr 51), implying that houses and gardens comprise a single environment and, therefore, must be viewed as the elements of the system that must work in unison. As a result, the very idea of space was reconstructed by Church. Stating that gardens should be considered as an integral part of the entire picture that includes the design of the house, Church expanded the area that was viewed as the element of a home. Consequently, gardens started being viewed as the areas that deserve an equally large amount of attention when addressing the issues of interior and exterior design.
Conclusion
Creating a unique architecture philosophy that would, later on, be called the California style, Thomas Dolliver Church made a difference in art. He made the world return to the concept of a form being defined by the function of an object. As a result, he managed to introduce innovative approaches to arranging the elements of gardens. Furthermore, the principles of harmony between the elements of the house exterior and the garden could finally be introduced into the design-related process. Promoting the principles of Modernism to the residents of suburbia, Church helped remove excessive decorations from the list of the essential items that the design of gardens and other areas had to incorporate.
Works Cited
Ching, Francis D. K. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
Starr, Kevin. Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Thompson, Ian. Landscape Architecture: A Very Short Introduction. OUP Oxford, 2014.