• Characterized as the
most formal of European gardens.
• By the mid- 16th
century, French designers were incorporating their knowledge of the Italian
principles of scale, proportion and spatial organization into their landscapes.
• Italian principles had
to be adapted to the French landscape which was considerably flatter than
Italy’s.
Topography
Climate
• 17th
century: The French garden became known for its own distinct characteristics
and emerged as the most popular style throughout Western Europe.
• Common to the design
philosophy of all of the great garden successes in 17th century
France was the rational notion that nature could and should be controlled.
• The controlling
influence of the French monarchy, the greatest patrons of gardens, was clearly
evident in what they created.
Design
Elements: Axial vistas emphasizing
power through linear perspective.
Trees
and shrubs meticulously clipped and arranged in perfect rows and patterns
accentuating the garden’s geometry and the extent of human control.
Axial
vistas reinforced: canals, tapis vert
Connecting
points of interest: allées