Garden Design in Denmark: G.N.Brandt and the Early Decades of the Twentieth Century

The first decades of the twentieth century in Denmark saw many attempts to raise garden design to the level of an art form. Two distinct approaches emerged, in a more naturalistic style, or in a pared down, modernist, architectural manner. Gudmund Nyeland Brandt, through his deep understanding of classical tradition and considerable practical experience of horticulture and planting, achieved a synthesis of the two approaches that was innovative and became characteristic of Danish, even Scandinavian, landscape design. This book reintroduces G.N. Brandt to the English-speaking world of landscape architecture and garden design and restores him to the important position he holds in the development of European landscape design. Many people are familiar with Brandt’s Tivoli Garden in Copenhagen but are not aware of his wider work and his influence on a generation of Danish landscape designers through his teaching at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, in Copenhagen and elsewhere. The book is a thorough study of Brandt’s theories of garden art and planting, and provides an invaluable source for his writings and guide to his actual gardens and larger designed spaces.