Aesthetic feelings are the basis of garden design, and every individual has his or her own aesthetic sensibility. To create a garden paradise this aesthetic knowledge must be perfectly expressed. There are three major types of aesthetic sensibility for a garden.

Natural

Create a space that seems like nature. This is the concept of an oriental garden. Its visual structure is asymmetrical and its central theme is to make nature perfect. The visual experience created by this style is to make the garden appear to be an extraordinary natural phenomenon that by good fortune happens to be located on this property.

Formal

Create a space that is defined by geometry. This is the origin of the famous gardens of Europe and the Middle East. The central concept is to show a space designed from the major elements of form. Random aspects of shape have been eliminated and only classic mathematical relationships are expressed. This is the central tenet of formal space.

Contemporary

Create a space that is a mixture of both Natural and Formal styles. It can lean more toward one side or the other. Such design is eclectic: it can draw from all earlier traditions and meld them into something expressing our own age while reflecting principles of aesthetics developed in the past.
PETER BOCHENEK & ASSOCIATES
Landscape Architecture    Environmental Sculpture
P.O. Box 16471     Chapel Hill     NC    27516
Phone: (toll-free)    877-855-0119   919-968-4200     
 email: info@pbassoc.com
All photographs represent projects completed by Peter Bochenek & Associates
Copyright 1996-2007 Peter Bochenek