This passage highlights the Anthropocene and how in recent years humans have drastically shapes the current and future state of nature. Human's have caused a drastic shift in global warming and there seems to be no foreseeable change in the way we operate as an economy. This passage calls for humans to think of terms of more sustainable design and working with the Earth opposed to working against it. Humans are a geological force destroying our planet the more we expand and continue operating in our capitalist society influenced by greed.

National Geographic Society. 2019, “Anthropocene.” National Geographic Society, www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/anthropocene/.

In this passage Marx speaks to the importance of learning and understanding plants when creating a landscape. It becomes quite clear that he views landscape architecture and landscape making as an art. He contributes the landscape architect to being one who can bring education and enrichment to an ecosystem or plant species through a successful design. The design he finds the most valuable is the didactic landscape which allows the viewer to truly experience and see the relationship between plants.

Marx believes that plants that can contrast and enhance one another is the strongest form of landscape. He sees the landscape as an art form in which contrasting colors and textures compared to one another bring plants value. When a viewer sees associations of plant communities in a landscape their own value and perception of the plants may change and bring them to a state of conservation and appreciation. He believes all plants have a place in a design, not just the luxurious exotic plants.

Farago, Jason. June 2019, “Roberto Burle Marx and His Leafy Vision of the Tropics.” The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/arts/design/roberto-burle-marx-botanical-garden.html.

In this passage Freud speaks to the habit of man's to drift and fantasize about rural pre-industrialization landscapes rather than enjoying landscapes which exist in their community. It surprises him that men would prefer to daydream about such a primitive time. I believe the reason for this is that we often fantasize about that which we cannot have or what we seek to attain. Therefore, someone sitting behind a desk pushing buttons may dream about escaping and moving to nature where they may become secluded from the pressures of a civilized lifestyle, essentially becoming a recluse.

Marx believes that the American experience has been based on the pastoral ideal. The belief that man can live in the landscape between nature's primitivism and civilization's authority. However, industrialization and urbanization began to shatter the growth of this theory and it instead became a place we could escape to in a daydream fantasy. While the pastoral theory is ideal in our world today it is far from a reality. We are beginning to see the idea become more popular, but as populations continue to grow urbanization will follow.

Bryant, John. A Usable Pastoralism: Leo Marx's Method in The Machine in The Garden. University of Chicago, wtf.tw/ref/marx.pdf.

In this passage Freud speaks to the habit of man's to drift and fantasize about rural pre-industrialization landscapes rather than enjoying landscapes which exist in their community. It surprises him that men would prefer to daydream about such a primitive time. I believe the reason for this is that we often fantasize about that which we cannot have or what we seek to attain. Therefore, someone sitting behind a desk pushing buttons may dream about escaping and moving to nature where they may become secluded from the pressures of a civilized lifestyle, essentially becoming a recluse.

Marx believes that the American experience has been based on the pastoral ideal. The belief that man can live in the landscape between nature's primitivism and civilization's authority. However, industrialization and urbanization began to shatter the growth of this theory and it instead became a place we could escape to in a daydream fantasy. While the pastoral theory is ideal in our world today it is far from a reality. We are beginning to see the idea become more popular, but as populations continue to grow urbanization will follow.

Bryant, John. A Usable Pastoralism: Leo Marx's Method in The Machine in The Garden. University of Chicago, wtf.tw/ref/marx.pdf.

Throughout Mathur's reading of 'Neither Wilderness nor Home", it becomes clear that the Muslim community values the maidans as a space for community and social gathering. However, at the end of this passage Mathur talks about how the Maidan within Ahmedabad, has now become a riverbed due to economic development. While maybe this works because of the ephemeral changes of the river, you would believe that people who find value in the maidans would prefer to have everyday access to it. Mathur speaks about how both the English and Muslims find great value in these open spaces for their own respective purposes and that allow the community to unify in its grand spaces. The maidans sound a lot like Central Park. A space for residents to escape the pressure of the "city" and find solitude within nature or an activity within nature. While maybe the use of a riverbed as a maidan shows the Muslim peoples love for the maidan and that they will find their solitude wherever possible if it is affected by urbanization. Mathur's view of the maidans is that these landscapes provide social benefits to citizens of the community. In America, where urbanization and development are almost at a constant, it becomes very important for the landscape architecture profession to find ways to implement green spaces or landscapes within cities where people can gather and find solitude. “Anuradha Mathur.” Places Journal, placesjournal.org/author/anuradha-mathur/.

Throughout Mathur's reading of 'Neither WIlderness Nor Home", it becomes clear that the Muslim community values the maidans as a space for community and social gathering. However at the end of this passage Mathur talks about how the Maidan within Ahmedabad, has now become a riverbed due to economic development. While maybe this works because of the ephemeral changes of the river, you would believe that people who find value in the maidans would prefer to have everyday access to it.

Mathur speaks about how both the English and Muslims find great value in these open spaces for their own respective purposes and that allow the community to unify in its grand spaces. The maidans sound a lot like Central Park. A space for residents to escape the pressure of the "city" and find solitude within nature or an activity within nature. While maybe the use of a riverbed as a maidan shows the Muslim peoples love for the maidan and that they will find their solitude wherever possible, if it is affected by urbanization.

Mathur's view of the maidans is that these landscapes provide social benefits to citizens of the community. In America, where urbanization and development are almost at a constant, it becomes very important for the landscape architecture profession to find ways to implement green spaces or landscapes within cities where people can gather and find solitude.

“Anuradha Mathur.” Places Journal, placesjournal.org/author/anuradha-mathur/.

In this passage Kenko talks about finding enjoyment in the fleeting moments in ones life. He calls for one to focus less on the climax of a spectacle such as the cherry blossoms in full bloom or the moon in a clear sky. Instead he asks his readers to enjoy the moments in-between which will enhance the climactic moments further. If we live life waiting for the climactic moments we miss the ephemeral moments in-between which can enhance our senses and emotions further.

Throughout the sections of 'Essays in Idleness' Kenko relates nature to life and death. Although death is inevitable we never know when it will surprise us. One should not live life dwelling on misfortune and waiting for the moments of grand beauty. Instead one should learn to enjoy the ephemeral fleeting moments unlike the country bumpkins who seek the most pristine climactic moments. Do not seek to only observe the blossoms in bloom, but to immerse oneself in all moments. One must not indulge oneself only in impermanent moments.

“KENKO (LITERATURE).” 2014, Whatwhenhow RSS, what-when-how.com/literature/kenko-literature/.

In this passage, Cunha, refers to rivers as ports. He states that is rivers become polluted or exploited it is because they are being dominated by the land. In river port cities, such as Chicago, we often see real-estate development and industry because businesses build closer to the river to reduce costs and increase opportunity. In this sense the rivers are being dominated by the land and man who needs the river for economical gain. In the same way man dominates nature he also dominates the river in this sense. Cunha viewed rivers as a boundary between water and land. In the way he discusses rivers in this passage the separation is lost by the land and mans dominion over them.

“The Invention of RiversAlexander's Eye and Ganga's Descent.” The Invention of Rivers | Dilip Da Cunha, University of Pennsylvania Press, www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15913.html.

During the time of settlement in North America, settlers clear cut forests to build industry and create a source of economic gain. Lands that were cleared were not replanted with trees but instead used for agriculture and cash crops as another source of economic gain. These clearings and economic forward thinking saw soil erosions and a possible decrease in rainfall. George Perkins Marsh, who is considered America's first environmentalist, called for a change in how we thought about and treated the environment. Marsh believed that humans were to be agents of change, or "disturbing agents". Man was an agent of both destruction and regeneration. Marsh believed that we had the potential to reverse our habits as a society and create a sense of more environmentally conscious thinking instead of economically forward. Marsh did not intend to completely shut down industry and economy, he proposed to regulate it through the states for men and corporations were too greedy to regulate such use. Marsh was the pioneer of environmental conservation creating a way of viewing nature as something to work with, rather than against.

Ecological Imperialism is a theory conceived by Alfred Crosby. In this passage Crosby uses weeds as a metaphor for Western European colonization. European settlers were invasive much like weeds. Weeds in this passage represent the plague that the settlers brought. Wherever Western European settlers traveled to, natives in the region began to be choked out much like how a weed can choke out an ecosystem.

Crosby considers the possibility that the Europeans introducing disease, invasive plants, and animals may have been a deliberate tactic to kill off natives to take over land.

Weeds also represented a cultural change for existing natives. For example, on page 109, Crosby states, "Thomas Jefferson tells us that the indians of North America called the honey bees "English flies," and St. John de Crevecoeur, his contemporary, wrote that " The Indians look upon them with an evil eye, and considered their progress into the interior of the continent as an omen of the white man's approach: thus, as they discover the bees, the news of the event, passing from mouth to mouth, spreads sadness and consternation on all sides." The realization of new species in nature can represent cultural change in an area to this day.

It seems as though Western European settlers viewed implementation of invasive ecological species as a way to conquer newfound lands and successfully complete a hostile takeover.

Bacon believed that Earth was something that should be understood and studied. In his scientific method he thought of the universe as something more than a fixed stage on which man walked upon. His method viewed the universe as a problem that could be solved, examined, and meditated upon in a strategic manner. He believed that his scientific method would spark a light in nature that would, "eventually disclose and bring into sight all that is most hidden and secret in the universe" (Editors 2020).

In the selected text Bacon describes that nobody has truly devoted themselves to studying and understanding nature. Because nobody has done so, other philosophies such as astronomy only glide over their surface. If natural philosophy were understood, it could serve as the basis on which to build and further understand other philosophies. He viewed the Earth as something man had dominion over and had an obligation to study and understand for the betterment of humankind.

Editors, Biography.com. 2020 “Francis Bacon.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television. www.biography.com/scholar/francis-bacon.

"The Persians believed the number 4 to be very auspicious as the Zoroastrian worldview divided the world into four parts with its four founding elements (air, water, earth, and fire). Islamic gardens were therefore divided into four quadrants to replicate the earthly symbol of the celestial world." Walled gardens were created to create well organized, fertile lands, in a harmonious world without any internal or external disparity or disconnection. The ancient Islams believed the quadrant gardens connected them to earth and identified political territory. The quadripartite garden allowed for the taming and control of nature, while also using the lush nature of the garden to identify political territory.

Amjadi, Maryam Ala. “Heaven Is a Feeling Not a Place: The Persian Garden Story.” Payvand, 21 Nov. 2011, www.payvand.com/news/11/nov/1211.html.

Reducing the size of the Qin and Han imperial parks allowed for the embracing microcosms. Small implementations of rocks, water, and miniature trees and bushes represented small microcosms of the larger landscape within nature. Rocks represented mountains and hills, water represented oceans and rivers, and miniature trees and shrubs represented forests. This allowed for connection to the same gardens that the Qin and Han implemented but at a much smaller scale. The implementation of the microcosms allowed one to become a recluse without retreating to the mountains but still escape self-preservation.

Department of Asian Art. "Chinese Gardens and Collector's Rocks." Metmuseum.org, Ocober, 2004.

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It seems like a bold statement to say that all things that man employs were therefore created for the sake of men. However, when considering the Christian narrative from 'The Fall from Eden' it is mankind’s purpose to restore the garden through agricultural labor. 'The Fall from Eden' states that it is man’s job to be Earth’s agents of transformation. As you stated in your contextualization, taming aspects of the Earth does allow us to grow and develop. However, mistreating and abusing the land may create an inability to do so in the future. Cicero stated that taming the land is an art, yet in Ancient Mesopotamia, they saw their lands dry and saw a decrease in productivity because they did not have a firm understanding of how the land should be treated. But over the year’s humans have learned how to take care of the land they use to sow crops and properly manage its resources while striving to restore the lost garden.

CONTEXTUALIZE: Cicero believed in the idea of three natures: wild nature, the landscape of agriculture, and garden. I believe that in this section Cicero is referring to the idea of second nature. The way humans have shaped nature to our benefit as to grow our own food and improve our quality of life. "This second nature is today what we would call the cultural landscape: agriculture, urban development, roads, ports, bridges, and other infrastructures" (Hunt, 33).

Hunt, John D. Greater Perfections: the Practice of Garden Theory. Thames and Hudson, 2000

The meaning and reasoning behind the Avebury Henge is still a mystery that has many people searching for answers. Many skepticize as to what purpose the henge served. Was it created for theatre for rites and ceremonies? Or was the building of it more sinister as for pagan and devil worship?

Could it be that the civilization behind this construction in Avebury was building a clearing away from the forests as to keep the demons of the forests away while also trying to appease them with offerings? Avebury is a landscape that provokes thought and asks many questions.

The idea behind Avebury's construction reminds me of the movie "The Ritual".

English Heritage, "History of Avebury Henge and Stone Circles." August 28,2020.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury/history/

I find it very interesting that such early civilizations were able to successfully irrigate plants in extremely dry landscapes. For example, Bagh-i Fin, Iran. They were able to irrigate in an expansive desert creating "a refreshing shaded paradise comprising running waters, scented flowers, and intimate shaded groves" (Girot 33). The other concept of the walled garden also interests me. "... a patch of land that is open to the sky, waiting for the rare and providential seed to be sown, watered, and cared for" (Girot 28). When thinking about these two different ideas of a walled garden, the second concept sounds extremely different. I would think of this landscape as a void rather than a walled garden before this reading. So does that mean that a void within a forest or a landscape could also be a walled garden?