cover image Grounds for Change: Major Gardens of the Twentieth Century

Grounds for Change: Major Gardens of the Twentieth Century

William Howard Adams. Little Brown and Company, $60 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-8212-1902-7

The 24 gardens unveiled here are in fact a choice few that encompass a great deal. Among the designers who are represented: Roberto Burle Marx, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Alvar Aalto, Isamu Noguchi, Frank Lloyd Wright and 18 others. Half of the sites, though, are American, which may speak for native interest or plain chance. Adams ( The French Garden, 1500-1800 ), a garden historian, notes at the outset that ``at the beginning of the twentieth century, opinions on the future of the garden were as divided as predictions on the future of painting, architecture, or the ballet. Passions could stir partisan action if not war.'' War seems less likely now, to some, but diversity of style has not diminished. Adams's survey takes in the high formality of Villandry in the Touraine, Philip Johnson's sleek-edged sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Wright's Japanese-influenced Fallingwater, integrated with multilevel elegance into nature. The author's thoughtful analytical look at the various sites is well complemented by full-color photos. Garden Book Club selection. (Aug.)