Book Launch: Foreign Trends in American Gardens

Raffaella Fabiani Giannetto, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at PennDesign, moderates a discussion with Laurie Olin, Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture; Rebecca Bushnell, School of Arts and Sciences Board of Overseers Professor of English; and David Brownlee, Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor of 19th Century European Art, on themes from Foreign Trends in American Gardens, Giannetto’s new volume of essays. Followed by a reception.

Foreign Trends in American Gardens (University of Virginia Press, 2017) addresses the influence of foreign, designed landscapes on the development of their American counterparts. Including essays from an array of significant scholars in landscape studies, this collection examines topics ranging from the importation of Western and Eastern styles of design and theoretical literature to the adaptation of specific plant types. As the variety of topics and influences discussed demonstrates, the essence of American gardens defies simple definition.