Q: What was the form, content and style of the Victorian villa garden? Include in your answer the inspirations for this garden type.

A new idea in the Victorian villa garden was the idea of Art and Nature coexisting, as apposed to the struggle in previous gardens with Art versus Nature. During the 19th century, most older parks were embellished by terraces and other formal features. In Victorian gardens, new estates were designed on a similar pattern with geometry within the balustrade, and serpentine curves. The gardener not only inherited the Capability Brown park but also the remains of formal gardens. What grew from this eventually became the most influential of all Victorian gardens, Chatsworth. In the Chatsworth gardens, the ideas of formal and informal gardens come together as one (Bisgrove, 1990). 

(http://shoestringlondon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Chatsworth-garden.jpg)

Above, the strategic arrangement of shrubs shines as a formal element of the Chatsworth garden. The Victorian garden was all about showing wealth, taste, education, fashion, and possessions. The garden was essentially a 'grand status symbol.' One feature of a Victorian garden was a conservatory/glasshouse. Once glasshouses were popular, many exotic plants that needed warm weather could now grow in colder places, which gave a rise to necessity for foreign plants everywhere. Another feature of a formal Victorian garden was the emperor fountain, which is pictured below (https://forum.disabroad.org/bbcswebdav/pid-201567-dt-content-rid-619820_1/courses/garden_1502213/17%20Case%20Study%20-%20Biddulph%20%26%20Chatsworth.pdf).

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Chatsworth_South_Front.jpg)

This is the king of water features, and the ultimate status symbol. At the time, it was a record-breaking, gravity-fed fountain. On record, it was able to reach the height of three hundred feet (http://www.chatsworth.org/attractions-and-events/garden/about-the-garden/paxton's-garden/emperor-fountain).

(http://ml.dcs.shef.ac.uk/prib2009/pages/sheffield.html)

Above is an example of how informal portions of the Chatsworth garden were. Many scattered trees can be found with a curved river which all hint towards informality. Another feature of an informal Victorian garden was rockwork (https://forum.disabroad.org/bbcswebdav/pid-201567-dt-content-rid-619820_1/courses/garden_1502213/17%20Case%20Study%20-%20Biddulph%20%26%20Chatsworth.pdf). Rockwork was essentially arranging different large rocks into something artistic: something that nature could have formed, but it was man made. The beauty of many informal gardens is the fact that they are tailored to look untouched by man. 

The Victorian villa garden showed growth and evolution from the past with the idea of Art and Nature acting together to form something greater. 

Citations

Bisgrove, Richard. The National Trust Book of the English Garden. London: Viking, 1990. 177. Print.

Q: Describe the character and uses of the different urban greenspaces created in Copenhagen the 19th century and explored on our Field Study, and the ways in which these parks are relevant and beneficial to 21st century urban living.

Urban green-space promotes physical activity and public health (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204614000310). In Denmark, 3% of people claim they lack green-space, compared to the average of 12% across European countries (http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/denmark/). Urban green space definitely contributes to Denmark being one of the happiest and healthiest countries in the world. The three urban green spaces I will be talking about are the Kings Garden (Rosenborg), the Botanical Garden/Greenhouse, and Orstedsparken. 

Kings Garden (Rosenborg)

     The kings garden was originally made in the 1600's, but it was redesigned in the 19th century. Rosenborg is the most visited park in copenhagen and is Denmarks oldest royal garden (http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/kings-garden-gdk420899). This garden is home to many famous buildings and statues. The garden plan from 1669 showed the garden contained a maze, which is very common for baroque gardens. From about 1710, Rosenborg Castle was largely abandoned by the royal family and the gardens were opened to the public. Johan Cornelius Krieger was hired head gardner of the Orangery in 1711, and in 1721 he redesigned the garden in the Baroque style (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenborg_Castle_Gardens). 

(http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/kings-garden-gdk420899)

In the 17th century Rosengorg Castle was established as the private grounds of King Christian IV. As mentioned above, soon after it was abandoned and now it remains open to the public. Many events go on at the garden today including a puppet show for children in midsummer. The lawns are crowded with sun bathers on a warm day. Also, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival is held here (http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/kings-garden-gdk420899). 

Botanical Garden/Greenhouse 

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Copenhagen_Botanical_Garden.jpg)

The botanical garden in Copenhagen is the largest collection of living plants and the only gene bank for wild plants. The botanical gardens were founded in 1872, but has been renovated with modern techniques in the 1980's. It is 94 meters long and divided into five departments, which makes about 12 greenhouses in total. Each greenhouse iso kept at a unique temperature depending on which plants are inside it (http://botanik.snm.ku.dk/english/). 

This gardens purpose was to maintain and develop scientific collections of living and preserved plants and fungi, and made them available for research. This garden is affiliated to the largest Danish herbaria collection with fungi and plants from all over the world. When it was built it had the same purpose as today. Today it is open to the public to explore and learn about many exotic plants. (http://botanik.snm.ku.dk/english/)

Orstedsparken 

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Koebenhavn_Oerstedsparken_2009_ubt.JPG)

Orstedsparken is a park in Copenhagen built by gardener and landscape architect, Henrick August Flindt in 1876. This park included Copenhagen's first public playground. This park covers 6.5 ha and has seven enterences distributed on all sides. This park retains much of its original character it was built with in 1876. This park has a number of unique varieties of trees including trees from China and USA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ørstedsparken). 

Today, this park serves as a pleasure ground for many of the residents close by. During warmer temperatures, this park is crowded with runners and sunbathers. Many people enjoy picnicking at this spot as well. Urban green spaces like this are essential in having a healthy and active community. 

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For the most part, many parks in Copenhagen in the 19th century are used in the same ways as today in shaping the Danish community to become more active and healthy.