Spatial Organization

Hidden Principles of Space Design

Spatial organization conveys a powerful influence upon the way we live in our
gardens.
Garden design therefore is highly dependent upon a combination of our most
important needs and our aesthetic preferences. The two must be wedded in a
relationship that serves your most important requirements.
The perception of space in our gardens is also shaped by the way humans perceive the
world. We perceive the world though a maze of memories, impressions and emotions.
These collected experiences shape our responses.
If you dont believe me take a look at the following two pictures!
In the first picture you see a 3 dimensional obect! a globe. In the second picture!
you see how that "obect# really looks in two dimensional space.
$lso notice two other things. %irst! note the si&e of the artist on the 'top' of the
globe. (ow look at the si&e of the people beside him. They are the same si&e. The
globe appears very large! so the artist appears very small.
Public Domain Street Art created by Julian Beever

Hover your mouse over the photos below to enlarge
This is an optical illusion which tricks the eyes! at ground level and in the right
position! into believing they see a three dimensional obect when the "obect# is
really two dimensional.
This is an example of how our emotional and visual perceptions alter our
sense of spatial organization.
)e process information visually through our e*periences and e*pectations. )e use
conte*tual cues such as shadow! overlapping! relative si&e! orientation!
elevation! te*tures! and colors as visual cues that help us interpret our 3 dimensional
world through our + dimensional vision.
)e literally calculate mathematically the depth! width and height that make up our
perceptions of three dimensions in space.
In other words! our depth perception is entirely dependent upon these conte*tual
clues. ,ur perception of spatial organi&ation is changed by the conte*tual cues
present.
So how does this apply to our question of garden design
Gardens are part of our three dimensional world. )e "see# the two dimensional
obects around us as three dimensional. %or more about how we see! you can visit
this page on visual perception.
Therefore! the conte*tual cues we use to perceive our world are highly applicable in
garden design.
Lets take a look at the following set of photographs to get a sense of how these
principles can be manipulated in order to trick the eye into drawing conclusions about our
garden spaces.
Dimensional Space
%irst! lets e*amine two dimensional and three dimensional space by comparing a
landscape plan to an actual photograph of a garden. )hen we look at this plan! we
see several interesting characteristics.
(otice first that there are paths that wind throughout this garden. -lants hug the
edges of this path! and a ga&ebo is nestled into the garden. This is a two dimensional
picture of a concept of organi&ation for the garden space. It leaves us with a very
ordered impression! everything in its place! everything reasonably flat in our vision!
in spite of the artists attempt to create the illusion of three dimensions.
The garden below is not the same garden. .owever! it is closely enough related in
design to illustrate the point that in + dimensions! a garden may appear very
differently than it does in three dimensions.
.ere we see the same sort of winding paths! plants hugging the edges! and a
wishing well nestled in the garden. /ssentially these are the same elements.
0et the impression we have emotionally is very different. )e want to walk into this
garden. It is an emotional and physical e*perience! even in a photo! that is entirely
lacking in any two dimensional representation.
1o we see here that there is a human dynamic that cannot be replicated in a drawing
that is present in our three dimensional view of the world. 2ore importantly! our
perception of space is altered.
Spatial Planes in the Garden
This ne*t set of photos will help us see another principle of spatial organi&ation. )e
all grow up in a world that is much larger than we are. )e learn! unconsciously! over
our first several years of life that our world is organi&ed very consistently.
There is always a foreground! middle ground! and background to any picture we form
of the natural world. These are called spatial planes.
To illustrate this principle! take a close look at this photo.
3ue to the simplicity of this photo! it is very easy to see the three spatial planes we
are discussing. In the foreground! we see a level and neatly manicured span of
grass! edged by a planting of cattails. This is the plane upon which we live.
4ust behind the cattails! there are hillocks in a very ordered progression across the
entire photo. These deep green mounds are in the middle ground of this space.
5ehind this middle ground! we see a wall of rock. This rock forms the background of
our mental photograph.
This visual principle is in effect every moment of our day. )e see a foreground!
middle ground and background in every view of nature.
6ets translate this now into another picture where the three planes are not quite as
clearly laid out.
In this photo you may not see the three planes quite as clearly! but they are very
present. This view is much more enclosed! so the "distant background# we saw in the
preceding photo is not as clearly seen here.
(otice though that this view of a space still very much follows this principle of spatial
organi&ation. There is a foreground! seen in the ferns at the base of the photograph!
as well as in the brick pillar at the right.
The middle ground is furnished by the brick wall itself! which stretches throughout
the middle of the picture.
The background is seen only through the arched doorway at the back of the
photograph. ,ur three planes are furnished even in this more confined space.
Atmospheric Perspective
$nother spatial organi&ation principle that is of value to observe is the principle of
atmospheric perspective. This principle states that as obects get farther away they
appear smaller and they become less distinct.
This spatial organi&ation effect is clearly seen in the photograph here. In vivid color
at the forefront of the picture are a planting of charming yellow tulips set against a
deep blue planting of hyacinth! and another splash of red tulip. $ll of these plantings
are very clear and distinct.
In the middle distance we see a couple of homes. These are less distinct! and the
colors of these tones are slightly greyer! less vivid! and quite small in relative si&e to
the tulips at the forefront. )e know from our personal e*periences that houses are
much bigger than tulips!
6astly! in the distance we see a very indistinct! almost ha&y view of the hills behind
the homes. $gain! these colors are more grey and indistinct than those even in the
middle ground.
In this photo! these effects have been heightened by the angle of the camera and by
e*posure techniques! but these principles are very much a part of our everyday
e*perience.
)alk outside and take a look! and once you actually pay attention! youll be ama&ed
that you have missed that all these years!
In the ne*t photo of a garden more enclosed
by trees! you will easily see the same effect.
In a progressive fashion! from front to back
of the view! you see a gradual graying of the
color palettes and less distinct lines of
division between the elements.
Linear Perspective
$nother principle of spatial organi&ation that
is useful to understand when designing a
garden is linear perspective.
6inear -erspective is a mathematical
principle that is applied to obects and vistas
which essentially states that when viewing
an obect or set of
obects! that lines converging toward a single point in the hori&on will eventually
meet! and that obects along its length may be the same si&e but appear to be
progressively smaller.
This is most easily illustrated using two sets of converging lines! such as those in a
garden path.
In this e*ample! the curved lines are equal distance apart all along the length of the
garden path! but to our vision! from a position looking along its full distance! the
lines appear to converge! making the visual effect appear to diminish in si&e along
the length of the path.
This is one e*ample of linear perspective. 6inear perspective is an important spatial
organi&ation technique that is e*tremely useful in creating a sense of motion or of
tension in a landscape.
Forced Perspective
$n e*citing variation on the spatial organi&ation technique of linear perspective is
what is called forced perspective. This principle is e*tremely useful in the garden for
creating illusions.
$nother e*ample of using forced
perspective can be seen in this photo
of a garden urn.
In this photo! a very large urn is
placed at the forefront of the scene!
which causes the larger trees in the
back to diminish visually in si&e! and
creates an illusion of space. This
technique is particularly useful in
smaller garden spaces.
This page has focused heavily on
6ook at the following photograph! in
which we see this spatial organi&ation
technique in use.
In this photo! there is an appearance
of slightly graduated stepping stones
laid against one another to create a
magical effect. The larger appearing
stones are laid at the forefront of this
photo! while stones that
appear smaller are laid near the
garden bridge.
(ote that each stone is laid on top of
the other! which gradually raises the
level of the path up vertically as well.
The illusion is that the entire scene is
quickly closing in upon itself! which
creates a real sense of enclosure as
you walk through the garden.
understanding the basic principles
that can be used to organi&e space in
your garden. 1patial organi&ation can
help you optimi&e the spaces in your
garden! creating a host of dramatic
effects which can add e*citing
dimension to your garden.
Looing at your garden spaces with eyes that see these principles at work can
allow you to take advantage of distant vistas! interesting focal points! and optical
illusions that create more visual space in your garden.
0our imagination rules! because with these spatial organi&ation tricks up your sleeve!
you can organi&e your space in a pleasing manner no matter what si&e your garden
plot.