NotSoSimpleTheNewClassicalLandscape"MinimalistGardens,"byPeterWalker,SpacemakerPress,Washington,D.C.andCambridge,MA,1997,distributedbyWatson-GuptilPublicationsandHearstBooksInternational,pp.207,$35.ByCarterB.HorsleyPeterWalkerisoneofthegreatdesignpoetsofthe20thCenturyasthemorethan280colorillustrationsandphotographsinthislargeandhandsomepaperbacktestify.Morethan30ofWalker'sprojectsarepresentedinconsiderabledetail.BothhisownessayandanaccompanyingessayandprojectnotesbyLeahLevyilluminatemuchoftheartistic,philosophicandintellectualfoundationsofhisdesigns,buttheillustrationsreallyneedlittleexposition.Walker'sprojectsarebrilliantintegrationsofthenaturalandman-madeenvironmentsthataredistinctlymodernandabstract,attimesmysteriousandsometimesawesome."Minimalist"isaninappropriateadjectivetodescribethisworkforitisfartoorichinbeautyandpowertobelessthangrand.Butonemustrespecttheartist'sowninterpretationandhereWalkeriswonderfullyincisive,notonlyabouthisownoeuvre,butaboutmuchofmodernarchitectureand,inparticular,the"Minimalist"era/school.WhilenoneoftheprojectsareinNewYork,almostallofferexcitingcluestothethrillingpotentialcityscapesthatcanandshouldbewrought.AnyintelligentmayorshouldappointWalkerasthecity's"MasterDesigner,"withpowersoveralldevelopmentandplanning.Walker,ofcourse,isnottheonlygreatenvironmentaldesigner.OthersareMarthaSchwartzandMichaelHeizer.InheressayonWalker'swork,LevyfindstracesoftheNazcaLinesinPeruandStonehengeinEnglandinsomeofhiswork"anawarenessofandquestforconnectionwithearthlyandcelestialmysteries":"Therearemanyinstanceswhentheworkfocusesontheenigmaticqualitiesofnaturerepresentedbythesoundofwater,thestasisandweightofstone,rustlingchangesbythewind,blocksandpatternsofshiftingcolor,shimmeringandmagicalmists,andelusivelight."Shealsofindsthat"theclassicalorderofseventeenthcenturyFrenchgardens,especiallythoseofAndreLeNotre,servesasstrongprecedenttoindividualelementsofWalker'sapproach,"addingthat"Hisintuitiveaswellasintellectualaffinitywithpatterns,rhythms,andorder,and...
