James C. Rose
Encyclopedia
James C. Rose was a prominent landscape architect
and author of the twentieth century. Born in rural Pennsylvania
he, his mother and older sister moved to New York after his father’s death. Rose was a high school dropout, but this didn’t stop him from being accepted into Cornell University
as an architecture student. Later he transferred to Harvard University
as a landscape architecture major. In 1937, he was expelled because his design style didn't fit into Harvard's program. In 1938 and 1939 Rose published a series of articles containing the design experiment ideas that led to his expulsion from Harvard. He later published numerous articles and books which heavily impacted design theory and practice in the twentieth century. In 1941 Rose worked for Tuttle, Seelye, Place and Raymond in New York where he became discouraged by the limitations of large public works, and decided that working on private gardens was more suiting to his style. Despite his dislike of the institution of school, Rose would often make appearances as a guest lecturer at schools of landscape architecture and architecture. Before his death he was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of establishing a design study and landscape research center, The James Rose Center. After Rose's death in 1991 after losing a battle with cancer, he donated his home in Ridgewood to the James Rose Center.
. After this experience, Rose turned his focus to working on private gardens that created an intimate relationship between human beings, nature, and architecture
. His designs also created a fusion of indoor and outdoor space. Most of Rose’s later works were greatly influenced by the Japanese garden
style; he even adopted the religion of Zen Buddhism. The time Rose spent in Okinawa during World War II
and his many subsequent visits to Japan
, nurtured his fondness for Japanese gardens. Except for his home in Ridgewood not much of Rose’s later works were documented because of his spontaneous design method. His designs were always open to improvisations; they were never finished and continuously transforming form one stage to another. His designs, like his home in Ridgewood, were works in progress. Rose applied a common theory to his designs and described them as “neither landscape nor architecture, but both; neither indoors, nor outdoors, but both.” Ridgewood is Rose's most documented design and is a clear example of his theories and how he applied them to his designs.
in landscape architecture. While attending Harvard, Rose and his fellow classmates, Garrett Eckbo
and Dan Kiley
, rebelled against the conventional landscape theory and designs. He refused to conform to the formal style of Beaux-Arts architecture; he saw the landscapes as much more than a pastoral setting for modern buildings. Rose and his classmates fueled the social movement of modernism in Landscape architecture. They teamed up to write several articles about their cause. Through these publications in the Pencil Point magazine, now called Progressive Architecture, and other later articles and books, Rose was able to spread his view on landscape theory and design. Rose also took a stand against the emerging American suburbia
and urban planning
. He believed these ordered, inorganic projects were useless for domestic living and were degrading to the environment. Rose wrote about suburbia and urban planning in his first book Creative Gardens and also in several published articles.
. The designs he created, though wonderful and expressive of his design theories, had less of an influence on landscape architecture than the many books and articles he wrote.
Rose, James C. Gardens Make Me Laugh. Norwalk, CT: Silvermine Publishers; 1965.
Rose, James C. The Heavenly Environment. Hong Kong: New City Cultural Service, LTD; 1965.
Snow, Marc. Modern American Gardens. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp.; 1967.
Rose, James C. "Are You a Plant Snob." California Arts and Architecture. April 1941; 58:30, 46.
Rose, James C. "Articulate Form in Landscape Design." Pencil Points. February 1939, 20: 98- 100. Reprinted as: Rose, James C. "Articulate Form in Landscape Design." in Modern Landscape Architecture. ed. Marc Treib. Cambridge: The MIT Press; 1991.
Rose, James C. "Bogeys in the Landscape." California Arts and Architecture. November 1940; 57: 27, 38.
Rose, James C. "Freedom in the Garden." Pencil Points. October 1938, 19: 640-644.
Rose, James C. "Freedom in the Garden." in Modern Landscape Architecture. ed. Marc Treib. Cambridge: The MIT Press; 1991.
Rose, James C. "Gardens." California Arts and Architecture. May 1940; 57.
Rose, James C. "Garden Details." California Arts and Architecture. July 1941; 58: 28-29,38-39.
Rose, James C. "The Hanging Garden." California Arts and Architecture. August 1940; 57;25, 37.
Rose, James C. "Hillside House Solves the Difficult Problem of Solar Orientation." Architectural Forum. April 1947; 86: 126-128.
Rose, James C. "House in Pasadena, California." Architectural Forum. November 1946; 85:90-93.
Rose, James C. "Idyll in Electronic Factory." Interiors. July 1963: 69-72.
Rose, James C. "Integration." Pencil Points. December 1938; 19:758-760.
Rose, James C. "Landscape Models." Pencil Points. July 1939, 20: 438-448.
Rose, James C. "Modular Gardens." Progressive Architecture. September 1947: 76-80.
Rose, James C. "My Connecticut Home and Gardens Began in Okinawa." American Home. October 1946; 36: 20-22.
Rose, James C. "1+1=5." California Arts and Architecture. June/July 1940; 57: 38, 46.
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
and author of the twentieth century. Born in rural Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
he, his mother and older sister moved to New York after his father’s death. Rose was a high school dropout, but this didn’t stop him from being accepted into Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
as an architecture student. Later he transferred to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
as a landscape architecture major. In 1937, he was expelled because his design style didn't fit into Harvard's program. In 1938 and 1939 Rose published a series of articles containing the design experiment ideas that led to his expulsion from Harvard. He later published numerous articles and books which heavily impacted design theory and practice in the twentieth century. In 1941 Rose worked for Tuttle, Seelye, Place and Raymond in New York where he became discouraged by the limitations of large public works, and decided that working on private gardens was more suiting to his style. Despite his dislike of the institution of school, Rose would often make appearances as a guest lecturer at schools of landscape architecture and architecture. Before his death he was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of establishing a design study and landscape research center, The James Rose Center. After Rose's death in 1991 after losing a battle with cancer, he donated his home in Ridgewood to the James Rose Center.
Designs and Influences
One of Rose’s first major works while employed at Tuttle, Seelye, Place and Raymond was to design a staging area to house 30,000 men at Camp Keller in New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. After this experience, Rose turned his focus to working on private gardens that created an intimate relationship between human beings, nature, and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. His designs also created a fusion of indoor and outdoor space. Most of Rose’s later works were greatly influenced by the Japanese garden
Japanese garden
, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
style; he even adopted the religion of Zen Buddhism. The time Rose spent in Okinawa during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and his many subsequent visits to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, nurtured his fondness for Japanese gardens. Except for his home in Ridgewood not much of Rose’s later works were documented because of his spontaneous design method. His designs were always open to improvisations; they were never finished and continuously transforming form one stage to another. His designs, like his home in Ridgewood, were works in progress. Rose applied a common theory to his designs and described them as “neither landscape nor architecture, but both; neither indoors, nor outdoors, but both.” Ridgewood is Rose's most documented design and is a clear example of his theories and how he applied them to his designs.
Social Movements
James C. Rose was one of the pioneers of modernismModernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
in landscape architecture. While attending Harvard, Rose and his fellow classmates, Garrett Eckbo
Garrett Eckbo
Garrett Eckbo was an American landscape architect notable for his seminal 1950 book Landscape for Living.-Youth:...
and Dan Kiley
Dan Kiley
Daniel Urban Kiley was a noted American landscape architect in the modernist style.- Life and career :Kiley was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
, rebelled against the conventional landscape theory and designs. He refused to conform to the formal style of Beaux-Arts architecture; he saw the landscapes as much more than a pastoral setting for modern buildings. Rose and his classmates fueled the social movement of modernism in Landscape architecture. They teamed up to write several articles about their cause. Through these publications in the Pencil Point magazine, now called Progressive Architecture, and other later articles and books, Rose was able to spread his view on landscape theory and design. Rose also took a stand against the emerging American suburbia
SubUrbia
subUrbia is a play by Eric Bogosian chronicling the nighttime activities of a group of aimless 20-somethings still living in their suburban Boston hometown and their reunion with a former high school classmate who has become a successful musician...
and urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
. He believed these ordered, inorganic projects were useless for domestic living and were degrading to the environment. Rose wrote about suburbia and urban planning in his first book Creative Gardens and also in several published articles.
Impact on Landscape Architecture
James C. Rose's greatest impact on landscape architecture was as a catalyst for the modernism movement. His influence was spread to the populace because of the emerging power of the mediaMass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. The designs he created, though wonderful and expressive of his design theories, had less of an influence on landscape architecture than the many books and articles he wrote.
Books by James Rose
Rose, James C. Creative Gardens. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation; 1958.Rose, James C. Gardens Make Me Laugh. Norwalk, CT: Silvermine Publishers; 1965.
Rose, James C. The Heavenly Environment. Hong Kong: New City Cultural Service, LTD; 1965.
Snow, Marc. Modern American Gardens. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp.; 1967.
Articles by James Rose
(Note: Pencil Points magazine is now Progressive Architecture.)Rose, James C. "Are You a Plant Snob." California Arts and Architecture. April 1941; 58:30, 46.
Rose, James C. "Articulate Form in Landscape Design." Pencil Points. February 1939, 20: 98- 100. Reprinted as: Rose, James C. "Articulate Form in Landscape Design." in Modern Landscape Architecture. ed. Marc Treib. Cambridge: The MIT Press; 1991.
Rose, James C. "Bogeys in the Landscape." California Arts and Architecture. November 1940; 57: 27, 38.
Rose, James C. "Freedom in the Garden." Pencil Points. October 1938, 19: 640-644.
Rose, James C. "Freedom in the Garden." in Modern Landscape Architecture. ed. Marc Treib. Cambridge: The MIT Press; 1991.
Rose, James C. "Gardens." California Arts and Architecture. May 1940; 57.
Rose, James C. "Garden Details." California Arts and Architecture. July 1941; 58: 28-29,38-39.
Rose, James C. "The Hanging Garden." California Arts and Architecture. August 1940; 57;25, 37.
Rose, James C. "Hillside House Solves the Difficult Problem of Solar Orientation." Architectural Forum. April 1947; 86: 126-128.
Rose, James C. "House in Pasadena, California." Architectural Forum. November 1946; 85:90-93.
Rose, James C. "Idyll in Electronic Factory." Interiors. July 1963: 69-72.
Rose, James C. "Integration." Pencil Points. December 1938; 19:758-760.
Rose, James C. "Landscape Models." Pencil Points. July 1939, 20: 438-448.
Rose, James C. "Modular Gardens." Progressive Architecture. September 1947: 76-80.
Rose, James C. "My Connecticut Home and Gardens Began in Okinawa." American Home. October 1946; 36: 20-22.
Rose, James C. "1+1=5." California Arts and Architecture. June/July 1940; 57: 38, 46.