УМК ин.яз.(английский) БТФ

Vocabulary Exercises

Exercise 1

Form all possible words and word combinations from the given words.

Landscape, planning, yard

Exercise 2

Chose the words from the topical vocabulary to match the definitions:

-the main woody stem of a tree as distinct from its branches and roots;

-the part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibres;

-the tough protective outer sheath of the trunk, branches, and twigs of a tree or woody shrub;

-each of the segments of the corolla of a flower, which are modified leaves and are typically coloured;

-a large area covered chiefly with trees and undergrowth;

-a flattened structure of a higher plant, typically green and blade-like, that is attached to a stem directly or via a stalk;

-a part of a tree that grows out from the trunk or from a bough.

Exercise 3

Match the names of flowers and trees with the descriptions given below.

Bamboo, corn-flower, mimosa, birch, dandelion, fir.

1.A widely distributed weed of the daisy family, with a rosette of leaves and large bright yellow flowers followed by globular heads of seeds with downy tufts.

2.A slender Eurasian plant related to the knapweeds, with flowers that are typically a deep, vivid blue.

3.A giant woody grass which is grown chiefly in the tropics; the young shoots of the plant can be eaten and the stems are used to make furniture.

4.An evergreen coniferous tree with upright cones and flat needle-shaped leaves, typically arranged in two rows.

5.A slender hardy tree which has thin peeling bark and bears catkins.

6.An Australian acacia tree with delicate fern-like leaves and yellow

flowers.

GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Garden and landscape design is the development and decorative planting of gardens, yards, grounds, parks, and other types of areas. Garden and landscape design is used to enhance the settings for buildings and public areas and in recreational areas and parks. It is one of the decorative arts and is allied to architecture, city planning, and horticulture.

The vegetated landscape that covered most of the Earth’s continents before humans began to build still surrounds and penetrates even the largest metropolises. Efforts to design gardens and to preserve and develop green open space in and around cities are efforts to maintain contact with the original pastoral, rural landscape. Gardens and designed landscapes, by filling the open areas in cities, create continuity in space between structural urban landscapes and the open rural landscapes beyond. Moreover, gardens and designed landscapes have a special type of continuity in time. Buildings, paintings, and sculpture may survive longer than specific plants, but the constant cyclical growth and change in plants provide a continuous time dimension that static structures and sculpture can never achieve.

ASPECTS OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Garden and landscape design is a substantial part but by no means all of the work of the profession of landscape architecture. Defined as “the art of arranging land and the objects upon it for human use and enjoyment,” landscape architecture also includes site planning, land planning, master planning, urban design, and environmental planning. Site planning involves plans for specific developments in which precise arrangements of buildings, roadways, utilities, landscape elements, topography, water features, and vegetation are shown. Land planning is for largerscale developments involving subdivision into several or many parcels, including analyses of land and landscape, feasibility studies for economic, social, political, technical, and ecological constraints, and detailed site plans as needed. Master planning is for land use, conservation, and development at still larger scales, involving comprehensive areas or units of landscape topography or comprehensive systems such as open space, park-recreation, water and drainage, transportation, or utilities. Urban design is the planning and designing of the open-space components of urbanized areas; it involves working with architects on the building patterns, engineers on the traffic and utility patterns, graphic and industrial designers on street furniture, signs, and lighting, planners on overall land use and circulation, economists on economic feasibility, and sociologists on social feasibility, needs, and desires. Environmental planning is for natural or urbanized regions or substantial areas within them, in which the impact of development upon land and natural systems, their capacity to carry and sustain development, or their needs for preservation and conservation are analyzed exhaustively and developed as constraints upon urban design and master, land, and site planning. Within this framework of comprehensive survey, study, analysis, planning, and design of the continuous environment, garden and landscape design represents the final, detailed, precise, intensive refinement and implementation of all previous plans.

Ideally, all of these planning and design phases follow one another closely in a continuous sequential process, but this rarely happens. Various levels of planning and design are performed by different people at different times; often the morecomprehensive phases are not performed at all or are performed in an oversimplified manner. The wise gardener or landscape architect, therefore, always begins with a careful analysis of conditions surrounding the project.

Garden and landscape design deals with the treatment of land areas not covered by buildings, when those areas are considered important to visual experience, with or without utilitarian function. Typically, these land areas are of four types: those closely related to single buildings, such as front yards, side yards, and backyards, or more-extensive grounds; those around and between groups of buildings such as campuses, civic and cultural centres, commercial and industrial complexes; those bordering and paralleling transportation and utility corridors such as parkways, freeways, waterways, power easements; and park-recreation openspace areas and systems. These areas may be of any size, from small urban courtyards and suburban gardens to many thousands of acres of regional, state, or national parks. Although usually conceived as vegetated green spaces on natural ground, they can include also playgrounds, urban plazas, covered malls, roof gardens, and decks, which may be almost entirely formed by construction and paving.

Garden and landscape design, therefore, works with a wide range of natural and processed materials capable of holding up well in the specific local climatic conditions of the site. These materials include earth, rock, water, and plants, either existing on the site or brought in; and construction materials such as concrete, stone, brick, wood, tile, metal, and glass.

Exercise 1

Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

покрытый растительностью ландшафт; сельский ландшафт; городской ландшафт; исследование возможности осуществления; детальный план местности; всеобъемлющая система; поселение городского типа; строительные материалы; основное планирование; планирование участка застройки; планирование охраны окружающей среды.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences:

1.Garden and landscape design is used to …

2.Gardens and designed landscapes create continuity in space between …

3.Urban design is the planning and designing of …

4.Site planning involves …

5.Land planning is for …

6.Master planning is for …

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1.What is garden and landscape design?

2.What kinds of planning does landscape architecture include?

3.What is environmental planning?

4.What does garden and landscape design deal with?

5.What are the main types of land areas?

6.What are natural and processed materials capable of holding up well in the specific local climatic conditions of the site?

UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Whenever you put something together yourself, you are engaged in designing. Sometimes we take our designing skills for granted, because what we're putting together is so commonplace for us that we are no longer conscious of the designing process. For instance, you are employing designing techniques when you compose a letter to send to somebody. Your basic "elements" to accomplish such a task include vocabulary, spelling and grammar. Some more complex elements, or "principles," are built directly on the basic elements. Letter-writing principles include conveying your ideas clearly and coming across as a courteous, intelligent individual. Your success with these principles will largely determine whether your letter achieves its ultimate objective or not.

And so it is with landscape design. Do-it-yourselfers must first learn the basic designing elements that underlie the discipline of landscape design. These fundamental elements will then serve as building blocks for learning and implementing the more advanced principles for designing a garden in the backyard. These tried and true principles are the cornerstones of the world's picture-perfect gardens.

The basic elements of landscape design are:

These five elements must be considered in designing both the hardscape and softscape of your property, the latter consisting mainly of gardens, lawns, shrubs and trees. As for scale, it is simply the size of one component relative to adjacent components.

Colour, along with form, line, texture and scale, is one of the basic elements of landscape design, while proportion, transition and unity are some of the principles that rely on those elements. Your choice of colours to be used in the yard should not be considered in isolation. Rather, always keep in mind how colour interplays with the other basic elements, with the principles of landscape design, and with the overall objectives of your plan.

Examples of the Application of Colour Theory

The spectrum of colours is often divided into 4 categories:Primary: reds, yellows and blues.

Secondary: greens, violets (purples) and oranges.

Tertiary: Blends of the primary and secondary categories.Neutral: White, grays and silvers.

The secondary colours can be thought of as an even blending of two primary colours. Thus red and yellow produce orange, yellow and blue produce green, and red and blue yield purple.

The blends known as "tertiary colours" add a further element of complexity to the colour wheel. They are as follows: yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, red-orange and orange-yellow.

Using colour theory as your guide, you can match the colours you use in your landscaping so that they "go together." The tertiary colours can serve as transitional colours to this end. For instance, let's say you want a colour scheme using reds and violets. If you can find a plant that has a red-violet colour, it will help bridge the gulf between your red plants and your violet (purple) plants. The addition of the third plant in such a case makes the difference between a slightly jarring effect (i.e., with just reds and violets) versus a smoother, more harmonious ensemble.

Colour can also alter mood and perception, allowing you to:

Create a relaxing corner in your yard where you can meditate.Make small spaces seem larger.

Attract attention to a particular area.

Tie different areas of the yard together.

You may wonder what seemingly abstract terms like "form" have to do with backyard landscape design. You may object that you're not painting a landscape, after all; you're just putting plants in the ground. Yet it is not coincidental that backyard landscape design shares some terminology with the world of art. The backyard is your canvas; your landscape design skills will determine the beauty of the resulting picture.

The element of form is defined as the shape of a plant and the structure of its branching pattern. Trees come in many shapes (especially if pruned), including columnar and globular shapes. Likewise, tree forms range structurally from having the stiffly upright branches of Lombardy poplar trees to the droopy quality of a weeping willow. The form of individual components of a plant also needs to be considered. For example, the leaf form of one type of tree can be very different from that of another type of tree. Relative leaf size, meanwhile, helps determine plant texture (see picture).

Since texture is primarily a visual matter in landscape design, we often rely on the relative size of a plant's leaves to draw conclusions about its perceived texture. Yes, plant texture is highly relative: it refers to how the surface of the object is perceived, relative to the objects around it. Thus the plant texture of one

bedding plant, for example, might be considered more or less coarse than that of an adjacent plant, due to differences in leaf size.

The element of line refers to the fact that the viewer's eye movement or flow can be governed by the arrangement of plants and their borders. Eye movement is unconsciously influenced by the way plant groupings fit or flow together, both on the horizontal and vertical planes.

With the basic elements defined, it is time to put them to practical use. In planning a landscape design it is necessary to work with the "principles" that stem directly from the basic elements. How effectively you implement these principles will determine the impact of your landscaping upon the viewer – be it yourself or a prospective buyer.

Exercise 1

Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

конструирование, проектирование; принимать что-либо как должное; применять методы проектирования; мастер на все руки; цветовой спектр; основной цвет; смесь двух основных цветов; смесь трех основных цветов; колоннообразный; шаровидный; горизонтальная плоскость; вертикальная плоскость; малая ландшафтная архитектура, искусственный ландшафт; ландшафтное озеленение, декоративное растениеводство.

Exercise 2

Complete the following sentences:

1.Whenever you put something together yourself, you are engaged in …

2.Do-it-yourselfers must first learn …

3.The primary colours are …

4.The secondary colours can be thought of as …

5.The examples of the "tertiary colours" are as follows: ….

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1.Where can we employ our designing techniques?

2.What are the basic elements of landscape design?

3.What is scale?

4.What is the role of colour in landscape design?

5.How is the element of form defined?

6.Are such elements as line and texture important in designing?

THE MAIN PRINCIPLES OF GARDEN DESIGN

Three principles of garden design apply to the overall "feel" of the landscape: namely, proportion, transition and unity. Landscape plants should be arranged so as to conform to these principles. Proportion is the sense that the size of the individual components (the landscape plants) or groups of components in a

landscape is consistent with the landscape as a whole. In other words, the idea behind proportion is very similar to that behind the basic element, scale. But the difference is that, while "scale" is a neutral term, "proportion" is based on the premise that something is either "in proportion" or "out of proportion." A garden design that is out of proportion is one that is marred by abrupt transitions or by the lack of transition. For instance, a five-foot high stone wall might elegantly set off a large home, but would make a small home look all the smaller. The landscaping of the latter suffers from a lack of transition: the height of the wall is too close to that of the house. Transition, simply put, refers to gradual change.

Conforming to a sense of proportion is, in turn, one characteristic of a landscape or garden design that exhibits unity. Unity, or "harmony," has been achieved when the viewer senses that all the landscape plants in a garden design complement each other and have been chosen with one over-arching theme in mind. The placement of landscape plants in a thoughtful manner regarding their form is one method for promoting a unified feel. For instance, small trees flanking a driveway or an entrance should have the same form. Repetition also promotes unity. Like all good things, however, unity can be pushed too far. Introduce some variety, or "contrast" into a landscape, too. One way is through the use of landscape plants that vary in texture. The element, texture, is subtle enough that it can be employed to inject variety into a garden design without destroying unity.

The next triad of principles for home landscape design, like proportion, transition and unity, are interrelated: namely, rhythm, balance and focalization. They all pertain to controlling a viewer's eye movement. Rhythm in general is the patterned repetition of a motif. In your home landscape design, the motif could consist of the landscaping plants used, for instance. Landscaping plants of one type could be planted in a row or hedge, effectively channeling the viewer's gaze in one direction, rather than another. The essential element here is line, since nothing controls eye movement more readily than a straight line.

The objective of utilizing such a motif is to direct eye movement, unconsciously, in a manner that is most conducive to appreciating the home landscape design in question. For instance, perhaps the situation of your land holds the potential for a magnificent vista, but your current home landscape design does not take full advantage of it. Or perhaps you have a piece of statuary in your front yard that you want to show off. But if your front yard is full of other interesting items, it might be too "busy" for that item to receive sufficient focus. These and other problems of rhythm can be solved through an understanding of balance and focalization.

Balance refers to consistency of visual attraction and applies to all five of the basic elements: consistency with form, with texture, etc. Understanding balance is, in turn, important for an understanding of focalization. Focalization is the forcing of the viewer’s perspective to a focal point. While it can be achieved through various means, more intense focalization is created through the use of balanced, consistent arrangements of elements.

Let's return, then, to the two problems of home landscape design discussed above. The first is a problem of framing and can be solved by using bold, straight

lines. The second, a problem of drawing attention to one component in a busy front yard, could be solved by reducing clutter, opting instead for a minimalist style; and through the use either of color or of line. The statue could be surrounded with color that would direct the viewer's eye (focalization) unconsciously to that area. Using landscaping plants with flowers that are red or yellow en masse would do the trick nicely. So would an appropriate use of line. For instance, a straight path of paving stones leading up to the statuary, or bedding plants arranged so as to form a straight edging that will focus the viewer's gaze in the intended direction.

It will be seen from the foregoing discussion that the principles of home landscape design refer to nothing more ethereal than simply arranging the landscaping plants selected in combinations that bespeak a well-reasoned plan. While not pretending to be an exhaustive discussion, the above examples should nonetheless serve to allay the do-it-yourselfer's fears that home landscape design is the exclusive province of wizards with unfathomable powers. Home landscape design is the province not of wizardry, but of planning, problem-solving and a "principled" approach.

Exercise 1

Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

следовать принципам; основываться на предположении; располагаться по обе стороны дороги; великолепный вид; произведение скульптуры; достичь цели, добиться своего; обратить внимание; принципиальный подход; тропинка из булыжников; однолетние цветущие растения; лейтмотив, основная идея.

Exercise 2

Complete the following sentences:

1.Three principles of garden design apply to …

2.Proportion is …

3.Unity, or "harmony," has been achieved when …

4.The next triad of principles for home landscape design, like proportion, transition and unity, are interrelated: ….

5.The objective of utilizing such a motif is …

6.Home landscape design is the province not of wizardry, but of …

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1.What are the main principles of garden design?

2.What is the difference between proportion and scale?

3.What principles help to control a viewer's eye movement?

4.What can help to solve the problems of rhythm?

5.What are the two problems of home landscape design and how can they be solved?

DISCUSSION

Do yon agree or not? Comment on the following statements.

1.Tree is known by its fruit.

2.No garden without its weeds.

3.To beat about the bush.

4.Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm.