Place-Making : The Art of Capability Brown

Lancelot “Capability” Brown (1716–83) is credited with creating the English landscape garden, a tradition that has dominated landscape design for centuries. But for all his acclaim, both in his own time and in the present day, Brown has received much biographical study but little sustained academic analysis. With Place-Making, John Phibbs seeks to fill that gap by providing a detailed study of the motivation behind Brown’s landscapes. Before Brown, gardens were small and rigorously formal, but, over time, Brown’s sprawling naturalistic style transformed not only the English countryside but also the very idea of England and what it means to be English. Drawing on copious research and experience restoring Brown’s landscapes, Phibbs draws readers’ attention to these landscapes that comprise half a million acres across England and Wales, so seemingly “natural” that they are often mistaken for untouched nature. Phibbs renders these landscapes legible, exploring what physical places can tell us about the people who live among them. The book is generously illustrated with plans, archival materials, and photographs, including many newly commissioned.