《发现乡土景观》①一书是美国"乡土景观之父"杰克逊关于文化景观研究的力作。杰克逊建立了美国乡土景观研究的理论框架:两种理想景观——政治景观和栖居景观,以及三种景观原型——景观一、景观二、景观三。在此框架下,探讨当代美国乡土景观的典型要素:平面空间、乡村小镇、乡土建筑、可移动房屋、石材与木材、科技风格、新型公园、新田园。该书提出的乡土景观研究方法论、乡土景观内涵的理解等,对当代中国景观研究和景观设计具有重要参考意义。

Discovering the Vernacular Landscape is a collection of essays on cultural landscape,by J. B. Jackson (1901-1996),Father of the Vernacular Landscape. The particular contributions of this book come in the theoretical chapters Jackson established for landscape studies:a pair of ideal landscapes——the Political Landscape and the Inhabited Landscape,and three prototypal landscapes——Landscape One,Landscape Two,Landscape Three. Based on this theoretical framework,Jackson carried out cases studies in the essays that deal with specific landscape elements in the American context. Begun with a retrospect on the word "landscape",Jackson argued that the origin meaning of landscape has nothing to do with picturesque scenery,but a portion of land at glance. Then Jackson defined two distinctive landscapes i.e. the political landscape——the regular,planned,large-scale,enduring features and what the vernacular landscape——the small-scale,informal,destined to continuous change,but results of everyday life and work. Within this framework,he launched detailed discusses on certain elements of contemporary American landscapes,with a conclusion of three landscapes:Landscape One is that of early medieval Europe,a landscape "without visible signs of political history"; Landscape Two is that of the Renaissance,whose spaces are clearly and permanently defined and made visible; Landscape Three is emerging in contemporary America,which in many ways a reversion to Landscape One,and clearly one that Jackson favors. This book is one of Jackson's major scholarly contributions to the studies of cultural landscape and vernacular landscape,and the studies of man-land relationship.