- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Crown Publications; illustrated edition edition (26 April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0609606867
- ISBN-13: 978-0609606865
- Product Dimensions: 28.4 x 23.1 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,725,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The gardens of Mexico are some of the most extraordinary in the world, and the people of Mexico have cultivated a deeply spiritual connection and reverence for their land. Through generations of toil and inventiveness, they found ways to tame the soil, using bold combinations of plants. As Alfonso Alfaro writes in his introduction, the “culture was synonymous with plant life, and plant life was transformed into art.”
That heritage is still alive today in Mexico, and Paraíso Mexicano beautifully renders and celebrates this legacy in the country’s exceptional gardens and landscapes. There are more than 280 photographs of radiant flora, emerald gardens that seem to levitate over manmade lagoons, modern creations of concrete and sand, and public squares, centuries in the making, that will dazzle with their brilliant and elegant composition. Many of the spaces produce fruits, vegetables, spices, and medicinal herbs alongside vibrant floral strokes of crimson bougainvillea, blue agave, wild lupine, and dahlias--the national flower of Mexico. Even structures play an aesthetic role, as world-renowned architect Luis Barragán demonstrates in one of his gardens by planting a pepper tree so its shadow would fall singly against the face of a luminous yellow wall.
Marie-Pierre Colle has filled the book with gardens from the tranquil seacoast to the hurried metropolis, from the hidden patios of colonial homes to public landscapes. The builders and keepers, farmers, laborers, and artists such as Octavio Paz, Diego Rivera, and Mexican film legend María Felix--her garden has never before been open to the public-help illuminate this mystical world that so symbolizes the rich and complex culture of Mexico. With breathtaking photography, Paraíso Mexicano is a sensational and provocative collection that captures these fleeting glimpses of paradise.
That heritage is still alive today in Mexico, and Paraíso Mexicano beautifully renders and celebrates this legacy in the country’s exceptional gardens and landscapes. There are more than 280 photographs of radiant flora, emerald gardens that seem to levitate over manmade lagoons, modern creations of concrete and sand, and public squares, centuries in the making, that will dazzle with their brilliant and elegant composition. Many of the spaces produce fruits, vegetables, spices, and medicinal herbs alongside vibrant floral strokes of crimson bougainvillea, blue agave, wild lupine, and dahlias--the national flower of Mexico. Even structures play an aesthetic role, as world-renowned architect Luis Barragán demonstrates in one of his gardens by planting a pepper tree so its shadow would fall singly against the face of a luminous yellow wall.
Marie-Pierre Colle has filled the book with gardens from the tranquil seacoast to the hurried metropolis, from the hidden patios of colonial homes to public landscapes. The builders and keepers, farmers, laborers, and artists such as Octavio Paz, Diego Rivera, and Mexican film legend María Felix--her garden has never before been open to the public-help illuminate this mystical world that so symbolizes the rich and complex culture of Mexico. With breathtaking photography, Paraíso Mexicano is a sensational and provocative collection that captures these fleeting glimpses of paradise.
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Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mexican gardens, 28 Mar 2002
By david streeter - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Paraiso Mexicano (Hardcover)
Lush. Exotic. Sensual. A photographic examination of many of the superb gardens of Mexico An all too brief (each garden deserves a book in itself) look at Colonial Gardens, Hacienda gardens, gardens of Luis Barragan, and contemporary gardens. Generally each garden has a page of photographs and a page of text. A book to be enjoyed on several levels from the simply pictorial to the philosophy of gardening. A minor distraction is the large number of slightly out of focus photographs. A welcome addition to all gardening libraries both personal and institutional.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paraiso Mexicano, 28 April 2007
By Southern Review - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Paraiso Mexicano (Hardcover)
The gardens of Mexico are some of the most extraordinary in the world. Many generations Mexico's people have applied their inventiveness to tame their soil using bold combinations of color, plants, and materials.
This book depicts exotic and lush garden spaces. There are dazzling and elegant combinations, interesting use of space that combine fruits, vegetables, spices and medicinal herbs alongside vibrant magenta bougainvillea, blue agave, wild lupine, and dahlias - the national flower of Mexico.
"Paraiso Mexicano : Gardens, Landscapes, and Mexican Soul" has spectacular juxtapositions of color and surfaces; wild cactus and succulents collection bordering views of Valle de Bravo's azure lake and mountains. Or, film legend, Maria Felix's enchanting outdoor mirrored pavilion with Charles X chandelier and Portuguese azulejos converging with saltillo tiles in a pleasing blue and terra cotta composition completing her Cuernavaca tropical garden paradise.
The more than 280 photographs are awe-inspiring illuminations of the rich and complex culture of Mexico.
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