Islamesque aperture
expanding the scope of Darke's work
The presence of Islamic landscape architecture in British gardens, parks, and urban spaces is often overlooked. Archaeology and art history provide some evidence of landscape design knowledge transferring from Muslim cultures to Britain.
Crusader landscapes
For instance, archaeologist Sharon Farmer1 has noted that the water design of Leeds Castle, constructed in the 13th century, bears a resemblance to the Saracenic design of La Zisa in Palermo, Sicily, built two centuries earlier. Moreover, historical records suggest that King Edward I, during his travels to and from the Holy Land for the Crusades, passed through Palermo, where he likely encountered and drew inspiration from Muslim craftsmen.
Wren’s words
Despite these findings, a more thorough study is needed such as those completed by architectural historian Diana Darke but for landscape architecture. Darke’s Stealing from the Saracens2 highlights the deep yet unacknowledged influence of Arab and Islamic architectural principles on European structures. She cites Sir Christopher Wren, widely regarded as Britain’s greatest architect, who wrote in the 17th century:
“This we now call the Gothick manner of architecture (so the Italians called what was not after the Roman style) tho’ the Goths were rather destroyers than builders; I think it should be with more reason called the Saracen style; for those people wanted neither arts nor learning; and after we in the West had lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabick books, what they with great diligence had translated from the Greeks.”
Closing the gap
Despite this recognition, Darke’s book reveals a significant gap in scholarship regarding the influence of Islamic aesthetics on landscape architecture. While studies have traced the origins of Gothic cathedrals and European city planning to Islamic architectural traditions, particularly from Spain and Sicily, similar research on landscape design remains largely absent.
Farmer, Sharon. “La Zisa / Gloriette : Cultural Interaction and the Architecture of Repose in Medieval Sicily, France and Britain.” Journal of the British Archaeological Association 166, no. 1 (September 2013): 99–123.
Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. London: C. Hurst and Company (Publishers) Limited, 2020.