John Claudius Loudon

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John Claudius Loudon, contemporary portrait

John Claudius Loudon (born April 8, 1783 in Cambuslang near Glasgow , Scotland , † December 14, 1843 in Bayswater near London ) was a Scottish botanist and landscape architect . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Loudon "; The abbreviation “ Loud. “In use.

Childhood, youth

Loudon was born the son of a respected farmer . For this reason he acquired practical knowledge about plants and agriculture in his youth . As a young man Loudon studied chemistry , botany and agriculture at the University of Edinburgh .

Work related to horticulture

Around 1803 published Loudon in a literary magazine an essay entitled Observations on Laying out the Public Spaces in London ( Considerations on the design of public space in London ). In this article he recommended the introduction of airier trees instead of the trees with a dense canopy that were previously used . In 1806 Loudon contracted rheumatic fever, which eventually led to a disability that did not prevent him from writing. As his health slowly deteriorated, he was forced to seek support from a draftsman and other assistants.

From 1808 Loudon was employed by the respected General Stratton to design and manage his Tew Park estate . Loudon was able to open a school there, in which young men were introduced to the theoretical principles of agriculture and the possibilities of cultivating the soil. Loudon's conception of landscaping was a model that combined efficiency and convenience as well as elegance and sophistication. In order to spread agricultural knowledge, Loudon published a pamphlet entitled The Utility of Agricultural Knowledge to the Sons of the Landed Proprietors of Great Britain, & c., By a Scotch Farmer and Land Agent ( The usefulness of agricultural knowledge for the sons of landowners of Great Britain; by a Scottish farmer and property manager ).

Design for a greenhouse from 1818

After touring Europe in 1813 and 1814 , Loudon began to focus on improving the construction of greenhouses and other farming systems. Finally he developed a design for tilt-adjustable surfaces, the position of which could be changed depending on the position of the sun. Loundon also developed plans for industrial worker accommodation and passive solar heating systems .

Decades before Frederick Law Olmsted and others began their work, Loudon was already establishing itself as a town planner . His vision of a possible long-term planning for London's green spaces, he illustrated in his published work in 1829 Hints for Breathing Places for Metropolis ( hints for places to breathe in the metropolis ). In it he sketched the carefully shaped growth of cities under the influence and inclusion of green belts. The term "arboretum" was first used by John Claudius Loudon in 1838 in a book about trees.

In 1832 Loudon introduced the gardenesque theory of horticulture. Afterwards, the focus should be on the individual plant, which was able to exploit its full potential in growth under the best conditions. Since the general opinion in the 19th century was that gardens should not imitate nature, the introduction of exotic plants propagated by Guardenesque and the establishment of abstract forms in horticulture offered a solution that was in line with contemporary tastes.

Taxonomic honor

The genus Loudonia Lindl. the plant family of the thousand-leaf plants (Haloragaceae) is named after him.

Publications

Loudon was a distinguished writer on the subjects of horticulture and landscape architecture . In 1822 his first publication was The Encyclopedia of Gardening . After the success of this book, Loudon published The Encyclopædia of Agriculture in 1826 . In 1826 he founded Gardener's Magazine , the first periodical magazine that dealt exclusively with horticulture. A little later, in 1828, he started the Magazine of Natural History .

Loudon's other publications include:

  • The Encyclopedias of Plants (1828)
  • The Encyclopedia of Cottage, Farm, Villa Architecture (1834)
  • Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1838)
  • Suburban Gardener (1838)
  • An Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs (1842)
  • On the Laying Out, Planting, and Managing of Cemeteries, and on the improvement of churchyards (1843)
  • The Principles of Landscape Gardening

Loudon hoped that his publications would have a far-reaching influence. With them he wanted to spread his ideal ideas for the design of public space and the improvement of urban planning and to arouse interest in agriculture and horticulture. His magazines and other work enabled him to communicate with other professionals as well as with the gentlemen.

He worked on the belief that public improvements should be made in a democratic and fully sustainable manner, and not just sporadically dependent on the charity of the rich. In 1839 he was commissioned to build the arboretum in Derby . Commissions like this enabled Loudon to actually implement the principles he published in his magazines. He tried to take into account the general public and their hardships in creating the facility by creating a space where the different classes of society could easily mingle and at the same time develop a common local pride. In his endeavor to create educationally significant environments, he provided the plants with detailed information boards. Loudon's design for the Arboretum in Derby served as a model for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew . In the last year of his life, a work was published in London on the planning and management of cemeteries , in which he promoted a park-like design that would invite public use. In December 1843, John Loudon died of a lung disease .

Individual evidence

  1. Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names . Extended Edition. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Free University Berlin Berlin 2018. [1]
  2. ^ The Gardener's magazine and register of rural & domestic improvement, Volume 2 Longman, London 1830
  3. ^ Works by John Claudius Loudon in the Internet Archive

Well-known work by Loudon

literature

  • Barbara Leisner: Aestheticization and Representation. The new park cemeteries at the end of the 19th century. In: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Friedhof und Denkmal, Museum for Sepulchral Culture: Space for the Dead. Braunschweig 2003. ISBN 3-87815-174-8

Web links

Wikisource: John Claudius Loudon  - Sources and full texts