Okay, yes, I just made that word on my own…however, rococo is a French linguistic derivative of the Italian word barocco and it stems from the Baroque movement in 17th century architecture. Now, the baroque was intended to bring piety to the people, a vox populi movement, even. And, as an attraction for the masses, paintings were added to the interiors of churches and buildings to give the folks something to come in for. Also, apparently, the rounded curves and circular movement in the buildings itself were a popular attraction, also. However, as our bourgeois ideals expanded into the United States, it seems we have a tendency to think of the Rococo as a decadent period. And, maybe it is. So, a natural extension would be the landscape attached, eh? Rococo landscapes abound throughout Europe just as Baroque churches abound throughout Mexico. They seem such strange bedfellows to me. And, it is this strangeness which leads me to this curiosity in Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Landcape Architect, Deborah Nevins, and photographed here for the book, The New Garden Paradise, where I can’t see any dollar weed in this lawn. Can you?
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