“Its neither landscape nor architecture, but both; neither indoors, nor outdoors, but both.” sign experiments, articles, and books that formed the foundation of Rose’s design philosophy. Rose believed that a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors was contemporary and fundamental to the way people lived. He was not content to allow landscape design to be a pastoral element that framed architecture. Starting with a structural framework that was sometimes itself architectural, he created views and transitions that integrated useful living and garden spaces. In essence, he created what we now call outdoor rooms. Rose’s outdoor spaces—unlike some today—are as much a part of the architecture as they are the land they occupy; they are not separate. His experiences and observations while stationed in Japan during WWII greatly influenced his pareddown aesthetic. Rose’s desire to put his ideas into action led him to abandon a successful New York office to form a design/build practice that focused on private residential projects rather than corporate and public spaces. During his career, Rose built the majority of his landscapes near Photographs top and bottom left by Phillip Merrit; bottom center and right by S. Cohan
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LEAF MAGAZINE
spring 2012
The central courtyard at Rose’s Ridgewood, New Jersey home