Cultured Growth: Nature as Cultural Object

Abstract

Although seemingly contradictory, Nature and Culture are inextricably linked to each other, with modern culture wholly developing as a result of the natural physical world, which has in turn been affected by the culture it helped nurture. The developed, civilized world as it is known today is the: result of natural and cultural forces influencing each other to such an extent that to speak of one implicates the other. The march of progress and the spread of humanity to all corners of the globe make it uncertain that there are truly any "untouched" expanses of true wilderness unaffected by human activity, while even the most artificial of built landscapes derive their origins in some way from the natural world. In this way, the "nature" that we originally came from has become a reflection of the culture we have produced from it. Our interaction with and representation of nature through cultural developments such as art, architecture, agriculture and landscaping throughout our history is indicative of the substantial value nature has and still does have in our growth and progress as a civilization. Through the very cultural developments made possible through Nature we are given the means to describe and celebrate the connections between them. By creating a hybrid of these elements: nature and culture through the fusion of art and architecture, agriculture and landscaping, we can more fully understand and appreciate the importance of both.