The perception of the landscape from the Western perspective: between nature and reason

Abstract

The landscape is halfway between the territory and the observer's way of looking. However, this view is not subjective, since it is influenced by the cultural reality to which it belongs. The notion of reality developed by Mircea Eliade to explain the way of understanding the world of the first civilizations and the concept of pensée paysagére of Augustin Berque are used in this article to deepen in the evolution of the landscape in the West and in the nature -reason binomial. With that starting point we have drawn a scheme that traces the evolutionary line of thought about the landscape in the West, fluctuating between myth, belief and science. The different landscape ideas throughout history allow us to reflect on the current land scapes and the values of the societies that shape them .