Artificial landscapes are the product of human thought and arise as a result of human activities, in contrast to the landscapes which arose naturally. Architectural landscapes for whom the archetype was nature were built in different historical periods over the centuries and in different cultures. The leading role in building landscapes was played by China. For thousands of years, artificial landscapes were the expression of a particular Chinese conception of the universe. The fashion for Chinese gardens came to England with English sailors and quickly spread over the country. In the eighteenth century, the English created artificial landscapes, usually in devastated areas, as a counterproposal to the existing French style. Copied and modified, the English landscape garden style has become well known around the world and a permanent English contribution to the art world. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English landscape garden style has spread across Europe and the United States. American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted built Central Park and twenty years later Prospect Park in New York City. Both are the city’s most recognizable English landscape garden style parks in the United States. In the twentieth first century, the idea formed by Frederick Law Olmsted is further developed by Michael Van Valkenburgh, the author of three of New York City’s parks with numerous references to the English landscape garden style.