Landscape Architect Should Know Ivers 2021

250 Things
a Landscape Architect
Should Know
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The publication was made
possible by the kind support of:
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GreenBlue Urban Ltd Marshalls plc Vestre Ltd
250 Things
a Landscape Architect
Should Know
B. Cannon Ivers (ed.
ed.))
Birkhäuser
Basel
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Foreword
Ed Wall, July 2021
Michael Sorkin was a master of lists. From Local Code to
“Eleven Tasks for Urban Design” and from “A Merry Mani
festo” to “The Sidewalks of New York”, Michael em
ployed lists as he crafted manifestos, design codes and
urban agendas. While they rarely repeat, they all articu
late common concerns – even when revealing tensions
and contradictions. As with “Two Hundred Fifty Things an
Architect Should Know”, the inspiration for this book,
brilliantly edited by Cannon Ivers, Michael’s lists consist
ently express his desire for walking, his faith in cities and
his confidence in the future.
Almost 20 years ago I was a student of Michael’s,
and ever since I have been immersed in his world of
“Two Hundred Fifty Things . . .”: studying urban design, living
in a Manhattan walk-up, enrolled in a public college,
learning from his designs, listening to his friends, encour
aged to draw, supported in research. From fieldwork in
Soweto to seminars with Jane Jacobs, and from readings
with Marshall Berman to designing “exquisite corpses”,
the world that Michael generously shared was a constella
tion of the lists he wrote. During this time, he only once
recommended we read one of his books. Frustrated with
the urban codes that he had asked us to compose, he
requested we read Local Code: The Constitution of a City
at 42° N Latitude. I dutifully visited Labyrinth Books on
West 112th and Broadway, read it in the store, bought it
and have reread it many times since.
The urban code that I subsequently wrote was the
basis of a proposal for the industrial
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district of Willets
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Point, Queens. It began with: “Demolish nothing, always
add”. While reflecting on my fascination with the area’s self-
built auto-repair workshops, “Demolish nothing, always
add” should have been preceded by “Do not displace, wel
come in”. This marginal landscape of auto-parts, disag
gregated and reassembled as precarious workshops and
remodelled vehicles, was the result of situated work prac
tices – lives that have since been displaced as part of
contested urban renewal.
Cannon’s reinterpretation of “Two Hundred Fifty
Things an Architect Should Know” as a collective landscape
endeavour brings a new dimension to this visionary work.
From Kate Orff’s contribution of “Bitches Get Stuff Done”
to Aniket Bhagwat’s “Understand the Soul of Derek Jarman”,
this book is both pragmatic advice and poetic demand.
Although unable to include any of the landscape architects
whom Michael listed in his “Two Hundred Fifty Things . . .”
– “154. Capability Brown, André Le Nôtre, Frederick Law
Olmsted, Musoˉ Soseki, Ji Cheng and Roberto Burle Marx”
– this is an extraordinary collection of lists that also in
cludes delightful tensions and contradictions. In “Two
Hundred Fifty Things a Landscape Architect Should Know”
Cannon demonstrates his mastery in bringing landscape
voices together, creating a true landscape list of lists.
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Preface
B. Cannon Ivers
This book was spawned by loss and tragedy, but it is
my hope that it will bring inspiration and optimism. When
Michael Sorkin – the inimitable urbanist, theorist and
architecture critic – died of COVID-19 on 26 March 2020,
a groundswell of memories and commiserations filled
social-media feeds, websites and design journals. It was
also the first moment that the pandemic impacted some
one whose work I followed and admired, a personality
that I assumed floated above such eventualities as a
global pandemic. Caught up in the collective reflection
on Michael’s work, I found myself reading his “Two
Hundred Fifty Things an Architect Should Know”, allowing
each word to land with more profundity knowing that
Sorkin was gone.
Motivated by this varied and far-reaching collection
of thoughts, I immediately felt compelled to formulate
a similar list – albeit through a diverse cohort of voices op
erating in the landscape architecture discipline. I envi
sioned an equally inspiring thread of observations, ideas,
propositions and declarations expressed from the per
spective of 50 landscape architects. The process of iden
tifying, researching and assembling the contributors
has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It has been an
honour to work with each and every contributor, and to
meet the personalities behind the widely recognised and
celebrated work.
I first met Michael Sorkin when I was a student at
Colorado State University. After witnessing his command
of the English language and@Arclib
the range of his vocabu
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lary, I recall commenting to my professor how astonished
I was by the number of words that I did not know from
Sorkin’s lecture. In a sagacious and professorial tone, my
teacher, Merlyn Paulson, replied, “Remember, he learned
each word one at a time.” This has always stuck with me
as a reminder that to really know a subject takes time and
dedication. I hope the statements in this book reinforce
this lesson. Each entry from the 50 contributors will have
been learned and applied incrementally, in a particular
context and over time – in some instances decades, or even
an entire career. As observed by Anita Berrizbeitia, “Land
scapes embody at once culture and nature, art and
science, the collective and the personal, the natural and
artificial, static and dynamic.”1 The medium is complex;
the techniques and approaches are varied. It is my hope
that this rare assemblage of inspired voices, operating
in a myriad of contexts, will communicate the complexity,
depth and interconnected qualities of the collective
l andscape project.
I am grateful to all of the contributors for the time
and care they have committed to crafting their entries.
I would like to thank the Birkhäuser team of Henriette
Mueller-Stahl and Heike Strempel, to copy editor Ian
McDonald and to graphic designer Lisa Petersen. A spe
cial thanks to Ed Wall for the generous foreword and
the reflections on his personal and professional encoun
ters with Michael Sorkin. Finally, to Jasper and Deelia,
thank you for your ideas, you are wise beyond your years.
1 Czerniak, Julia (2001). CASE: Downsview Park

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Toronto. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Graduate
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School of Design; Munich: Prestel p. 117.
The Complementarity
of the Built
and the Grown
We must understand that the built environment and the
grown environment are complementary. Each has its own
genesis, philosophy and aesthetic. Each adheres to its
own laws, paradigms and orders. The built environment is
the paradigm of structure, of rational order, of stable form;
the grown environment is the paradigm of system, of the
order of nature, of ever-changing matter. The built and the
grown environments are complementary in that they are
at once both interdependent and incomparable. Architec
ture that only consists of the built environment is ever
only half-architecture; the same is true for the grown en-
vironment. One must never subjugate the other. Only
when both are seen as equally important and equally ne
cessary can we ever hope to achieve full and complete
architecture.
1 Stig L. Andersson (SLA)

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→ Copenhagen, Denmark
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This villa by architect Arne Jacobsen radiates everything as each other’s equal, forming a Whole Architecture.
the built environment is based on: constructed order, The collaboration made Jacobsen reflect that if he
hierarchy, repetition, stability. In the outdoor space, could choose a profession again he would opt to be a
designed by the gardener and landscape architect gardener. I exhibited this image from Brandt’s archive
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emerg
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es. Here the built and the grown environment exist Biennale.
The New Nature
is New
Many believe that nature-based design is about “reintro
ducing”, “rewilding” or “reinstating” some kind of perceived
“original nature” “back” into our cities. This is wrong. The
New Nature that we are designing in our cities is not a copy
of old romanticised images or idealised perceptions of
nature past; the New Nature is truly new. We call this New
Nature City Nature. It is man-made nature to correct man-
made errors. It is a New Nature designed equally on the
basis of deep biological, anthropological, sociological and
ecological knowledge – and on a strong artistic know
ledge, experience and approach. It is a New Nature opti
mised to solve today’s hardest urban challenges while
creating genuine quality of life for humans. It is a New
Nature that is not too concerned with how it looks – but
rather how it feels and how it functions.

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This artwork is in Copenhagen’s Østerbro neighbour structure (roads, roundabouts, parking) into City Nature
hood – a typical residential area, where everything that – a work of art with both economical and aesthetic
sprouts and grows is kept down, pruned, stemmed utility value. Without reducing parking spaces, and opti
and maintained so as not to change or express living mised to handle the severest of cloudbursts and cli
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nature. Everything is controlled, following established
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norms and rules. We transformed the dominant infra the grown environment – with New Nature.
The Aesthetic Sense
of Nature
Working with nature-based designs in our cities has a lot of
advantages: the New Nature can strengthen biodiversity
for plants and animals; its ecosystem services can handle
a vast amount of our (self-inflicted) urban challenges like
flooding, air pollution and microclimate challenges; and it
can reduce stress, lifestyle diseases and mental and phys
ical illness. These are all important; however, the most
important aspect of working with nature in our cities is to
bring the Aesthetic Sense of Nature to humans. The Aes
thetic Sense of Nature is what all nature designs, and
all nature designers, must aim for. It is the one thing only
nature can bring. It is the realisation of all that is beautiful,
strange, intimate, aesthetic, fascinating and frightening
in nature. And it is the full sensory, physical, philosophical
and aesthetic experience of nature – which, again, makes
up our common human ethical foundation, and is thus
one of the most fundamental and necessary experiences
we as human beings can have.

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During the years in which I lived in Japan, I became he felt, not what he saw. He conceived the Aesthetic
particularly aware of the value of Nordic Mannerism. Sense of Nature in an aesthetic language, understood
I was intrigued by the manner in which the 19th-century by emotions. He showed a path to the recognition of
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Norwegian artist Peder Balke could feel the sublime in being a part of nature.
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nature and make it comprehensible. He painted what
Humans are Nature
For centuries philosophers and scientists have discussed
this most pressing of questions: are humans part of nature
– or are we above or beside (or indeed beneath) it? One
of the most important things a landscape architect must
know is that humans are not only part of nature – we are
nature. This insight is at once the simplest and also the most
startling and disturbing insight that Modernity can imag
ine. If humans are nature, that means we must completely
reconfigure the way we think about our presence in the
world. Gone are the days when humans could subjugate
nature in our attempts to reshape the world in our own
image. Instead we must realise that we are here on this
planet on equal terms with trees, plants, animals, jelly
fish and mountains – an ethical knowledge that we must
treat everything on Earth (the whole system of which
we are part) in a decent way. We must take this knowledge
seriously and make landscapes, cities and societies
such as we have never seen before.

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When I first saw how the sculptor Gian Lorenzo are nature. I was in Rome in the early 1970s, and saw
Bernini�s silky, soft, white and cold marble began to Apollo and Daphne in Villa Borghese. We humans are
grow and transform into a barked and grouted olive life, plants, stones and will – in constant transformation,
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tree with rough leaves (in order for his Daphne to avoid metamorphosis and mutation.
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abuse at the hands of Apollo), I became aware that we
Work Genuinely
Interdisciplinarily
We must understand that creating something truly new is
an interdisciplinary practice. Interdisciplinarity arises when
many different professions are working together and
equally on a common issue. Working in an interdisciplinary
way is fundamental if we are to come up with new solu
tions and methods for our shared conditions. Working mono-
disciplinarily creates something we already know; working
interdisciplinarily creates something we do not know yet.
Therefore, the most important thing a landscape architect
must realise is that we cannot do everything alone: we must
engage with scientists, biologists, anthropologists, socio
logists, humanists, ecologists, artists, literary scholars,
philosophers – all different professions – in an equal and
juxtaposed collaboration. The time for egos solving
problems is gone – now is the time for truly collaborative
work. Only together are we one.

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As a student at Denmark’s Technical University I and Léon Rosenfeld. Outside the frame are Werner
learned how the physicist Niels Bohr developed his Heisenberg and Hendrik Kramers. During workshops
theories. He gathered people from different disciplines Heisenberg blew a toy trumpet to give popular ideas
with a shared commitment to finding new ways to de a fanfare; Pauli, a cannon to shoot down unpopular
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Bohr, ideas; and Kramers had a little drummer boy to provide
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Wolfgang Pauli, Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim, Erwin Fues applause.
The Capacity of
Kigelia Africana to
Sequester Carbon
Our future on Earth will be defined by two competing needs
– the first, to accommodate a growing population; the
second, to do so while inflicting little or no damage on our
environments, ecologies or atmosphere. Without deep,
landscape-led interdisciplinarity, we won’t be able to keep
up with the harm inflicted by our current typical building
practices. How, then, should a landscape architect ap
proach a site in the age of the Anthropocene – be it rural
or urban, from 10 square metres to 100,000 hectares
in size? The steps are simple: 1) conserve functioning eco
logies; 2) restore ecological services; 3) proliferate biodi
versity; and 4) sequester carbon. There can be no climate-
positive architecture without complementary regenerative
landscapes. And in five years’ time, we must all be
aware of both the carbon cost of every material we use,
from concrete paving to anodised aluminium, and the
carbon offset provided by everything we preserve or plant,
from Kigelia africana to Schizachyrium.
6 Sierra Bainbridge (MASS)

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→ Boston, MA, USA @Arclib
Each Kigelia africana tree can sequester around practices, or how they vary by continent. Through
35,000 kilograms of carbon over its lifetime. Carbon- our work in Rwanda, we have started creating peer-
sequestration calculations are still developing, and reviewed calculations, which show that through inter
even with tools like the Climate Positive Design Path disciplinary collaboration we have designed possibly
finder so much of how we practise as landscape- the world’s first carbon-positive campus – on which we
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systems designers cannot yet be accurately account
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ed for – such as soil and agricultural sequestration
How to See
through Drawing
Our landscape is the most honest, earnest and unrelenting
“keeper” of our shared histories. Recorded in decades
and millennia, its embedded stories often remain hidden
until we become able to decipher them. As landscape
architects, we must learn material language and interpre
tative tools, helping to uncover the sometimes revelatory
and sometimes terrible secrets that the landscape holds.
We can see the hands that shaped it and the bodies held
within it. A monocultural swathe, a tangle of pioneer weeds
– if we look, we can see the story of decades and cen
turies of disturbances, transmigrations, transplantings
and interminglings. Drawing from observation is the first
lesson: Sit and draw what you see. If we can just begin
to observe our landscape, it will reveal undeniable truths:
first, we see the natural processes at work; then, we notice
the species that are changing or marking change – we
see actions and events, perpetrated both by nature and
humanity. The land bears record of our deeds and
misdeeds. To draw is to see. To draw is to record. Then,
we can hold ourselves accountable.

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The pine plantations of the American South reveal South during the Jim Crow era became untenable.
a long-term shift from the region’s labour-intensive The pine tracts you pass through when driving west
cotton crop to a comparatively low-labour alternative. from Georgia to east Texas bear witness to the loss of
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This process began after the abolition of slavery and forced and coerced labour.
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intensified when, for many, continuing to farm in the
About Jainism
Jainism is a centuries-old Indian religion teaching a path to
spiritual purity and enlightenment through disciplined
nonviolence. One of its key principles – ahimsa – means, in
the original Sanskrit, “non-injury” to all living creatures.
COVID-19 has revealed the opposite: a cycle of injury
that begets more injury. No fewer than 75 % of new or
emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals.
This rate of zoonotic transmission is accelerating due to
increasing human population and pressures on the environ
ment, including extractive agricultural practices, rapid
urbanisation and unprecedented human migration – all
exacerbated by a rapidly changing climate. What if we
designed as if we were Jains? We would do so in a way that
values all forms of life and replenishes our ecological
system. Designing for One Health – which acknowledges
that human, animal and ecological health are inextricably
linked – provides just such a framework for decision-
making that accounts for carbon positivity, s ocial equity
and planetary health.

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The Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture sourced; where and how and by whom they were ex
(RICA) was purpose-built to demonstrate the unique tracted, harvested and made. Each of these moments
One Health pedagogy pioneered by the faculty. In become legible expressions of the principles of One
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the design of its landscape, buildings and infrastruc
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ture, we thought holistically about the materials we
The Fourteen
Senses
Marginalised, “subaltern” or oppressed communities all
emanate from the non-reflexive lens, which prioritises the
world views of the mainstream, the coloniser, the oppres
sor. These embedded predilections create spaces that,
at best, do not welcome or make comfortable a diversity
of users and, at worst, systematically destroy the struc
tures and networks that historically provided for the non-
majority’s needs. What happens when we push against
that world view? When we centre instead the deaf, the
indigenous, the immigrant, the blind and the Black experi
ence? We learn how people of wide-ranging abilities and
backgrounds feel, smell, touch, remember and navigate
the landscape, and we can create a responsive, intention
al design that, in serving their needs first, enriches all
our experiences.
In so doing, we may gain the opportunity to invest
igate, reveal and coax out what can be called a “sixth
sense,” known by some as the magical sense. Temporal,
phenomenological, seasonal and sensory aspects of
perception lend themselves to creating experiences that
can be transformative, invigorating and life affirming.
Whether we are acculturated to having five, six or four
teen of them – as landscape architects, we must learn
to design for all our senses.

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Our senses are essential to our social and cultural incorporates dynamic forces and internal perceptions.
understanding. Many cultures channel the world Sensory experience is how knowledge is understood,
through the five senses, yet the ability to perceive remembered and transferred. This diagram reflects the
our surroundings through our eyes, ears, nose, skin indigenous knowledge as shared by Samba Yonga and
and mouth can be expanded. In Zambian traditional Mulenga Kapwepwe, co-founders of the Women’s His
practice, there are fourteen senses, providing @Arclib
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deep tory Museum in Zambia.
and layered engagement with the natural world that
The Story
of Every Material
Every material we select has a story that binds us to each
other and to nature. Over the course of the 20th century,
as we began to outsource our capacity to make and to
grow, we traded the networks of production that had bound
us together for ever-longer and more anonymous supply
chains. In doing so, we ceased to be able to track our
accountability to each other and to our environment. What
if with every design decision, we ask not only what is the
environmental footprint but also what is the human hand
print of those that made it? What if we think holistically
about the materials we use – where they come from; how
they are extracted, harvested and propagated; who manu
factures, transports, assembles or grows them? While not
every material can be local, many can. When we choose
a local material, we have the potential to create ownership,
familiarity, relationships and livelihoods. We also increase
our ability to more easily observe, track, minimise or offset
the damage to our communities and environment inflict
ed by typical material procurement.
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→ Boston, MA, USA
(MASS)
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Clockwise from top right: woodland savannah plants from species collected on
1) Jean Baptiste has worked on five projects with MASS, site, demonstrating the crucial link between biodiverse
propagating, planting and tending healing landscapes. ecologies and thriving agriculture.
2) Anne Marie was trained in volcanic masonry. She 4) Working with biologists from The Dian Fossey Go
is now working on her fifth project with MASS with the rilla Fund, we collected and propagated over 200,000
all-women masonry crew she founded. @Arclib Afromontane species for educational, research and
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3) At RICA we propagated and planted over 150,000 reforestation sitework.
The Price of
Blooming the Desert
Our landscape designs are dependent on water resources
and affect the water cycle. Thus, we need to be aware,
and critical, of how waterscapes reflect political processes
and ideologies. Massive hydraulic projects across the
world that were built with the intention of “blooming the
desert” were, and to a large extent still are, mainly the
creation of nation states, and reflect their objectives.
The Jordan River flows from the Hula Valley to the Sea
of Galilee, and from there to the Dead Sea. Its basin is split
by the political borders of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan
and the Palestinian National Authority. Israel controls the
amount of water flowing into the Jordan River via a dam
at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, the state’s largest
source of water. This made the Israeli national project
of irrigating arid areas possible. It also dried up water re-
sources shared by neighbouring countries and led to
disastrous environmental outcomes.
11 Yael Bar-Maor
→ Tel Aviv, Israel
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The Dead Sea transformation, 1972 / 2019 prompts us to reject the way the concept of the human
The Dead Sea is dying. It is constantly shrinking. Wa domination of nature is still being practised as part
ter levels are falling at a rate of over one metre per of efforts by nation states to gain power and control
year, and its surface area has dropped from around over natural resources, and to question the ethos of
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1,000 to 600 square kilometres in the past 70 years. A “blooming the desert”.
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critical analysis of the Jordan River Basin waterscape
The Course of a
Raindrop
Waterscapes are landscapes viewed through the lens
of their water resources, taken as a defining element of
both ecosystems and human life.1
Reading and writing the terrain are among the most impor
tant skills of landscape architects. The best way to obtain
these skills is by looking at landscapes through the lens of
their water flow. By imagining the course of a raindrop on
the ground, we can understand the forms and features of
the topography of a site and envisage its potential trans
formation through our design.
The Arava Valley, north of Aqaba and Eilat, is a unique
and fragile desert. Rainfall events in this area, however rare,
can cause flash floods that have significant landscape
forming effects. Very few species of tree grow in these ex
treme conditions. Those that do include acacias, the val
ley’s keystone species, which can, however, survive only
where water flows through in episodic floods. Any human
intervention in the topography shifts the surface water,
and may change the trajectory and the effects of the floods.
Working in this hyper-arid landscape reminds us of how
sensitive we must be to the course of a single raindrop.
12 Yael Bar-Maor
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The Hanging Trees near Eilat, Israel, 2015
An abandoned quarry near Eilat is known for its “Hang
ing Trees”: these native acacias are designated a pro
tected species. During the quarry’s working life, they
were left untouched as the surrounding soil was
excavated, leaving them stranded far above the flood 1 Molle, François, Foran, Tira and Floch, Philippe
ing areas – a death sentence to most of them. When we (2009). “Introduction: Changing waterscapes in the
were commissioned to plan the rehabilitation of the Mekong region – Historical background and context”,
area, we decided to keep the dead trees in place as in François Molle, Tira Foran and Mira Käkönen
“anchors” helping us to understand the area’s former (eds.). Contested waterscapes in the Mekong region:
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topography, and as reminders of the responsibility that Hydropower, livelihoods and governance. London:
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we owe to waterscapes. Earthscan, p. 2.
The Kibbutz
(as a Utopian Model)
Imagine a society of absolute sharing, where private
property does not exist: a society that provides for all the
material and social needs of its members. Every child grow
ing up there gets an equal education, beginning at birth.
Since everything is shared, there is no need for fences or
divisions. The family-based household is irrelevant, for
there is no private property to be handed down within the
family and domestic functions are shared by the com
munity.
What would the habitat of this society look like?
What role could landscape play in such a place? The
planners of the kibbutz tried to answer these questions,
by giving form to this utopia. The first kibbutzim (plural
form of kibbutz) were built a century ago in Palestine/
Israel as collective settlements based on full partnership
in all aspects of life. Over the years they developed
a unique spatial typology that reflected the idea of total
collectiveness, and set the stage for the everyday
practices of communal life in which landscape played
a leading role.
13 Yael Bar-Maor
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Spatial analysis of Kibbutz Hatzerim, Israel, even bathing – took place in communal spaces. The
one of the few kibbutzim that still preserve a utopian totality of togetherness became a dystopian
cooperative system experience for some. Privatisation processes, starting
The kibbutz as a whole was considered the home of in the 1980s, gradually eliminated the various aspects
all its members. There were no private houses but of communal life. Nevertheless, the kibbutz in its orig
functional buildings, connected by footpaths and open inal form provides a fascinating case study in connec
spaces, served as “rooms” across a continuous@Arclib
garden
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scape. Everyday practices – eating, playing, sometimes
Planting is Political
Nik Heynen, Maria Kaika and Erik Swyngedouw’s “‘Mani
festo’ for Urban Political Ecology” states that “[t]he type
and character of physical and environmental change, and
the resulting environmental conditions, are not indepen
dent from specific historical, cultural, political or economic
conditions and the institutions that accompany them”.1
Sure enough, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a
botanical aspect. Actions such as planting, uprooting,
preferring one species over the other and even nature-
protection laws reflect the conflict and impact on it. Per
haps the most notable of these actions is the massive
foresting of lands nationalised by the state of Israel in the
1950s, previously belonging to Palestinians who fled or
were forced out of their villages during the 1948 war. This
transformed large parts of the country into coniferous
forests, comprising mainly pines. The main objectives of
this foresting action were political-tactical (obtaining
control over the land) and economic (forestry as a work
fare programme for incoming Jewish immigrants). At
the same time it was an act of erasing the previous land
scape, with all its cultural meaning, and introducing a
new monoculture landscape that was meant to represent
the “melting pot” of the newly founded state.
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Monoculture pine forest vs. diverse vegetation
of local species proposed for a public grove,
the Galilee region, Israel
The act of planting and the choice of trees we plant
have cultural and political meaning, as well as environ
mental impact. Working on cross-cultural and cross-
sector cooperation projects also generates diversity in
planting choice. Being involved in projects in Galilee,
an area of mixed Arab and Jewish population, I am re
introducing native species or those typical of the tradi 1 Heynen, Nik; Kaika, Maria and Swyngedouw,
tional cultivated areas that are now less common ow Erik (2006). “Urban political ecology: Politicizing the
ing to top-down forestry and urbanisation. I see this as production of urban natures”, In the The Nature of
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increasing biodiversity and at the same time reflecting
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the cultural diversity of the area. Metabolism. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, p. 12.
What is Absent from
the Map
Maps don’t merely inform; they propose. They don’t
offer a neutral representation of reality; they construct
reality in a particular way. 1
It is extremely important to be aware of the subjective

nature of mapping. Official maps often exclude data that
do not correspond to the hegemonic policy. Such is
the case of the Bedouin village Bir Hadaj in the Negev
Desert. A few years ago, we received a commission from
a governmental fund to design the rehabilitation of an
abandoned quarry in “an open area” outside the village
boundaries. But a visit to the site before starting the de
sign process made it clear that we would be working at
the heart of the village. The state recognises only around
a third of the actual inhabited area, and most of it is ab
sent from the statutory maps. We decided to put aside
the official data and base our design on aerial photos, field
trips and local knowledge obtained from the residents.
15 Yael Bar-Maor
@Arclib
@Arclib
Formal vs. informal building and development,
Bir Hadaj and Revivim, the Negev region, Israel
Bīr Hadaj’s residents were relocated by Israel’s military
authorities in the 1950s. In the 1990s, after a hazard
ous-waste disposal facility was developed near the
area to which they were transferred, they returned to
the vicinity of their historical home. The Israeli Govern
ment recognised the village, but only on a third of its
area. Maps construct reality. Being absent from them
means being denied basic rights. Citizens of the
Bedouin “diaspora” and non-governmental organisa
tions working with them are using counter-mapping @Arclib
to 1 Paez, Roger (2019). Operative Mapping;
@Arclib
shed light on what has been left off the official maps. Maps as Design Tools. Barcelona: Elisava, p. 9.
Be in the Landscape
Visit landscapes and experience them, and actively critique
the way you interpret that experience. Visit natural, mod
ified and human-designed places. Go back to your old proj-
ects and learn from their ageing. If you are travelling,
research ahead and make an itinerary and be open to all
the places not on that itinerary. Don’t believe published
images. The hero-shot can be a profound evil. Projects have
context, need to be seen in sun and rain and crowds and
at night and when you’re lonely or feeling like a hard-arsed
eco-warrior. Capture your experiences. The first moment.
Shifting impressions over time. Detail. The broader sur
rounds. Then be disciplined and file those photos or notes
or drawings or sound recordings with the right names
or tags. This is a practice that will give and give for your
whole career.
16 Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT

@Arclib
→ Victoria, Australia
@Arclib
Studios)
National Emergency Services Memorial, and approach. This was an early success at ASPECT
Canberra, Australia, 2004 Studios, and each time I revisit and photograph this
The on-site design of the National Emergency Services project my attention is drawn to different things: the
@Arclib
Memorial, using a simple 1:1 string model, developed
@Arclibmountains, the shadows, the trees and its ageing as it
the memorial’s play of horizon line, topography, scale settles into its landscape. Designers: ASPECT Studios
Everything is Design
Sure, design can be the grand gesture. But don’t let any-
one tell you documenting a project is not design. It all is.
Design is how you craft every moment of every project. A
path is not a path – it’s a material, a journey, a pattern, a
tension created with purpose and referencing a rich typol
ogy. “See a world in a grain of sand”, as Blake said.1 Bring
everything you can to whatever is before you and imagine
yourself in everything you design. Extend that to see
through others’ eyes. And extend that to see beyond sim
ply the human: as Claude Lévi-Strauss famously said,
animals are “good to think [with]”.2 Design is an attitude
as well as a craft.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Studios)
Caulfield to Dandenong railway project and
Djerring Trail, Melbourne, Australia, 2019
A shared pathway orchestrates the complex chain of
civic, play, rest, fitness and gathering spaces along the
17 kilometres of linear parkland created as part of the
Caulfield to Dandenong railway project. The narrow cor-
ridor, just 20–40 metres wide, created by the elevation 1 Blake, William (1950). “Auguries of innocence”,
of the rail line, now unites communities, strengthens lo in Auden, W. H., and Norman H. Pearson (eds.). Poets of
cal identity, drives urban regeneration, promotes non- the English language, vol. 4. New York: Viking.
car travel and provides essential urban habitat and
connection to nature. Designers: ASPECT Studios @Arclib
and 2 Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1963). Totemism.
@Arclib
Cox Architecture Boston: Beacon Press, p. 89.
Earth, Water, Plants
and Time
These are fundamental to landscape. Designers often move
too quickly to walls, seats, paving – and miss the power
these fundamentals possess. Earth literally grounds us,
and means landform, sculpting and texture. Soils are living
materials and can make or break a project. Few land
scape architects know soils well. Water means life, a most
profound material to work with. Water play, microclimate,
as “white noise” softening a busy road, essential resource,
flood management, reflection: it has a thousand aspects.
Plants are immensely important. What a single tree can do
in terms of ecosystem services is incredible. Plants are
aesthetically subtle, culturally profound, ecologically essen
tial and do much to create human health and wellbeing.
Our projects are never finished; they exist in time. As they
mature others guide them towards a future we have
designed. You can easily spend a lifetime learning to use
these fundamentals well.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Studios)
Victorian Desalination Plant Reserve, and a vast green roof – both of which provided the basis
Wonthaggi, VIC, Australia, 2012 for the transformation of depauperate farmland into a
The design of the Victorian Desalination Plant Reserve rich, self-sustaining mosaic of vegetation and wetlands
was driven by the need to minimise the visual bulk of based on the site’s original coastal ecosystems. Design
the water factory and to accommodate millions of cubic ers: ASPECT Studios, Practical Ecology, ARM Architec
metres of spoil. ASPECT’s topographic response @Arclib
used ture and peckvonhartel
@Arclib
grades of spoil to construct an artificial dunal system
Representation
Matters
How you choose to draw or represent a site will influence
how you design the site and how you think about your
design, so choose wisely. We use representation to think
through design, to explore, to communicate not just with
others but to ourselves. If you think through plan, you may
lose spatiality. If you think through 3D form, you may lose a
cultural narrative. Diagrams may abstract ideas that are
better given form through planting. Drone-style animation
fly-throughs may impress a client but communicate little
of the on-ground experience. Each mode of representation
brings its own limits and biases. Know these. Don’t get
sucked in by your own artifice. Don’t confuse the images
you use to sell a project with the images you use to create
a project. The gap between them can swallow you alive.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Studios)
Bunurong Memorial Park, Bangholme, came crucial. To represent the cemetery as a place
VIC, Australia, 2016 for the living, ASPECT placed a playground at the
While the aspiration for Bunurong Memorial Park was cemetery’s entrance. Further detailed design required
to create a contemporary cemetery, its design was understanding the physical dimensions of cemetery
much influenced by the mapping of burial-plot price “product”, such as the containers used for cremains.
@Arclib
as a function of its view to water. The relationship Designers: ASPECT Studios and BVN Architecture
@Arclib
between topography and value meant mounding be
Landscape Architecture
is a Political
and Cultural Act
Landscape is a cultural construct. What we do and how we
do it constitutes a political act that will affect people and
this planet. The consequences of our actions are some
times subtle, sometimes blunt – but always pervasive. We
are not passive. We are agents of change. Landscape
architecture is enacted in the public domain, and we have
a moral responsibility not just to our clients but to the envir
onment and the community. Our job is often to make a
bad project better – for example, a development replacing
a well-treed neighbourhood or greening a freeway. Often
we must educate and guide our clients, find the local gov
ernment policies that back our arguments, offer a change
in perspective. Often we have to cajole our clients into
becoming better human beings, sometimes we subtly sub-
vert them, occasionally we even have to fight them. Always
remember, the return brief is mightier than the sword.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Studios)
Yagan Square, Perth, Australia, 2018 functional complexities of the brief were embraced by
Yagan Square rethinks the city’s heart. The design pro new forms that encourage reconciliation between Tra
cess committed to collaboration with Traditional Owners ditional Owners and colonialists following two centuries
to allow many stories of place to emerge, both indige of oppression. Designers: Lyons Architecture in collab
nous and post-colonial; to celebrate supressed his oration with ASPECT Studios and iredale pederson hook
@Arclib
tories of the city, its people and landscape. In doing so, architects
@Arclib
normative spatial models were discarded while the
Landscapes
Obscure1
Context is a critical variable in landscape architecture, but
it is often reduced to what is immediately visible. Land
scape architects should look beyond what they see in order
to unveil the forces that drive the evolution of a place,
whether a garden or a territory, at multiple scales. These
include known and forgotten environmental and social
histories that explain the present, as well as intentionally
erased histories of oppression and conflict; of extraction;
and other forms of ecological exploitation, disinvest-
ment and neglect.
The issue, however, is not only about exposing how
landscape works as a repository of both human enlighten
ment and abuse but also about how to keep this con
sciousness in everyday practice. Landscape architects
should know what their renderings hide, which narratives
are left out of the pastoral depictions of their designs.
To aspire to contribute towards a socially and environment
ally just world entails designs, and their representations,
that reveal what is hidden behind the view.
21 Anita Berrizbeitia@Arclib
→ Cambridge, MA,@Arclib
USA
Vintondale Reclamation Park, Vintondale, PA, USA
Julie Bargmann and Stacy Levy, 1996
Above: Plan of the Vintondale, PA coal mine, showing a
fraction of the extensive network of tunnels north of
the town. The texts show the human dimension of
the mines: statistics of individuals in the workforce, a
poem that registers the life of the mine. Galvanised
metal case, glass plate, coal gathered at the site. 1 Mitchell, Don (2008). “New Axioms for Reading
Below: Reclamation Site Plan, 1996. The series of tri the Landscape: Paying Attention to Political Economy
angular pools comprises the passive treatment system and Social Justice”, in James L. Wescoat Jr and
for the acid mine drainage. The system was carved out Douglas M. Johnston (eds.). Political Economies of
of the abandoned coke works on the floodplain @Arclib
of the Landscape Change, Places of Integrative Power.
@Arclib
Blacklick River. Dordrecht: Springer, p. 33.
The Universal in
the Local
All landscapes operate at multiple scales. The sections of
Alexander von Humboldt and Patrick Geddes are key
examples of multiscalar thinking. Humboldt sought to ex-
plain how, even though the Earth’s rocky crust had been
formed by the same set of geological processes through
out, the life forms that covered that crust changed dramatic
ally depending on local conditions. Embracing a plan
etary perspective, he developed sectional drawings that
contained multiple layers of geographical information,
integrating diverse systems of knowledge in one image.
In his Valley Section Patrick Geddes explains the
relationship between universal principles and processes
and local conditions. Utilising, like Humboldt, the idea
of the transect, the section is a conceptual diagram that
describes how natural resources support early forms
of human settlement and the eventual formation of cities.
To address climate change, landscape architects
will need to integrate systems of knowledge, and express
the interrelatedness of things across scales of time,
place, space, region and territory.
USA
Above: Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), Diagram Below: Sir Patrick Geddes (1854–1932), Valley Section,
of a cross-section of the Earth’s crust, 1841, in Berg 1910. Geddes introduced the concept of the region as
haus, Heinrich (1852). Physikalischer Atlas. Gotha: J. the basic analytical framework that explained the mu
Perthes. The cross section shows the underlying ge tually dependent relationship between geographical
ology of the Earth’s surface and how the composition areas – as a fount of resources – and the formation of
of plant and animal species changes along the @Arclib
tran cities.
@Arclib
sect from ocean to mountain top.
Cities: Why,
How and for Whom?
In one sense, all cities are the same: they are “socio-
economic attractors”1 that, much like organisms, require
inputs (energy, water, food, materials, capital, labour etc.);
produce outputs (commodities, waste, transportation,
social relations etc.); need infrastructure to facilitate and
manage both; and evolve through time. Yet no two cities
are the same, and the differences are most clearly seen in
their forms and in the relationship of those forms to the
many functions they serve. Knowing the differences mat
ters because it brings into sharp focus how and why form,
spaces and materials shape the experience of a city
and determine its ability to function sustainably and in
an equitable way.
To understand how differences arise, it is necessary
to know how cities were built and why, what the environ
mental and social histories behind them are, who they
were designed for, who was left out, what motivated
change, how they are funded, and the extent of networks
that sustain them.
USA
Ildefons Cerdà (1815–1876), details for the
expansion plan of Barcelona, Spain, 1859
Above: Cross-section of streets showing mobility, street
tree planting and underground drainage system.
Below: Detail plan of street intersections for the expan
sion plan of Barcelona. Principles that promoted the 1 West, Geoffrey and Bettencourt, Luis (2014).
need for sunlight, natural lighting and ventilation in “What is a City”, The Atlantic, 3 September.
@Arclib
cities formed part of several criteria behind the form https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/380650/
@Arclib
of the plan. what-is-a-city (accessed 15.02.2021).
How to be a
“Complete Designer”
I invoke here the entire legacy of Roberto Burle Marx
rather than a specific work, lecture or his activities as a
plant collector and propagator. Burle Marx was a poly
math: his engagement with the visual and design arts ran
as deep as that with horticulture and ecology, with grass
roots advocacy and high-level politics. During the time
and place in which he worked – Brazil in a period of accel
erated economic growth and environmental degradation
– separating out any of these many strands would have
been inconceivable.
As landscape architects become more focused on
“problem-solving”, they risk losing their capacity to be
come “complete designers”. Literacy, if not proficiency, in
other cultural, visual or spatial practices is necessary in
order to keep their work responsive – and relevant – to the
world around them. Equally important is a knowledge of
how policy intersects with design. Burle Marx knew and
utilised the success and visibility of his work – aesthet
ically, socially, ecologically – in the political arena for the
greater public and environmental good.
USA
Roberto Burle Marx (1909–1994),
Detail No. 5 of plan for Quadricentennial Gardens,
Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil, 1953
Burle Marx was formed in the tradition of Latin Amer
ican Modernism that called for the integration of the
arts, in which design was conceived as a synthetic
whole – comprising, in equal parts, sculpture, painting
and volumetric space. A versatile designer, he practised
– in addition to landscape architecture – painting, print
making, jewellery making and fabric design. Between
1967 and 1974 he served in the government’s Federal 1 Seavitt Nordenson, Catherine (2018). Depositions.
@Arclib
Council of Culture, advocating for the protection of the Roberto Burle Marx and Public Landscapes under
@Arclib
environment.1 Dictatorship. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Patient Observation
Landscape is slow. Learning it is even slower. Yet the pres
ent moment forces us to learn and produce at increas
ingly greater speeds, with all kinds of technologies at our
fingertips (literally) to do so. As a spatial practice that
requires the input of many fields of knowledge, it has ben
efitted from the integration facilitated by digital technol
ogy. However, it places landscape architects in the role of
orchestrators of knowledge, of generalists at risk of los
ing touch with the medium they work with.
I posit that some forms of knowledge in landscape
cannot – must not – be accelerated, and that landscape
architects must engage in patient observation and slow
learning to deepen their knowledge of living systems and
organisms, to heighten their capacity for visceral and
emotional perception, and to develop the analytical skills
required to detect orders and relationships that can
potentially be translated into the design of exceptional
experiences and places.
USA
Mara K. Smaby,
“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Birch”, 2021
Above: Omar Hoftun, Betula utilis subsp. albosinensis
seeds, 2016.
@Arclib
Below: Giovanna Bernetti/EUFORGEN, Illustration of
@Arclib
Betula pendula seed, 2009.
Understand the
Soul of Derek Jarman
He died in 1994.
Of his impending death he knew well.
Walking often on an inhospitable beach, made macabre by a
nuclear power station, he picked
driftwood and small plants gasping for breath.
At his cottage he arranged them and nurtured all that he saw.
The flowers peeped out ever so
tentatively, and showed themselves to the world. They survive.
He did this with passion till the end.
He knew he was dying, but did not falter. And in doing so he found life.
In a world that seems to hurtle towards an unwelcome environmental,
social and cultural outcome,
where an individual seems ineffectual – remember him.
Let us be ordained to tell the story of life and the wondrous ideas
of nature, irrespective of the
outcome.
Or if we will see the results of our efforts. He did not care.
26 Aniket Bhagwat @Arclib

→ Ahmedabad, India
@Arclib
Conscious of one’s mortality, one begins to tend to the coast, by the towering nuclear power station, he ar
neglected ones, the dying ones – the orphans @Arclib
– and ranges flint and rocks, driftwood and found objects. A
@Arclib
give them a new life. In the harshness of the English garden emerges in the desolate, barren landscape.
Life is Not Complete
without Spending
a Winter Day at Nishat
Baugh
Envious, the emperor ordered they not survive,
A caring gardener defied
Turned the water on,
The gardens bloomed.
That is Kashmir.
Twelve terraces, each a celestial sign
One approaches from the lake,
Slowly the stately chinar trees rise and compress space
The plains fall behind, the valley constricts.
That is Kashmir.
And within the green walls of shadow and texture,
The terraces rise,
Each leaving a world behind,
Till at last, the mountains engulf.
That is Kashmir.
A land where, water desiccates land.
Sometimes still, and then it gurgles and splashes,
Held in narrow streams and at other times in large pools.
A moment, held between the mountains and water.
That is Kashmir.
Of still winters, without the showy babble,
Internalising the despair, and yet a stoic majestic calm,
Of grace, kindness humanity and forgiveness,
That denies a scarred soul.
That is Kashmir.

@Arclib
Perched on the edge of the Dal Lake, and framing the Kashmir. As the large chinar trees become manifesta
magnificent Zabarwan Mountains, offering command tions of the mountains, as the water flows through, the
@Arclib
ing views of the Pir Panjal mountain range, the gardens gardens reflect the spirit of Kashmir.
@Arclib
of Nishat Baugh resonate deeply with the valley of
Gardens are the
Last Political Spaces on
the Planet
The eyes don’t leave us.
On the streets, in schools, colleges, malls, theatres and offices.
Even at times in homes.
We are always in places of many contestations;
having to negotiate our place in the world.
Some of us strive to express sexuality; others want equality in race;
yet others rue the world of economic disparity.
Some are just bullied because they don’t fit;
others are oppressed, their rights
trampled.
Bosses, politicians, police, parents, spouses, children,
owners, landlords, warlords, overbearing
friends – the list is endless.
And then we enter a garden. The chains melt and recede. We can be.
We can be whoever we wish – a king, a joker, a bird, a cloud,
a spring, a flower, a raindrop, a
dreamer, a poet, a cookie;
the list is endless.
Gardens are oysters. They don’t judge, and let specks become.

@Arclib
Amidst tall grass, amidst fragrant flowers, under the One is free. One is at peace. The garden is indeed the
@Arclib
shade of the trees or over the soft rolling lawns, one finds last political space on the planet.
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oneself, relieved of expectations, relieved of judgement.
The Schism between
Landscape
Gardeners and
Landscape Architects
is a Smokescreen
Like all mythical feuds the cause of this one is buried deep
in the hearts of men long gone.
Two tribes serve the same gods and yet dare not acknowledge the other.
One uses coded text and diagrams to determine the place of flowers;
the other stands amidst them,
and seats them in careful groups as one does with friends
at a dinner table.
One sits in darkened chambers, imagining the world of people,
and feverishly devises ways
of reconnecting them to many ideas of nature;
the other tramples in the open, observes with a
keen eye and brings that delight to man as simply as can.
One privately scorns all things small, the other revels in them
They both serve the same gods; Earth, Water, Air, All things living,
and their shrine is the
Garden.

@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
The catalogue of tools
Being a Divine
Storyteller Who Speaks
a Universal Language
Finally when it is all over, it’s only the stories that remain.
We hear them when young. Morals are imbibed, lessons learned.
We gather them as we grow; tales of love, friendships, hardships
and how to counter them;
of greatness and of inspiration.
They accompany us as faithful companions;
silent till we wish them to speak.
Like warm clothes on a cold winter day, our lives are layered with them.
In a world numbed by the onslaught of mindless words and images,
honest powerful stories will
be remembered.
And if we want the world to heed us, we will have to learn to tell them.
Of cities and their memories, about the fragility and
delight of nature, of our culture and
of our place in the world and its meanings.
Every site a page, every project, many stories,
every element a chapter, a poem, or even a
soliloquy.

@Arclib
The house sits on a large piece of farmland, with many landscapes installed amidst the fields are sculptural,
orchards. Engaging with the mango trees, the@Arclib
chikoo simple, yet dramatic – making cosmic connections be
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trees, the rows of sandalwood and casuarina trees, the tween land and the celestial.
It’s All about
Great Bone Structure
No, we’re not talking about Timothée Chalamet, Angelina
Jolie or Catherine Deneuve. We’re talking about cultural
landscapes – both designed and vernacular – which have a
purposeful shaping through planning, design, use and
necessity. Understanding their inherent visual and spatial
frameworks/constructs is essential when developing a
site-sensitive and appropriate integration of form giving,
place making and land shaping. A landscape’s “bone
structure” not only connects us with its past but also
serves as the armature and inspiration when managing
change with continuity.
31 Charles A. Birnbaum
→ Washington, DC,
@Arclib
@Arclib
USA
The L’Enfant Plan (1791) and McMillan Plan (1902)
establish the “bone structure” that informs planning
and design decisions when managing change@Arclib
in Wa
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shington, DC’s historic core.
There is no “A” in
Olmsted, and He Didn’t
Live from
1822 to 1957
In fact, there were three. Frederick Law Olmsted Sr
(1822–1903) defined and named the profession, and de-
signed many of America’s most beloved 19th-century
parks and landscapes – including New York’s Central Park,
Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and the US Capitol grounds.
And then there was Frederick Law Olmsted Jr (1870–1957)
and Senior’s nephew (and then stepson) John Charles
Olmsted (1852–1920). Their firm – Olmsted Brothers –
designed park systems for several major cities – including
Boston, Denver and Seattle. Beyond the Olmsted family,
Warren Manning worked for Olmsted Sr; Dan Kiley worked
for Manning; Gregg Bleam, who has just (as of 2020) contri
buted to the design for the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers
at the University of Virginia, worked for Kiley. The story
goes on. Why does this continuum of mentorship matter?
It’s important to know the mentors and muses that helped
to shape these practitioners and others – because if we
don’t know where we’ve come from as a profession, how
can we possibly know where we are going?
→ Washington, DC,
@Arclib
@Arclib
USA
@Arclib
We all know that Frederick Law Olmsted Sr looked
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tired, but he did not live from 1822 to 1957!
Landscape
Architecture is More
than “Parsley
around the Roast”
The great Modernist landscape architect Thomas Church
once quipped of the perceived relationship of landscape
architecture to architecture that it’s “parsley around
the roast”. Church’s joke actually indicates an imbalance
in perception based on a misunderstanding of the pro
fession, which can have serious implications in the execu
tion of projects. Landscape architects have a panoramic
perspective, and they should have the opportunity to
be involved early enough in a project in order to have max
imum leverage in making and managing core planning
and design decisions – yet they are often brought in late
in the process. When should a landscape architect be
engaged in a project? According to long-time landscape
architect and professor William “Bill” Johnson, “early,
early, early”.
→ Washington, DC,
@Arclib
@Arclib
USA
The pioneering campus landscape design for the Weyer scape architecture and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s
haeuser International Headquarters by Sasaki, Walker building architecture are seamlessly interwoven and
and Associates, with Peter Walker as design @Arclib
lead, symbiotic.
@Arclib
is more than mere decoration. The performative land
Making Public
Landscapes Accessible
to All is about More
than just Issues of
Expanding Edge, Porosity
and Connectivity
Freedom of movement is an essential element and aspira
tion of our shared built environment, yet it is not a given
and should not be taken for granted. Historically in the USA,
segregation limited and prevented freedom of movement –
on concerns ranging from passive and active recreation
to the basic issue of where people were allowed to live and
work. Even today, a person of colour can be attacked and
killed simply for jogging in a residential neighbourhood.
The concept of “race and space” and the very notion that
freedom of movement was historically not available to
all must be addressed in design, and not relegated to text
and sign panels. Moreover, landscape architects have a
key role to play in inviting, fostering and advancing creative
ideas and welcoming site-specific solutions for all – and,
in the process, making visible, and instilling value in, those
sometimes forgotten stories and narratives.
→ Washington, DC,
@Arclib
@Arclib
USA
Although many US public parks were promoted as be Chickasaw Park in Louisville, Kentucky the 1923 design
ing open to all during the first half of the 20th century, by Olmsted Brothers afforded freedom of movement
they were rarely designed to the same standards @Arclib
for that was equally available to all.
@Arclib
African Americans as they were for White people. At
You Cannot Design with
Nature without
Designing with Culture
Since the 1960s, landscape architects have been inculcat
ed to recognise and give priority to natural and ecological
systems as part of the design process. If we are to man
age change in a landscape successfully, we must begin
by recognising that our knowledge base for adequately
assessing and quantifying the cultural value of landscape
architecture is still developing. Questions about the cul
tural value of the designed urban landscape have moved
from intellectual arguments in scholarly journals to debates
in city councils, on editorial pages, in studios and class
rooms, in the blogosphere, and elsewhere in the academic
and public realm. We need to stand up, be advocates,
and tell the stories we are crafting – in writing, verbally and
using the full arsenal of artistic media that are available
to us today (isn’t that what Lawrence Halprin and Laurie
Olin did so effectively to get their works built?). But more
needs to be done; we need to be increasingly purpose
ful in advancing more holistic, systems-based approaches
to problem solving and planning.
→ Washington, DC,
@Arclib
@Arclib
USA
Landscape architecture has cultural value. The recent rehabilitated by Coen+Partners in 2019) illustrates what
@Arclib
renewal of Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis, Minnesota successful change with continuity can look like. Top
@Arclib
(originally designed by M. Paul Friedberg in 1975 and image 2008, bottom image 2021.
The Man-Made and the
Natural are Often
Pitted in Opposition 1
As a landscape architect, a reasonable mediator between
these two phenomena, your design should reconcile
with a radical touch. To design is to draw out a plan that
not only complies with the given ambitions but can also
be resilient through time. The plan will most probably
outlive its maker, and most designers are lucky to see their
projects reach “puberty”. Gardens and parks begin their
lifespan at the moment of implementation, taking decades
to grow to resemble the vision that nurtured them. The
only constant for gardens, landscapes and the living enti-
ties that shape and inhabit them is change. Nature takes
over, grows, seeds itself, multiplies; its roots invade new
territories or it dies out and disappears. A radical, clear s trat-
egy will help solidify intent while allowing it to adjust fluidly
to the effects of time. To protect the essence from being
extinguished, work towards a design that can afford to s ur-
render to spontaneity or reasonable adjustments by
the owners.
36 Petra Blaisse (Inside

→ Amsterdam, The
Outside)
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Netherlands
1 See Treib, Marc (2005). Settings and Stray Paths:
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Competition design for the city of Antwerp, Belgium Writings on Landscapes and Gardens. New York:
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© Inside Outside Routledge, p. 29.
A Landscape Does Not
Belong to Itself
Landscape architecture is a service discipline, indebted
to its future users: the client and the environment. It is
shaped and defined by the context that breeds it. There
is not a single element in the urban landscape that can
exist on its own terms, and to attempt authorship over the
landscape is to assume the role of a diplomat. Your vision
will always have to develop wayfinding amidst a cloudy
convolution of contradictory wishes, demands and regula
tions that will, at times, make the whole seem elusive.
It will take patience and integrity to realise that these very
interrelationships are as rhizomatic and entangled as the
building blocks are with the landscape itself (and as root
systems and fungi with one another). In landscape ar
chitecture, meaning is not inherent in singularity but fixed
in the fluctuating relationship to external factors. It takes
strategic talent, humour and a level of stubbornness to
keep translating the complex pile of requested issues and
impossibilities back into the basic and well-substantiated
concept that you believe in with conviction.

→ Amsterdam, The
Outside)
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Netherlands
Biblioteca degli Alberi in Milan, Italy @Arclib
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© Andrea Cherchii
We Like to Work upon
and across
the Threshold between
Inside and Outside
Creating an exterior that is contoured by the intimacy of
an interior is something of a traditional approach when it
comes to creating gardens in a classical sense. There is
something inherently hybrid about the interior world of an
outside garden. But landscapes in an urban context do
not necessarily have a close relationship to an interior, as
they are impossible to isolate from the bigger picture.
Nevertheless, as key players in urban developments, they
need to pull together a city’s architecture, intricate traffic
and pedestrian networks, and underground infrastruc
ture in an unconstrained manner. Thus, even large-scale
urban landscapes can have an all-encompassing effect,
tying the city together as one by having separate entities
flow into each other or outward into the landscape out
side the urban boundaries. The landscape is an active con-
nector, and a welcome placeholder for developments
to come.

→ Amsterdam, The
Outside)
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@Arclib
Netherlands
Seattle Central Library, Seattle, WA, USA @Arclib
@Arclib
© Iwan Baan
Life as We Know it
Begins and Ends in the
Underground
It is home to the tiniest “springs and gears” of our natural
world: the microscopic inhabitants of soil that impact
on macroscopic ecologies. As movers and shakers of the
natural world, landscape architects often seem reluctant to
open up a blind eye towards the underworld, home to
the age-old geological processes that are outside the pur-
view of us mere mortals. But both its rapidly changing
and geological natures form the foundation of our every
day life above ground. Abandon your creator complex and
revel in all of the inner workings of a landscape that are
already there, although initially invisible to the naked eye.
Underground structures exacerbate the situation of the
site in question: water levels can be pushed upwards, c log
the natural flow and drainage, or limit air circulation.
Collaborate with the slow and strategic processes of the
mushroom; get to know the secret language between
fungi and staggering root systems and the nesting, tunnel-
digging animal life that opens up the base on which you
work to necessary air and water retention . . .

→ Amsterdam, The
Outside)
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Netherlands
Underground symbiosis symbiosis. The fungus ectomycorrhiza helps the roots
Your underground plot is essential in creating a new of the pine to absorb nutrients. The fungi are micro
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equilibrium between the built and the natural – between scopic – the width of this magnified image is, in reality,
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humans and nature. Pictured here is an underground 3.5 millimetres. © Wim van Egmond
Maintenance is a
Man-Made Landscape’s
Best Friend
But unfortunately, its importance is usually overlooked by
clients, developers and architects. As landscape architects
and designers, we need to trigger an attention to main
tenance from the get-go. The future and quality of a place
depends on it! Rather than short-term thinking in terms
of new beginnings, a landscape requires long-term care.
The level of ambition (not only in the sense of logistics
and efficiency but also in understanding the value of life
and beauty for wellbeing) and budget (in relation to its
effect on surrounding property) go hand in hand. A land
scape needs a professional gardener, whose mind un
derstands and can keep up with the atmosphere of the
changing seasons; who knows all about ground, root and
plant life; and who takes pride in bringing a place to life
and helping it thrive – while keeping an eye on its users.

→ Amsterdam, The
Outside)
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Netherlands
Landscape collage, conceptualisation
for the garden of the Stedelijk Museum in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands @Arclib
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© Petra Blaisse
Nothing is Flat
When I first met Kathryn and Neil,1 Kathryn explained to
me that the difference between landscape and architec
ture is that in the former discipline “nothing is flat”. Having
trained and practised as an architect I find the fact that
nothing is flat or orthogonal in nature to be an obvious but
profound thought. Our relationship with and perception of
space changes as we move through a landscape. The body
reads subtle changes in landform through movement. The
eye looks for a horizon, the Earth, the sky. Topography
defines place. Sectional drawings can be incredibly useful
in exploring the spatial characteristics of a landscape. In
today’s digital world of 3D renders and virtual reality the
section is often overlooked. The relationship between our
eye height and the surrounding landscape can quickly
be evaluated in a section. What is the sense of enclosure
when standing? How does it change when sitting? How
does space open up and reveal itself as one moves
through it?
41 Mary Bowman (Gustafson

@Arclib
→ London, United@Arclib
Kingdom
Porter + Bowman)
Parque Central, Valencia, Spain,
phase 1, 2011– ongoing
Our Central Park project in Valencia, Spain takes a rela
tively flat site, formerly occupied by railway lands, and
remodels its terrain to create a three-dimensional ex
perience that references the hills, rivers, water chan
nels and sea that surround the city. Through the cre
ation of “bowls” or landforms – and the use of retaining 1 Gustafson Porter + Bowman was established
walls, steps and terraces – the Central Park transforms in 1997 when landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson
an open, flat landscape into a series of distinct@Arclib
garden
@Arclibopened a London office with architect Neil Porter.
spaces. Model by GP+B Mary Bowman joined the practice in 2002.
Not All Ground
is the Same
You need to understand your context and your site – there
is a huge impact from both the unseen and the unfore
seen (soil conditions, pollution, services, archaeology etc.).
The secret is to integrate the landscape effortlessly and
seamlessly with the urban fabric that surrounds the site.
One should never discuss, change or design a landscape
without visiting it first – climate, topography, flora and
fauna, as well as human social interactions and cultural
influences, create the dialogue that helps develop a rel
evant and meaningful response. Understand the relation
ship between human habitation and the natural world: how
do we allow for cultural interaction while protecting the
natural environment and allowing for biodiversity? Every
site is unique. Cultural, historical and environmental
conditions make each project special and are the start
ing point for your conceptual approach to design. Learn
from your colleagues in other disciplines – and don’t be
afraid to ask questions.

@Arclib
Kingdom
Porter + Bowman)
Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek landforms a landscape with subtle changes in eleva
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1996–2006 tion merged seamlessly with the adjacent canal and
At the Cultuurpark Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, railway. A series of natural water features provided not
the ground beneath the former gasworks was heavily only a large lake for bathing but also streams and reed
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contaminated. We were required to keep all contamin
@Arclibbeds, which helped to clean the water.
ated ground on site, so by capping it and by creating
Architects
Don’t Know Everything
As a qualified architect and landscape architect I find it
interesting to note a subtle but ever-present assumption
that an architect should be the “lead designer” or the
“design team lead”. At Gustafson Porter + Bowman (GP+B)
we have been fortunate enough to lead several large multi
disciplinary teams including architects, engineers and
specialists. In this role we can offer a different perspective
on space and scale, and apply our knowledge to tie a
scheme together and position it in its natural environment.
We need to increase understanding of what landscape
architects do. We need to share knowledge and work with
our clients and other consultants in order to promote
the importance of taking care of our public realm. As land
scape architects we are in a unique position to address
the challenges of climate change. Architects tend to con-
centrate on individual buildings; we need to have a much
wider vision of the impact of development on the natural
world.

@Arclib
Kingdom
Porter + Bowman)
Eiffel Tower site, Paris, France, 2019–ongoing 54-hectare park will increase the amount of green
For the Eiffel Tower project in Paris, GP+B are leading space by 35% over the existing provision; restrict car
a team of over 20 consultants to create one large park traffic; reduce impermeable surfaces; and increase the
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that spans both sides of the Seine. The new buildings biodiversity of the existing, picturesque listed gardens.
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being created are enveloped in the landscape. The
Embrace
the Unknown
We need to be constantly innovative. Look for a challenge
in all projects, however small or however ambitious. We
can only push the boundaries of our discipline if we con-
stantly seek new ways of approaching the problems and
challenges we face. The construction industries are often
several steps behind the advances in conceptual thinking
and theoretical questioning within our academic institu
tions. Often though, they hold advances in technical know
ledge that can be reinterpreted by the educational and
design disciplines. The dialogue between education, prac
tice and industry should be much more fluid than it tends
to be. Our digital world makes these interconnections
much more possible.

@Arclib
Kingdom
Porter + Bowman)
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain,
Hyde Park, London, UK, 2002–2004
This memorial is one of our most memorable projects.
In 2002 digital design was in its infancy. Technology
transfer relocates skills from one industry or discipline
to meet another, completely different set of challenges.
The sinuous stone shapes were digitally designed us
ing techniques borrowed from the car-manufacturing
industry, working with designers more used to model
ling vehicle bodies and aircraft parts. The combined 1 Computer numerical control milling – a machining
skills of collaborating partners allowed the memorial process that employs computerised controls and
to be digitally designed and cut by CNC 1 machines, rotating, multipoint cutting tools to progressively
something that had not previously been done@Arclibat this remove material from a workpiece, producing custom-
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scale in stone. designed components.
Know
your Plants
It is essential to know your plants and understand their role
in meeting the environmental and biodiversity challenges
we face. Horticultural and arboricultural knowledge is ex-
pertise in itself. By collaborating with local experts we
gain knowledge of different plant zones. Every epoch has
its own approach to planting design, and fashions in plant
ing change with the times. In the 19th century the great
plant explorers brought back specimens from all over the
world. Today the emphasis is on native planting and our
response to climate change. How do we marry a cultural
understanding of plants and their origins with a desire
to adapt to the native context, which is constantly adjust
ing with climate change?

@Arclib
Kingdom
Porter + Bowman)
Mulberry Square, Chelsea Barracks, the three zones associated with the kitchen gardens.
London, UK, 2019 Organised for seasonal interest, the flowering beds in
The productive garden in Mulberry Square was con the southern section create bursts of colour from spring
ceived as a canvas of texture and colour, changing to summer. The herb garden is interplanted with edible
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through the seasons. The structure of evergreen laven flowers, while the productive crops extend the charac
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der and rosemary hedges continues through each of ter through winter with retained seed heads and foliage.
Walk
There is nothing immediate or reproducible about land
scape. It must be walked, again and again, through differ
ent times, seasons, events. While landscapes lend them
selves to photography, painting, poetry, maps and other
forms of representation, the only way to truly experience
and embrace them is by means of walking. Through move
ment, one feels gravity, ups and downs, twists and turns,
closeness and distance, and the fullness of the landscape
medium – from the atmospherics of weather and sky
to the topography of contour and place, to the tactility of
ground and earth. It is all too easy to think of landscape
as image, but it is more fundamentally a medium of jour
neying, discovery and interaction – a ground of infinite
possibility. Aimless wandering, exploring and “taking the
path less travelled” can often lead to the most satisfying
experiences, even across the most familiar terrain.
Get out – and walk!
46 James Corner (Field Operations)

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→ New York, NY, USA
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Walking along New York’s High Line,
New York City, NY, USA
Landscapes and cities can only ever be properly under
stood through walking, experiencing unfolding scenes
and situations – each bound into the specificity@Arclib
of@Arclib
time,
place and body.
See
While sight might be obvious, seeing is not. To know land
scape is to open your eyes to deeper forms of under
standing and appreciation. Pay attention to the small things,
and open all your senses – looking up, looking down and
all around. Behind every surface impression is a much
deeper insight; look not only for what is revealed but also
for what remains hidden. Feel it, think it, imagine it, see it.
See with curiosity, instinct and careful attention, for land
scapes contain not only aesthetic and ecological content
but also cultural clues: histories, values, ideas. Yes, you
see, landscapes are every bit as political and ideological as
they are natural, ecological and aesthetic. Seeing is not
just about an image impression but more about a deeper
understanding of all of the content, meaning and dynam
ics behind appearances. So, open your eyes – look to see!

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Iceberg
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Look below and around the surface of things; see@Arclib
hidden depths, processes, values, meanings, beauty.
Plot
Landscape architects are plot-makers. They make plans,
they stake out and delineate territory, and they unfold the
passages of time. Digging, surveying, mapping, planning,
founding, shaping, drawing – these are all fundamental ac-
tivities related to the “emplotment” of land. But plotting
speaks more precisely to the alchemy of intent, to the pro-
duction of content and to the strategic unfolding of events.
Certain actions or ingredients placed into play today will
most likely precipitate certain effects tomorrow. And be-
cause landscapes are so dynamic, bound into ecological
time and process, one inevitably catalyses growth and
change through how they are shaped, seeded, staged and
sustained. Plots have life; plots shape life; and plots insti
gate life.

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US Survey Grid and Rolling Drifts of Glacial Soil,
collage, James Corner, 1996
Geometrical lines plot out patterns of human occupa
tion, but the vagaries of environmental and local@Arclib
circum
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stance inevitably govern the final form.
Think
Landscape is so closely bound to the earth and to every
day life that it is fundamentally understood as an im
mediate and practical medium – as a ground to be worked
and managed through the skills of the farmer, the garden
er, the forester, the surveyor, the ecologist and the like. It
is less often understood as a medium for thought, for ideas,
for intellectual and cultural innovation. And yet the above
three areas all require thinking – critical thinking. Thinking
about landscape is key to its own advancement as a cul
tural milieu. It is also key for any landscape architect trying
to communicate the value of landscape to those who
don’t really understand or care. Thinking allows for more
deeply understanding the history of the field, current
political and social situations, and the potential for newly
relevant future forms of landscape – especially in towns
and cities. Thinking broadens what landscape is and what
it might still yet become.

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The Dymaxion World Map,
Richard Buckminster Fuller, 1944
The invention of dymaxion projection allowed geogra
phy and resources to be unfolded in alternative formats,
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each prompting thought and conjecture about strategy,
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relationship and possibility.
Act
Landscapes require a committed, confident, muscular
approach toward their shaping. One needs to act boldly,
with clarity of intent and a “full-bore” knowledge of the
capacity of the medium. A pro-active stance that anticip
ates needs and potentials is much preferred to a simply
reactive approach. Landscape architects should lead,
not follow; inaugurate, not patch over. Yet, on the other hand,
landscapes are bound so deeply into time, duration, pro
cess and change that they are impossible to limit or control.
One must instead chart a course and stake out ground
while also flexing, adapting and letting certain things go.
Landscape is not a handbag or a shoe; it doesn’t have the
fixity of architecture or the perfection of sculpture; and
while it may approximate the time-based choreography of
music or film, it is much more promiscuous, wild and
eclectic – especially over time. And so, yes: act, and act
boldly and with confidence, but also have a healthy stock
of humility, restraint and creative adaptability. Act in
order to set things in motion, and then be prepared to
adapt and change.

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Flatbed, James Corner, 1996 maps, plans, programmes and ideas for development.
Devised for an urban planning project in Älvsjö, Stock Through overlay, juxtaposition, scaling and combination,
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holm, the Flatbed presented a tool for collective think
ing, one thinks through the issues to establish a basis for
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allowing for various stakeholders to review alternative action.
Intermediate
Natures
We landscape architects believe that the transformation of
the landscape is a precedent or a phase in the creation
of neighbourhoods. Enhancing a site does not mean prefig-
uring the road network or city blocks. I like this idea of
intermediate nature, of a transformed landscape whose
primitive characteristics of spatial orientation, incline
and moisture are the preconditions with which town plan
ners and architects will transform the city. I am fascinated
by the people who know their land perfectly, who take
obvious delight in mastering not only the precise physical
reality but also the history and the processes at work. To
see, to make legible – this is a necessary precondition but
one that cannot take the place of a kind of “interior neces
sity”. The showcasing of traces is not enough. To content
oneself with that would be like doing restoration work. But
to commandeer these traces, to invert or distort them –
therein lies the innovation.
51 Michel Desvigne @Arclib

→ Paris, France @Arclib
Biesbosch Stad, The Netherlands of climate change that we imagine the delta’s trans
The Biesbosch Delta is today an agricultural polder formation by enhancing the geomorphologic process.
characterised by a fascinating phenomenon of inversion. We propose the construction of a fabric of artificial
The cultivated areas of land have sunk due to drainage, platforms, on which it will be possible to circulate and
while the sand bed of the old creeks has remained @Arclib
at live. Landscape architects: Michel Desvigne Paysagiste,
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the same level. It is in anticipation of the consequences 2005
Transforming
Landscapes and
Shapes of Time
Urban planning and development necessitate long peri
ods of time: periods lasting even longer than the several
years necessary for plantings to take root and form. It
is crucial to learn how to work and compose with these
lengths of time. They can easily become an obstacle –
especially if one is intent on executing large urban or land
scape compositions that, because of the time involved,
either fail to come to fruition or, as a result, are inevitably
distorted. But time in this sense of duration can also be
come an instrument, if clever and artful strategies are con-
ceived and put into place. It requires patience and resis
tance. This approach advocates for processes. It accepts
an economy of means to give sites in transformation an
immediate legibility, taking into account present and future
developments. It stands firm, makes little design noise
and avoids the illusion of premature completion.

Parc aux Angéliques, Bordeaux, France The very material of the landscape is thus made up of
This artificial and progressive landscape adapts to the an accumulation of wooded areas and clearings that,
constant transformation of this 75-hectare former indus as they grow, accommodate new urban uses. The
trial site. The project proceeds through a pragmatic process is successional, and will play itself out over
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approach of substitution: as opportunities arise, each decades. Landscape architects: Michel Desvigne Pay
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new area acquired by the city is immediately planted. sagiste, 2007–ongoing
“Elementary” Writing
I see landscapes as “elementary” compositions. They are
made of simple elements – trees, grass, water and paving –
whose careful assembly can yield remarkably complex and
varied worlds. I like the way our materials defy “outcomes”,
as if a young landscape could not resemble any model
image. Saplings are reminiscent of nothing and yet cover
the ground with their dead leaves, immediately transform
ing the most artificial materials into dusty undergrowth.
Paradoxically, simplicity requires innovation and rigour, in
the sense of an architecture that is, at the least, visible.
This does not entail any theoretical minimalism, but rather
the option of rusticity. I like poplar groves, orchards, artifi
cially planted forests. I like to perceive those spaces whose
conventional order is forgotten so that they are only
variations on density. Neither full nor empty, these squared
spaces are sieves of a sort – where, paradoxically, life
moves in.

Otemachi, Tokyo, Japan ing materials constitutes a key element within the net
Located close to the imperial palace in Tokyo, the new work of pocket gardens interspersed throughout the
Otemachi Tower and metro station are nestled in a neighbourhood. Landscape architects: Michel Desvigne
small-scale forest. Pre-grown in the mountains,@Arclib
this Paysagiste, 2009–2013
@Arclib
forest was transferred tree by tree. This enclave of liv
Interlocking Scales
Regarding transformation of territories, the most difficult
and most important task is to truly see sites, to understand
their size and nature, in order to work properly at their
various scales. In this matter, we landscape architects are
exposed to the same “mistakes” as urban planners when
confronted with the difficulty of seeing, understanding,
measuring and arbitrating. Comparison with certain scien
tific works concerning equally complex phenomena shows
our fragility and the risk of being satisfied with symbolic,
ideological or even commercial approaches to real environ
mental problems. The physical coherences sought are
specific to each scale of intervention, and articulations are
necessary for their continuity. The development of a terri
tory cannot expand or contract homothetically. Creating a
public space or an urban project at the scale of a neigh
bourhood differs from intervention on an agglomeration or,
moreover, on a large territorial landscape.

Paris-Saclay, France scape intervention had to be defined: the entire terri
The Paris-Saclay urban development plan extends and tory (7,700 hectares over a distance of 30 kilometres),
strengthens a higher education and research site, the urban campus (650 hectares over a distance of
transforming it into a hub of the future Grand Paris. In 8 kilometres) and the neighbourhoods (200–300 hec
order to establish physical cohesiveness without ne tares over a distance of 2.5 kilometres). Landscape
@Arclib
glecting the different, intermediate levels on which we architects: Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, 2009–ongoing
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were working simultaneously, three scales of land
Frederick Law Olmsted’s
Legacy: Natural
Infrastructure and City
Renewal
One of the great singularities of the park systems designed
by Olmsted is the way they superimpose themselves on
the existing geography, transforming it. From the very be-
ginning of its elaboration, this enhanced geography ap
peared as a mode of urban development. Contemporary
situations differ from those of the 19th century. Industrial
zones have developed, and many have mutated. Cities
have continued to spread out, but without the public s paces
necessary at the scale of these evolutions.
Transplanting the idea of the American park system
of the 19th century could help to answer contemporary
questions. Just as these park systems served at times to
organise the growth of cities, their typology transplanted
into the present could indeed help constitute a structure
for contemporary urban sprawl. The vestiges of geography,
infrastructure networks and industrial sites are the poten
tial locations for just such an urban renewal.

Euralens, France What was once considered abandoned, has become
The project transforms the vestiges of a vast industrial the face and place of recovery. In giving the status of
transport system belonging to an old mining district. landscape to the old routes of the mine, we have also
Ten kilometres of long wooded bands have been plant brought about a change in the status of these cities,
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ed as the starting point of a structuring landscape for and of neighbourhoods in the making. Landscape
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this area, which has been in crisis for two generations. architects: Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, 2010–ongoing
Interplay &
Contradiction
Wind, water, heat and cold. In nature, landscape is shaped
by the interaction of the elements. When we as designers
create landscapes as cultural spaces, it is a conscious act
that reflects the interplay of contradictory figurative motifs.
Landscape architecture is the culture of sublimated
contradictions.
An idea for a landscape emerges in the best cases out
of a classical pattern: the interplay of idea and counter-
idea, of competing demands, of thesis and antithesis. Built
landscape becomes a product of dialectical argumenta
tion. The ongoing confrontation between motif and counter-
motif in a design helps overcome preconceived reflexes,
often revealing an appropriate response to a specific
location.
Good parks are always scenographic constellations
in which seemingly contradictory elements produce a
stimulating tension. As a stage for urban life, parks must
be vibrant but also endlessly hard-wearing and robust
for sustained use. At the same time, we expect them to
be places of natural tranquility – a habitat, perhaps, for
urban lizards.
56 AW Faust (SINAI)@Arclib
→ Berlin, Germany@Arclib
The Concrete Jungle in Frankfurt’s Hafenpark embraces accommodate all the numerous demands voiced in
contradiction. Its centrally positioned skate park is a user survey. As such, extremely contradictory ele
not solely for the skater scene but is also a vibrant and ments adjoin one another: the park is used intensively
almost poetic place for everyone. for sports but also features diverse planting that, along
The City of Frankfurt describes Hafenpark as@Arclib
a@Arclib
park with pockets of meadows, promotes biodiversity.
of the 21st century. At four hectares, it is too small to
Mood &
Attunement
The “secret” quality of any landscape lies beyond the realm
of reason. Alongside what speaks to us on a conscious
level, there is always another, silent level of attunement. We
describe a landscape’s emotional effect as its atmosphere,
and when designing we talk about conveying a mood.
We mention this only rarely, however. In the world of
engineers, our market expects us to provide a functional,
technical service. Instead, we smuggle mood into every pro
ject like a trojan horse.
Yet the emotional quality of our surroundings is ele
mentary to urban wellbeing. We need places we can
escape to, counterworlds to the barren rationalism of our
functional surroundings. As an archetype of designed
space, the garden has no explicit purpose – except to move
us emotionally.
We have no language with which to express this
adequately, only poetry and art. Nevertheless, we continue
– consciously or not, explicitly or not – to elaborate and
refine the moods of spaces; to assert the place of feelings
in a world reigned over by the quantifiable.
As hard as it is to predict emotions, it is often found sediment and were barely visible. Today, the woodland
or evolved things that move us most. The organic, un ponds are akin to a window in the park – a clearing as
planned and crooked create moments of atmospheric distinctive as it is self-evident. Its atmospheric quality,
frisson in our man-made surroundings. however, owes much to the tall, mature pine trees re
When we began working in Bad Lippspringe, @Arclib
the flected in the water’s surface.
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ponds of the Meersmannteiche were clogged with
Character &
Narration
Places are becoming more interchangeable. As wares,
images and styles circulate more widely, many places are
losing what gives them character. The quality of design
is rising but distinctiveness and emotional attachment are
being eroded. Our capacity to identify collectively with
these places is waning.
But each place could tell its own unique story –
perhaps from its past, maybe a true story, a legend or even
wild speculation. Any story can serve as a motif for
creating a distinctive sense of place.
The core of such a motif could be the upholding of a
local tradition, or a recurring strategic commitment to the
regional context. Such concerns suit our slow discipline
well. But we can also take this to a new, poetic level, inscrib
ing a free narrative connected with the place into the
design to give it a unique, unmistakable quality. In the pro-
cess, we become storytellers – ideally with a narrative
that connects the past with the future.
Aschersleben is the oldest town in Saxony-Anhalt, and used by the local primary school – into the public
has focused on revitalising its largely depopulated cen space. The wooden sculpture of an oversized orange
tre. Its historical parks and gardens were renovated for by Gisbert Baarmann forms a climbing frame inter
the State Horticulture Show, hosted by the town. A new nally and externally, and simultaneously a mnemonic
local park was formed from the remnants of former@Arclib
villa connecting the town’s past and future.
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gardens, incorporating the ruins of an o rangery – now
Remembrance
& Restraint
There are places where history overshadows everything –
for example, the sites of Nazi atrocities. Today they are
memorials, reminding us in the here and now of crimes past
that many would rather not be reminded of. And they
are also evidence, bearing witness to those events. Their
existence makes it difficult to deny what happened.
Over time many of these places became overgrown
and unrecognisable. Woodland grew in Bergen-Belsen and
local industry occupied part of Flossenbürg. Since then
the lost structures have been made visible once again. They
help visitors imagine the past by making it visible in the
space of today. Their architectural language is calm, to
allow the few remaining authentic testimonies of the past
to speak.
In such difficult places, the scope of landscape design
is very limited and must be extremely restrained. But it
should also create a certain aura that is respectful of the
victims and enables their commemoration.
The shocking footage of British troops liberating sprang up on the rest of the site. The redesign of the
Bergen-Belsen made the public aware of the horrific site, completed in 2011, concentrated primarily on
crimes committed at the camp. Some 50,000 people making the main structures of the camp visible. Cor
died there, particularly in the final months of the ridors and borderlines were cleared in the woodland
war. In the 1960s a memorial site was created@Arclib
as idyl and marked with a wayfinding system.
@Arclib
lic heathland on the camp grounds, while woodland Photographer: Klemens Ortmeyer
Economy &
Combination
Landscapes learn. They change constantly, always adapt
ing. At present we are witnessing a massive paradigm shift
in the urban landscape with climate change, the extinc
tion of species, and boundless land consumption brought
on by modern civilisation.
Economy must be our guide. To be sustainable we
must contain urban landscapes in order to limit metropol
itan expansion. At the same time open spaces must serve
ever-more purposes: as fresh-air resources, water reser
voirs, noise barriers, havens for endangered species and
also as habitats for human use.
The additive repetition of land parcels and functions
is no longer tenable. Instead, smart hybrids are emerging
that stack functions on top of one another in novel ways.
And we will learn to read the city differently, as
the totality of its landscapes and a continuum of its open
spaces. Leftover spaces and monofunctional fragments
will be no more. Instead, economics will dictate that
we maximise the use of every individual square metre.
Heilbronn’s Neckarbogen formed the backdrop to 2019’s and spaces along the River Neckar and traffic routes.
Federal Horticultural Show. For the first time this incor The Hafenberg is a noise barrier on a landfill site, a hab
porated a new residential quarter, placing renewed fo itat for lizards, and a lookout plateau with skywalk and
cus on the city. Instead of proposing a self-contained picnic areas; the Felsenufer capitalises on its verticality
park, the project addresses the urban landscape @Arclib
as a with a climbing wall and vertical playground.
@Arclib
system and primarily comprises ribbon-like structures
Superman is Boring
The model of a singular heroic lead designer (think: Super
man) no longer fits in an increasingly connected and
multicultural world. Beyond creating a limited definition of
design excellence, the Superman model has enabled some
of the least desirable aspects of our profession – namely,
practices that lack diversity, are not generous with at
tribution, and fail to offer work–life balance. Twenty-first-
century practice requires new ways of thinking about
design process, including notions of coalition building and
co-creation. Design process at my practice gives voice
and agency to more design contributors, which we know
will result in more resonant public spaces that reflect
more lived experiences. Great projects are the result of
many hands. Embracing and celebrating this will hope
fully unleash healthier behaviours – like more creative
idea sharing, productive collaboration and good will. Don’t
these feel essential to the wicked challenges ahead?
61 Gina Ford @Arclib

USA
At Moore Square in Raleigh, North Carolina, I had the voices – both fits the history and character of its urban
pleasure of serving as the lead designer for the Sasaki context and introduces new and vital uses to a chang
team, helping to orchestrate an incredible diverse and ing downtown district. An urban plaza, shown here,
multidisciplinary team of experts and deep commun brings together shade, interactive water, movable seat
ity engagement. The implemented renovation@Arclib of the ing, food outlets, play and restrooms to create a true
@Arclib
Square – thanks, in large part, to the inclusion of many urban living room.
Focus on the Why
When I told people I was starting my own practice focused
on equity and community engagement, a frequent re
sponse was something like “You’re not doing design any
more?” Design excellence is not mutually exclusive with
community engagement. The “what” of design is meaning
ful, for sure, but the “why” is so much more purposeful
for me – particularly for public work, which is so broadly
owned. I believe the community is an expert on what is
important, what is valuable and what is needed in any given
project. Importantly, engagement is fuel for inspired de
sign, not a replacement for it. As a designer, the hard work
lies in translating that input – as well as the other layers of
the site – into a physical vision. Learn from the site’s future
users. Be inspired by their needs.

USA
To me, the best design enables engagement and con that enable both physical connectivity along the river
nection – places for people to connect with the beauty and various gathering places. These spaces serve the
of a place, with the power of its natural systems and needs of residents and visitors alike, allowing an up
@Arclib
with each other. At the Chicago Riverwalk, I served as close and personal connection to the river that didn't
@Arclib
the design principal for Sasaki and helped craft spaces exist before.
Be Unafraid to
Draw Ugly
Working as an apprentice to waterfront design master Stu
Dawson, I learned that there are a million ways to solve
one problem. Stu used to ask me to fill a wall with sketch
es – not as a form of hazing but as training to learn this
fact. Too often with clients, team members and stu
dents – and especially in the age of computer-based
drawing – quick iteration is lost in favour of a single design
solution. One of my superpowers as a design leader, I
know, is my ability to put ego and perfectionism aside and
willingly draw through ideas with a team. Sometimes the
best ideas are born out of a series of ugly first passes.
Flexibility is important not just to design process but also
to project management and construction. Nothing ever
goes just the way we plan, so knowing how to adapt
quickly and weigh alternative responses is key.

USA
I love designing wildly different ideas for a site – giving sketching on trace allows for quick iteration, commun
the client, the community and the design team a divers ication and collaboration. The sketches also allow
ity of ways of seeing hidden potential. Often rough, for interpretation, helping me resist the urge to fix or
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fast and gestural, as I did here for layers of design op make singular any decisions too early in a process.
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tions during the Sarasota Bayfront Master Plan, hand
Take the Time
to Feel
Culture and craft are different everywhere. I work hard to
be observant of both – taking in the broader landscape,
cultural offerings, food and sites of significance as much
as possible when I work in a new place. While we can
always rely on local craftspeople and practices to teach
us – and we should! – the feel for a place is just as im
portant. I take photographs – lots of photographs – of the
wildly beautiful and the profoundly mundane. What I
find again and again is that the things that are hardest
to photograph – the things that are most fleeting and
ephemeral – are often the most useful and essential as
pects of a site for design purposes. The climate. The smells.
The light. The texture and feel of places. When I can tap
into those memories while drawing, I think beautiful things
happen. Take the time to feel your site and grab hold
of what you learn.

USA
Agency’s installation – dubbed “XX”, as part of the Miller Grown in movable planters, the flower beds framed
Prize at Exhibit Columbus in Columbus, Indiana – took changing spaces for gatherings and community hap
its inspiration from the elements and stories that had penings focused on surfacing and celebrating the
been erased from the given site. A garden of@Arclib
purple
@Arclib stories of both notable and unsung women in the
flowers recalled plant materials removed from our site. community.
Make Friends at
All Scales
Our profession has the great benefit of operating at mul
tiple scales – from systems thinking and regional planning
to detailed design and construction. Landscape architects
can “play” with planners and urban strategists as well as
architects and engineers. The best work of my career has
come from a deep collaborative partnership with another
discipline – where multiple ways of seeing a problem bring
us to a unique solution. As I launched my own practice,
partnering with an urban planner (my business partner Brie
Hensold) ensured that the design dialogue would always
be rich with ideas and that the broader context would
always be present in our work. In partnering with engineers,
I continue to learn more efficient and methodical ways
of problem solving. I believe it is a gift – not a curse – that
our thinking is both as big as a watershed and as small
as a joint detail.

USA
My work addresses the interaction of natural and or the detailed scale (the terraced levee “seatwalls” at
cultural systems – weaving together notions of resili Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, Council Bluffs, lower
ence, equity and social cohesion at various scales. left); Chicago Riverwalk (lower, right) All of this work
This can happen at the regional scale (the White River relies on deep engagement with systems thinkers
@Arclib
Vision Plan in Central Indiana, upper left); the site like urban planners and focused building experts like
@Arclib
scale (Boulevard Crossing Park in Atlanta, upper right); engineers.
Unmake,
Cultivate the Space!
Cultivating space, making it more spacious,1 should be
considered a seminal act in designing any landscape pro
ject. Through unmaking and subtracting we can explore
the potential of a new (old) beginning. Unmaking allows us
to reclaim ecological values; to unveil hidden layers;
and, eventually, to confront the radicality of absence, while
speculating about possible futures.
Unmaking is not an a priori totalitarian act of com
pletely emptying a site. The deconstruction involved forms
part of the design process – as a dialogue between the
ethos of the landscape, its ecological processes and its
future scenarios. Therefore, “making by unmaking” is not a
masterplan; it is an inquiry and a process. This process
challenges what the landscape is, while exploring its
materiality and dynamics.
66 Martí Franch (Estudi Martí Franch – EMF)

@Arclib
→ Girona, Catalonia,
@Arclib
Spain
Club Med restoration project in Cap de Creus
Natural Park, Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain, 2005–2010
The design brief stipulated the deconstruction of 430
buildings and the ecological restoration of 90 hectares
of coastline. We designed a process of unmaking in
order to reclaim, recycle and rehabilitate the site. Time
was “reversed” to unveil the hidden layers of the land 1 Perejaume, contemporary artist: “. . . conrear l’espai:
scape’s previous inhabitation and to activate its ecologi en l’espai de l’espai, podríem dir-ne: en l’espai que
cal dynamics. During deconstruction work, the rock es fa espaiós. Com si hi hagués una llavor de l’extensió”
outcrops seemed to grow taller and the landscape [Cultivating space, in a space that is made spacious,
expanded as all the attention was channelled towards as if it contained a seed of extension]. Translation
the site’s basic ingredients: rock, sea and sky. @Arclib
Land from Catalan by Martí Franch, from Perejaume (2015).
@Arclib
scape architects: EMF LA and Ardevols Associates Paraules locals. Sant Celoni: Tushita Edicions, p. 49.
Design by
Management
Tailor an open mode of practice that plays with ecological
succession.
Landscapes – fields, meadows, forests and so on –
are a result of the tension between the regimes of care –
ploughing, sowing, grazing, mowing, cutting – and the
regimes of neglect and ecological succession. The evo
lution of the vast majority of landscapes can be regulated
through a very limited number of low-tech, low-cost inter
ventions. Therefore, the frequency of management activi
ties dictates a landscape’s stage in the sequence of eco
logical succession.
Since Gilles Clément’s seminal work about differenti
ated management with his “Garden in Motion” concept,
this practice has developed into a powerful tool to incorpor
ate spatial, experiential and ecological intelligence into
landscape management. Through the choreography of its
regimes of care, design by differentiated management
facilitates ecological diversification; citizen appropriation;
and, ultimately, the exploration of new forms of beauty.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Spain
The Shore project, Girona, Catalonia, Spain, naturban spaces surrounding the town – its “shores”.
2014–ongoing As a result of a specifically designed regime of care,
“Girona-shores” is a self-initiated research project that an abundant land mosaic emerges that enhances bio
has developed into an ongoing public commission. It diversity and can be apprehended and appropriated
aims to foster the establishment of a “green” infra by the town’s citizens. This Design by Management
@Arclib
structure network in Girona by implementing creative
@Arclib praxis has the capacity to adapt continuously to evolv
management tactics and connecting together the ing conditions. Landscape architects: EMF LA
Multiply the Shore!
Water is the origin of life and an essential element for any
biome. The biome’s “shore”, the ecotone where land and
water meet and integrate, is the most desired life strip for
humans and animals alike. Many different forms of life
depend on, compete over and have adapted to be able to
thrive in this land–water zone.
Moulding the shore – playing with its cross-section,
edge conditions, materiality, topography and width –
creates opportunities to multiply the biodiversity and the
experiential quality of a space. The design of the shore
triggers a chain of ecological processes that self-regulate
through natural succession.
If we “consider nature as an ally and not as a guest”,1
and accept that “we are just creating the departing con
ditions on which the landscape generates its own advent,
then, in this shared action, the work of the landscape
architect finds its sustainability”. 2

@Arclib
@Arclib
Spain
“Parco dalla Pace”, Vicenza, Italy, 2015–2022
In the terrain of Vicenza’s former airport, the water table
lies 70 to 100 centimetres below the fertile soil. The 1 Geoffroy-Dechaume, Guillaume (2006). Le Parc
“skeleton” of the new park is made by excavating and du Chemin de l'Île, une étape de la promenade bleue.
modelling the existing soil in search of ground water. Nanterre: Conseil général des Hauts-de-Seine, p. 23.
As a result of this basic and inexpensive process, an
extremely varied “blue” mosaic emerges – with very di 2 Michel Corajoud, from the essay “To the students
verse edge conditions, shores and habitats ready to be of the schools of landscape-architecture [sic]”, 2000.
explored and appropriated. The park, currently under http://corajoudmichel.nerim.net/10-textes/elements-
construction, is already bursting with life. PAN@Arclib
Associ-
@Arclib des-9-conduites/10neuf-conduites-traduction.htm
ates + EMF LA + Zagari + Asprostudio + ITS + M Díaz (accessed 18.02.2021).
Siting a Path as if
only the Feet Could See
Siting a path is the seminal act of unfolding and reading
a landscape. To do this, escape the studio, go on site and
use your feet to map the paths that open up like you use
a pencil to draw a sketch. Activating all senses, an experi
ential cartography of the site’s riches emerges – saturated
with the nuances of light, smells, sounds, sights and
anecdotes. Site visits transform into a precious body of
knowledge about materiality, light, effort, visual surprises,
vertigo and so on.
Back in the studio, these “foot sketches” are woven
into the design speculation for the project. When con
struction begins, each decision ought to be renegotiated
metre by metre in order to adapt to its changing condi
tions – so that, in fact, most decisions are made on site and
during the execution of the project.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Spain
Catalan coastal walks: Cap de Creus, Spain,
2010 (above); Palamós, Spain, 2021 (below)
These two coastal walks negotiate materiality and foot
@Arclib
print with the existing rock outcrops. Landscape archi
@Arclib
tects: EMF LA and Ardévols Associates
Know When
to Throw Confetti
Daily routines, Hannah Arendt once provocatively
observed, leave little trace in consciousness; . . . ordinary
experience doesn’t much register if it lacks disruptive
drama.1 Richard Sennett
Drama, celebration, surprise and astonishment ought thus

to be a critical part of a project if it aims to register in the
visitor’s memory.
“Ad hoc” designed artefacts, actions or events –
called confetti – create disruptive experiential moments,
slow the visitors’ pace and invite them to view the land
scape with new eyes.2 This is the challenge: to find the pre
cise spot and to design an intervention capable of offering
a new landscape reading and appreciation.
Such “confetti” aren’t architectural follies; they do
not impose design gestures, abstracted narratives or intel
lectual quotes – they are discreet and austere celebra
tions that aim to direct the visitors’ attention to the beauty
of the landscape. It takes multiple walks to discover the
right spot, and it requires time to design the disruptive
interfaces needed to celebrate the peculiar. Therefore, con
fetti comprise new signs conceived to act as catalysts
of wonder; affection; and, ultimately, care while unveiling
new readings.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Spain
The Shore green infrastructure project, 1 Richard Sennett on “The Public Realm”.
Girona, Catalonia, Spain, 2014–ongoing https://intensificantvidesnervioses.files.
The use of “confetti” to create an eloquent place: cut wordpress.com/2013/08/the-public-realm_-sennett.
ting geometrical paths into the prairie, lenses to dis pdf (accessed 18.02.2021).
cover nummulite fossils, graphics on pacified streets
or “ad hoc” furniture to stimulate discovery and ap 2 “The real voyage of discovery consists not in
propriation. Further examples of such confetti include seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”.
heritage and rock clearance, picnic spots and chill-out http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/quotations/proust_
@Arclib
tatamis with views, vantage points etc. Landscape @Arclibhaving_seeing_with_new_eyes.html (accessed
architects: EMF LA & Girona Municipality 08.05.2021).
To be an
Engineer . . .
Landscape architecture, from our point of view, always
starts within the logic of engineering. The physical reality
of the soil and water cannot be forgotten or ignored – it
is the starting point of design thinking. This ideology is an
chored, more or less, in a systemic approach. Without
this, landscape architecture becomes impossible – we are
all a part of the planet, we all exist within a climate, we
are all a part of an ecosystem.
The ecosystem is very complex, with many layers
and biotopes. Springtime splendour can only exist if you
understand the midwinter condition. I believe landscape
architects should know the logic of life science and
engineering – to understand the planet, working from its
geology, soil and ecology.
71 Adriaan Geuze (West

@Arclib8)
→ Rotterdam, The@Arclib
Netherlands
The Grand Egyptian Museum, the concept of the museum, to prepare a design for
Giza, Egypt, 2004–2012 the garden and to develop a masterplan for the muse
@Arclib
The relationship between the plateau and the pyramids.
@Arclibum’s environment in relation to the Pyramids of Giza.
West 8 joined the winning architectural team to refine Landscape architects: West 8
. . . and to be
a Poet
Landscape architecture is born from a spirit and, simultan
eously, a sense of place. This is where the “architecture”
in “landscape architecture” is particularly relevant: it re
lates to the study and creation of identity, illusions and nar
rative. Equally, we are not “landscape engineers” – we
don’t simply do calculations – our profession is for me, in
a word, poetry.
Landscape architects should know how to sculpt;
they are working from a legacy of the past, there is relev
ance in the continuity of history. Land is inherited: it is
ifted from several previous generations and then passed
g
on to new ones. Each generation adds a level, a layer
of the sublime, a debate, a smile, a polemic, a position, an
experiment – but, without a doubt, land is part of the
cultural realm and therefore becomes part of the cultural
reality.

@Arclib8)
Netherlands
Máximapark Pergola, Leidsche Rijn, as an illusion of paradise. Infrastructure-like in scale,
The Netherlands, 1997–ongoing the pergola towers 6 metres above the ground and
A system of individual and interchangeable precast spans over a length of 3.5 kilometres. Its honeycomb-
elements coated in a cloak of ivy. The pergola func like cells are fitted with custom-made bat boxes, in
tions as a veil drawn around the “Binnenhof”@Arclib
court sect hotels and planters. Landscape architects: West 8
@Arclib
yard, enabling the core of this design to be perceived
Freedom
Evolution has allowed us to adapt to any context – and
that, for me, is very relevant for connectivity. If humans,
people, citizens use a public space, use the landscape,
they desire the freedom to adapt to it.
A dominant portion of our world has become 100%
functional: everything in it is preoccupied with a dedicated
intention. We are bombarded with commercial illusions
and the banalities of capitalism – cameras, security, algo
rithms manipulate how we explore and “read” the world.
Landscape architecture should deliver spaces that are not
pre-occupied but that prioritise self-reflection and per
ception. We should detoxify the public realm – bring back
the antidote: space for people to feel and be themselves.
Give people a sense of freedom to navigate their
own world and reality. I notice this makes people happy –
euphoric, even. We are children; we want to play and fool
around and take directions from our own brains.

@Arclib8)
Netherlands
The “Scramble” on Governors Island, New York City, granite blocks from the island’s former sea wall. It is an
NY, USA, 2007–2016 expression of the adaptability and materiality reuse
The “Scramble” on Outlook Hill, one of the four @Arclib
man- that forms part of Governors Island’s “DNA”. Landscape
@Arclib
made hills on Governors Island, is made with reclaimed architects: West 8
Growth
For me, landscape architecture is a specific attitude and
discipline – different from design. Landscape architects
“read” the world as a controlled constellation, and have a
second nature that understands and deeply embodies the
notion of progressive development across generations.
Landscape architecture fundamentally forms part of
a system of thinking in which growth, evolution and trans-
formation are the paradigm. All landscape architects,
whatever their training, understand seasonality and plant
life – growth and change. From this unique mindset, aris
ing from their education, they are therefore easily capable
of understanding a slow-moving, but ever-changing,
world. Landscape architects should think in terms of non-
permanent reality since reality is, in fact, in motion, in
transition, is fluid.
No doubt the best we can do is plant good, young
material and hope for the right seasons to come and bring
it to fruition. Good landscape architecture is deeply em
bodied, rooted and anchored in the logic of Mother Nature.

@Arclib8)
Netherlands
Markeroog, Markermeer, The Netherlands, 2006 meer with residential development. A new connective
A masterplan for a big city to be born within a swamp, city, northeast of Amsterdam, born within a swamp.
the Markeroog was a plan to combine the cleaning@ArclibLandscape architects: West 8
@Arclib
and ecological restoration of the IJmeer and Marker
The Lonely
Hearted
As a profession practising in the realm of contemporary
mass culture, landscape architecture is expected to cultiv
ate a perfect picture of innocence: eternal spring, chil
dren’s balloons, flapping butterflies, cherry blossom, peace
and harmony.
However, landscape architects don’t design the inno
cent. We should design a space as it will be, not just
bathed in sunlight but also at the dead of night. The im
agery of landscape architecture is often more radical
than it is “Disney”!
Strangely enough, we should not forget that most of
us are lonely-hearted; we are full of desires and melan
choly. Lonely-hearted people relate to midwinter, the wind
of the autumn, the snow in the park, the midnight silence
of the street, the moonlight in the garden. It is not always
the drama, it is the still life. It is about consolation, solace
and mercy.

@Arclib8)
Netherlands
Schouwburgplein, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, plein, or “Theater Square”, was generated entirely from
1991–1996 its situation in the heart of Rotterdam. By its particular
Design in the rain. The square creates a stage for its framing of space, it shows the value of the unpro
@Arclib
inhabitants to become the performers, illuminated by grammed void – a space that invites spontaneous activ
@Arclib
crane-like hydraulic lamps. The design of Schouwburg ity. Landscape architects: West 8
Soil Biodiversity is
Critical Infrastructure
Soils are sensual. They have texture, scent, colour. They
are the living skin of the planet, with more microbes in a
handful than people on the Earth. Grab one, lift it to your
nose. With your eyes closed detect its health and read
a living dynamic – physically, chemically and biologically
complex – that is the foundation of all life. Observe how
the material rolls between your fingers as a cohesive or a
crumbling joint. Register the moisture and granularity.
Look for white, stringy signs of fungal hyphae and earth
worm activity. Every trial pit illuminates a profile of great
substance. Humus, topsoil, subsoil and even parent ma
terial that reveal the characteristics of the resource, alive
with a below-ground narrative of physical and human
geography. Soil is critical infrastructure on which our very
existence relies. The geological layer cake beneath our
feet encapsulates our fundamental identity in an illus
tration of deep time and human endeavour.
76 Johanna Gibbons@Arclib
Kingdom
Soil Vitrine parkland, industrial, anthropogenic, tree-rooting sub
Designed by Johanna Gibbons in collaboration with strate beneath pavement and tree-rooting zone in
soil scientist Tim O’Hare, the vitrine highlights the open soil – that provides for urban nature. The installa
beauty of natural and anthropogenic soil profiles hid tion reveals structural complexities and colour coding
den in the congested below ground world of the @Arclib
city. of manufactured and natural soil profiles, flecked with
@Arclib
Each glass vial reveals a different typical profile – city fragments of human activity.
The Urban Forest
Bridges the Gap between
Humanity and
the Natural World
Urban forests are complex, diverse and enchanting eco
systems connecting time and territory over the centuries.
They are structurally astounding, being shaped by climatic,
atmospheric, anthropogenic and geological influences,
anchoring the ground and holding open the soil. They pro-
vide an extraordinary range of resources, clean air, biodi
versity, cooling and carbon sequestration. The urban forest
underpins health and wellbeing in the city, including the
cumulative and beneficial slow-release effects on mental
resilience as a result of being in contact with nature. Be
ing drenched in woodland beauty can be life enhancing.
The shadow play in early spring, the sculptural qualities of
standing deadwood hosting a world of microhabitats,
or the softness of layers of sweet-smelling earthy aromas
underfoot, bring microbial life to the engineered environ
ment. The urban forest is an essential part of the character
and heritage of the city, creating deep emotional bonds
between the life force of the forest and our own.
Kingdom
Garden House Ghost Sign London, UK garden itself assists biodiversity and urban bee polli
Far from being an inert technology, the urban forest is nation. An aerial hedge of crab apples, flowering pro
a natural, refined and responsive system enabling our fusely in early spring with jewel-like fruit, and fastigiate
evolutionary adjustment to city dwelling. Designed by white willows, irrigated by disconnected downpipes,
Pentagram, the “PLANT TREES” ghost sign was com create an elegant, dynamic and diaphanous cushion to
missioned by Johanna Gibbons to “speak” to the @Arclib
street. city living.
@Arclib
It sits high on an endterrace blind window, while the
Sustaining Life is
a Prerequisite
of Design Excellence
The landscape,
the soil
that lies below,
the archaeology that tells us where we came from,
veteran trees
that connect the skies with the earth,
that cool and cleanse the air,
a canopy, broad and full of life, under which we shelter,
which envelopes our streets with beauty,
breathes life, signals the seasons,
without which there would be no birdsong.
A life cycle at the intersection of
geology, biodiversity, architecture, social history.
The city is a dynamic landscape,

with an ambiguous wildness
that can bring us close
to nature and natural process.
It is this landscape that connects us all,
within which, for a moment in geological time
the landscape architect plays a part,
conserving while curating
a delicate balance of the ecosystem,
natural and unnatural beauty,
complexities embraced with quiet conviction,
the task
to sustain life and create places
that can be loved.
Kingdom
Inger Munch’s Pier, Oslo, Norway gineered structure, to contour a coastal ecology with
Inger Munch’s Pier is a collaboration between British graded growing media, in the midst of an ecological
artist Tracey Emin and J & L Gibbons. The Mother is desert. This “seed bed” will evolve as a dynamic micro-
a 9-metre-high bronze, kneeling, naked to the ele habitat supporting urban bee pollination and coastal
@Arclib
ments and visible from across the harbour. The concept birdlife in the heart of the city; an unexpected urban
@Arclib
for the pier is to make porous and absorbent the en meadow within which The Mother is brought to earth.
Innovation Happens on
the Margins of
Collaborative Practice
Life in practice is constantly shifting to ride evitable
change, to fine tune the way we can contribute most effec
tively in the field we love and to which my practice feels
a deep responsibility. J&L Gibbons does not seek to grow
in size but rather in influence through collaborations and
conversations with colleagues, clients and communities
whom we work with, envisioning landscapes that bind our
lives together in a way that is meaningful and relevant.
My interest is in nurturing long-term collaborations, to re-
envisage landscapes carried out with scientific rigour,
through active engagement. Whether alongside soil sci
entist Tim O’Hare or in the wandering discourse with our
poet-in-residence, S. J. Fowler, ideas are cross-fertilised.
A vigorous exploration of where design ingenuity and
purpose lie, defining technical, cultural and philosophical
relationships, that always goes far beyond what we are
asked to do.
Kingdom
Landscape Learn – Winter Dormancy of landscape experts providing an agile, process-driven
Hosted by Phytology London, UK and collaborative method of sharing knowledge and
Landscape Learn is our social enterprise. It uses the experience to stimulate innovative thinking. I believe it
seasonality of nature to structure an alternative ap is at the margins of the arts and sciences that a deli
proach to adaptive, cross-disciplinary and immersive cate, fascinating and complex weave of heritage, eco
practice and research. It is open to students,@Arclib
profes
@Arcliblogy, design, art, engineering and care taking can be
sionals and communities, and is hosted by a network transformative.
Stewardship Grows
from Community
Empowerment
As designers, it is in our nature to look and listen closely
while acting strategically. Now set within the context
of interconnected global emergencies – biodiversity, health
and climate change – it is vital that local action nurture
community capacity alongside ecological resilience. The
potential is there to affect visceral engagement in post-
industrial landscapes, all too often disregarded as a messy
mosaic of anthropogenic intervention and ruderal eco
logy. To revel in ambiguities of nature and human nature,
debunking preconceptions of what is natural, as today,
no habitat remains unaltered by humanity. The imperative
is to address the dynamics of change, community cohe
sion and landscape restoration and the subtle aesthetics
of a city’s “natural” world, and to envisage landscapes
through a process-driven approach. This calls for a gen
erous philosophy of openness that stimulates strong
political backing and empowers the local community by
investing in stewardship skills to underpin long-term
s ustainability.
Kingdom
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, London, UK
J&L Gibbons with muf architecture / art pioneered a
multifaceted creative process of engagement, design
and governance with an eco-centric approach. It
sought to realise how diverse facets of the community
could be part of a concept of ecological patchiness;
how intricate forms of urban wildness could persua
sively insinuate a new form of healthy and civilised
society. It is “radical, eccentric and people based”,1 self-
sustaining by the local community who shared time to 1 Ken Worpole: https://thenewenglishlandscape.
gether with us, in a continual feedback loop of@Arclib
in-situ
@Arclib wordpress.com/2017/04/14/insurgent-gardens-the-
action research and design exploration. dalston-eastern-curve-garden/ (accessed 08.05.2021).
How to Foster the
Feeling of Community
and Togetherness
A park should bring people together. It should give rise to
a feeling of social closeness and a shared identity. Cre
ating a relaxed atmosphere can contribute towards mitigat
ing social tensions, or not even allowing them to arise in
the first place. To achieve this, it is necessary on the one
hand to encourage communication in a targeted manner,
and on the other to produce a feeling of togetherness.
How can this be realised using the means of landscape
architecture?
The “stages and stands” principle stages the coming
together of people who would otherwise never take note of
each other. Many people want to do things in a park: to
enjoy life and show off, to let others share in their abilities
and hobbies. For this to work, there needs to be some
one who does something and someone who watches – and
perhaps even marvels. This results in interaction and
communication.
81 Leonard Grosch @Arclib

(LOIDL)
Apart from the idea of stages and stands – like the big of being together without really doing anything together.
stage here in Berlin’s Park am Gleisdreieck – other con This is supposed to give people a feeling of a shared
cepts, such as positioning various “offerings” very close identity; integration; and peaceful, harmonious together
to and in reference to one another, can create @Arclib
an at ness.
@Arclib
mosphere of community. People have the impression
About the Importance
of the Framework
of a Park
A strong framework ensures the superordinate spatial
qualities and the functional and staging connections re
quired of a park in the long run – even if the contents of
individual spaces change over the course of time. It makes
possible the holding together of different atmospheres
and aesthetics spatially, functionally and in terms of design.
In the future, the co-determination and joint designing of
parks and its diverse desires and demands will only fur
ther gain in importance. This makes robust park structures
that much more important.
So what does “framework” mean? A park framework
is comparable to the structural design of a building: it is
composed of the spatial framework, the network of paths,
the structuring of the areas that arise and the most im
portant structuring – and, generally, also staging – that of
installations.
The components of this framework determine one
another. When designing, it is possible to verify the frame
work through successively withdrawing structure-giving
components: at what point does the spatial and func
tional cohesion disintegrate?

(LOIDL)
In the case of Park am Gleisdreieck, the space and simplicity of the configuration: the succinct contrast
structure are oriented toward what was found on the between vastness and density. This clear arrangement
site: the superordinate spatial framework comprises a is also functionally efficient: it facilitates the integration
@Arclib
plateau with two clearings that is elevated above the of all intensive uses into the framework, and thus keeps
@Arclib
urban space and framed by trees. Its quality lies in the the centre of the park open.
How to Create
Multicoded Objects
It should be possible not only to use the elements of a
park in an outstanding way; in an ideal case, they should
also inspire creative use and unforeseen activities. For
this reason, for me, a park should also include elements
that do not have a clearly recognisable use and that offer
so much sophistication that they prompt people to
appropriate or use them in unexpected ways. Such open-
ended objects and installations, along with areas with
specific purposes, should be so stimulating in form and
material that people want to touch them or climb on
them – or desire to use them in some way. In other words,
they should make people want to appropriate them. The
hope, so to speak, is that this animation is able to address
a majority of users. It is specifically indeterminacy with
respect to use that entices.

(LOIDL)
The topography of springy green EPDM rubber and without being able to specify the whole spectrum of
hard asphalt models the area in an alternation be actions in advance. The more unforeseen uses and ac
tween low elevations and raised flat surfaces. This re tivities that take place, the more pleased I am. For me,
sults in the creation of a range of smaller spaces using a range of uses in one place is proof of the landscape
one means of design. As planners, we anticipate @Arclib
that elements’ ability to animate a space.
@Arclib
particular uses will take place at particular locations
Wildness is Important
in the City
Wildness is important in a city, and should be a basic com
ponent of its parks. And not only that: apart from their
ecological functions, different forms of vegetation should
reflect the variety of city dwellers’ needs and desires for
wild nature. These needs can be of a purely contemplative
or atmospheric sort, or be expressed as a desire to par
ticipate – for instance, through gardening together. The con-
t rast between wild and designed forms of vegetation
makes both seem more valuable.
As far as dealing with vegetation is concerned, my
view of parks was also honed and altered during the plan
ning process for Berlin’s Park am Gleisdreieck. In the
meantime, I find that it is not possible to appreciate wild
vegetation highly enough.
Where there is ruderal vegetation, it transmits similar
qualities to its wild counterpart in the form of the patina
on structural relicts. In impression, wild vegetation often
displays a more complex quality than designed planting.
If park sites do not offer any wild vegetation, I would in
most cases advise establishing wild areas or allowing ex
isting areas to run wild.

(LOIDL)
One can either save existing areas of wilderness or borders of robinia, birches, trees of heaven, poplars,
create new ones. At Park am Gleisdreieck, we did both oleasters and oaks had formed. In addition to these ex
@Arclib
– saving the areas of the former freight yard, which had isting wild areas, we planted numerous new flower mead
@Arclib
become overgrown over decades, and those where ows – from shade and sage meadows to dry grasslands.
There Always Has
to be Effective Contrast
I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important con
trast is in a design. I think a design always needs well-set,
effective contrasts to make it interesting, stimulating and
lively. The one I love most is the contrast produced by wild
nature as a backdrop for highly artificial places and ob
jects – or the contrast between rich wilderness and gener
ous, large, simple surfaces. Places that have been in
formally assembled by citizens themselves contrast very
effectively with artificial architectonic scenes. The contrast
between levelled-out, flat lawn and high, diverse meadow
is a traditional theme in the landscape gardens of the
Romantic era, which still have a timelessly strong effect
and validity. To be aware of and precise in using different
types of contrast is also a very useful tool in order to
achieve a “readable” park design, because the particular
design elements are distinguished from each other
naturally.

(LOIDL)
In the Baakenpark in Hamburg, artificial play areas in the same way with the surrounding wild meadows.
contrast with wildflower meadows. The meadow, with What you cannot see here is that the entire park, with
its complex textures, atmospherically enriches the its dramatic topography, contrasts as a whole with the
slick surface of the grey EPDM rubber. On the@Arclib
upper often calm water of the adjoining River Elbe.
@Arclib
level, a soccer field made from artificial lawn contrasts
Landscapes are
Palimpsests
Beneath the surface landscapes are layered sectionally
with the detritus of time. Whether built material or organic,
these layers are the artefacts of life. They reveal to us
how previous inhabitants shaped and organised their world.
These layers also reference ecological change – whether
passively evolutionary or cataclysmic. Together they com
bine to create an ecological history, revealing to us that
landscapes – and, particularly, sites – are never empty. So
when we design, we must be careful of what we exhume
or what we cover up.
86 Walter Hood @Arclib

→ Oakland, CA, USA
@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
Front Yard, Rosa Parks Neighborhood, Detroit, MI, USA
Landscape
is a Medium
The landscape communicates and expresses a society’s
beliefs and meanings, indicating how it defines itself and
others in the world. Landscape comprises physical and
visual components that together form a specific spatial and
environmental logic. The medium is used to express both
privilege and power, and subservience and value. It also
expresses a society’s value and belief in what is beautiful
and meaningful. If it is not considered in this multidimen
sional and complex manner, the medium is rendered exclus
ive and unrepresentative of the society’s citizenry. The
medium composed is a proscenium for the world in which
we live.

@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
View of planted tree allée, Florence, Italy
Landscapes Tell
Stories Whether
We Write Them or Not
Landscapes are rhetorical. Our stories are comparative,
mythical, pedagogical . . . structured as similes, allegories,
analogies and metaphors. Most landscapes tell the story
of their current origins; we just have to look closely at the
manner in which they are constructed, spatialised and
occupied. In the USA, the open-lot plan recounts the story
of colonisation and democracy as compared with a medi
eval town in Italy, which tells the story of accretion and
time. The unbuilt landscape can tell the story of succession
and change, or of climate and evolution.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Altar in the garden, San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
@Arclib
Mission, Carmel, CA, USA
Landscapes are
Entropic
Landscapes want to be messy. Landscapes are in a con
stant stage of becoming . . . uncertainty and disorder are
innate to their sensibility. Human environments are ordered
and certain, holding back landscapes in order to be clean
and definable. We have to find opportunities to engage
with this process as we design and construct our cities and
neighbourhoods, so that landscape evolves rather than
being maintained in a constant state. This challenges the
current reactionary stance towards change – as we see
with climate change – and suggests that we embrace the
Earth’s flux.

@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
Aerial view of Massapequa, Long Island, NY, USA
Landscapes are
Political and Contested
Spaces
Humans, like other animals, are territorial. Spaces and
landscapes have been colonised throughout history,
creating the context for contestation and the politics of
the state. Even as spaces are decolonised, the residues
of their structures are still present in built typologies that
remain valued and maintained. Many spaces are civic
landscapes, which in most societies are public; streets,
plazas/squares and even parks bear this legacy, and
continue to be shaped by political and social change.

@Arclib
Free Speech Monument – “60,000 Feet Tall” – Sproul
@Arclib
Plaza, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA,
@Arclib
USA
Ingenious Loci
For generations the code of conduct of the landscape
profession was embodied in the concept of consulting the
genius loci, originally popularised by Alexander Pope as
“genius of the place”. But what about the landscape with
out qualities? What to consult when there is no “there”
there? How to make the ordinary into the extraordinary?
Genius implies an exceptional capacity for imaginative
creation, original thought, curiosity, invention and discov
ery. As landscape architects, we should rattle the cage
of the genius loci. But beware the false prophets of au
thenticity. Let’s replace singular views with a multitude of
different visions. Landscape architecture interacts in
a complex continuum with humankind and nature, town
and country, land and architecture. We no longer re
concile the duality of opposite forces but orchestrate and
choreograph a multitude of dynamic and hybrid inter
actions. The old is dying and the new is not yet born. We
need genius on steroids; we need to consult our very
own Ingenious Loci.
91 Eelco Hooftman @Arclib

(GROSS.
→ Edinburgh, United
@Arclib
MAX)
Kingdom
@Arclib
@Arclib
Indoor /outdoor swimming pool
Learning from
Ascension Island: Darwin,
Hooker and the
Art of Nature Activation
Instead of static Nature Conservation (the kiss of death
in times of climate change) we should promote dynamic
Nature Activation. An early experiment on the remote
Ascension Island acts as an inspiration that entire eco
systems can be created from scratch. Charles Darwin
visited the island in 1836 as part of his five-year scientific
expedition on the Beagle. At the time of Darwin’s visit,
the island was devoid of vegetation, and a lack of fresh
water prohibited its strategic use. Darwin, with a little
help from Joseph Hooker of Kew Gardens, devised a cun
ning plan to arrange for shipments of plants from Africa,
South America and even from Kew itself to create a cloud
forest on the island’s extinct volcano. This man-made
piece of hyper-nature started to gather sea mist, and rain
fall was collected in a specially constructed dew pond.
Ingenious loci avant la lettre! We used this example as
inspiration for our concept of the “Ecological Wonderbra”,
patented as an uplifting support system for fragile eco
systems.

(GROSS.
@Arclib
MAX)
Kingdom
Charles Darwin – naturalist and architect @Arclib
@Arclib
of hyper-nature
To Think is to
Speculate with Images
Landscape can present a world in several dimensions
at once. A viewpoint represents also a point of view. The
Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume ob
served that “the mind is a kind of theatre, where several
perceptions successively make their appearances; pass,
re-pass, glide away and mingle in an infinite variety of
postures and situations”.1 Indeed, a myriad of images stir
our imagination. Landscape is a visual discipline that
originates from the world of painting. Sometimes we long
for those days when landscape was to be considered
not just important – but the most important branch of aes
thetics. The Picturesque opened our eyes for a dynamic
succession of painterly pictures based upon multiple
viewpoints assuming movement. Nowadays, the pixel is
our pigment, the screen our canvas. Once we were inter
viewed to design the landscape for the new European
headquarters of Goldman Sachs in London. A double-
breasted stockbroker asked us to explain what we do in
one sentence. Our answer was direct and simple: you
speculate with money, we speculate with images.

(GROSS.
@Arclib
MAX)
Kingdom
1 Hume, David (1985; first published 1739).
@Arclib
A Treatise of Human Nature. London: Penguin Classics,
@Arclib
Vertical garden p. 301.
Romantic Agony
Landscape architects, wild at heart, are the last of the
romantics. Maybe it is the nature of our medium, which is
all about the passage of time – about growth and decay,
beauty and the sublime. Maybe it is our longing for Par
adise Lost. Landscapes can be read as palimpsests of nar
ratives, each generation scratching the surface to inscribe
their mark. There is no beginning and no end, only an
endless state of becoming. Perfect beauty resides only
in a fragmentary and temporary state. The emotive wilder
ness of the landscape architect is our inner strength.
Landscape architects are the natural successors of archi
tects and urbanists to transform our post-pandemic cities.
In Observations sur l’architecture (1765), Laugier wrote,
“Whoever knows how to design a park well will have no
difficulty in tracing the plan for the b
uilding of a city [. . .].
There must be regularity and fantasy, relationships and op
positions, and casual, unexpected elements that vary
the scene; great order in the details, confusion, uproar,
and tumult in the whole.”1

(GROSS.
@Arclib
MAX)
Kingdom
1 Laugier, Marc Antoine (1765). Observations sur
L’Architecture, quoted in Bernard Tschumi (1990). “The
Pleasure of Architecture”, Questions of Space, chapter
10. London: Architectural Association, p. 50.
2 Breton, André (1992; first published 1929).

@Arclib
Everything depends on our deliberate hallucinations. 2 “Premiere exposition Dali”, Oeuvres Completes 11.
@Arclib
André Breton Paris: Gallimard, pp. 307–309.
We are the Children
of the Google Earth
Revolution
Once upon a time landscape architecture was defined
according to strict and well-guarded geographic borders.
The Dutch kept relentlessly draining their eternal swamp,
proclaiming their national mantra that “God created the
world but the Dutch created the Netherlands”. In Denmark,
angry young landscape architects sharpened their pencils
and, by a stretch of the imagination, caused a revolution
of sorts by changing the oval into an ellipse. The Germans –
regardless of fascist or communist inclination – fanatically
idolised a hardcore “body and soil” ecology as a united
nationalist ideology. The French groped among the dry
bones of their past. Meanwhile, the making of the British
landscape remained the preserve of dabbling, babbling
upper-class dilettantes under the governance of their very
own “Ministry of Silly Walks”. All this has dramatically
changed. We now operate in an age characterised by the
dissolution of boundaries. Landscape has become a
melting pot of globalised cultures. We work around the
clock in all different time zones. We have jumped the fence
and see the whole world as our garden. We are, indeed,
the Children of the Google Earth Revolution.

(GROSS.
@Arclib
MAX)
Kingdom
@Arclib
@Arclib
Garden for a plant collector, China
Land Agreements
Landscape architecture projects start with a property
survey, a land title, a boundary line. These are taken as legal
fact, as professional authority. But how did that line get
drawn, how did that landscape first become a property
and what does that have to do with a contemporary design
project? If you’re in Canada or the United States, what
treaties or agreements were signed between Indigenous
nations and the British Crown or federal governments
in this place, and how have they been honoured or dishon
oured since? Who is currently fighting to regain this land,
and what constitutes professional and personal respon
sibility towards a dishonoured treaty? Land development
under colonial capitalism is based on stolen land and
labour stolen through slavery; it severed, and continues to
sever, people’s connection with that land. But landscape
architecture often sees its disciplinary role as connecting
people with land, so how should it reckon with this
contradiction?
96 Jane Mah Hutton@Arclib

→ Toronto, ON, Canada
@Arclib
Map of the Toronto Purchase, 1805 @Arclib
@Arclib1872, transferred to the Toronto Public Library in 1902.
Presented to the York Pioneers by William L. Baby in Part of the manuscript volume Indian Treaties.
Plant Names in
Different Languages
Knowing the names, habits and cultural significance of
many plants is an important part of landscape architecture.
But what is any given plant – let’s say your favourite species
– called in languages that aren’t English or Latin? What
does this plant’s name sound like in languages indigenous
to this place? What does it sound like in your first language
(if not English) or the different languages of people who
live nearby? Do these names give new meanings to what
you understand about this plant, to how you get acquaint
ed with it? Do you or your ancestors have a relationship
with this plant from different places you or they have lived?
Did they bring it with them as they migrated? Considering
these questions reminds us of the deep interdependen
cies that people have with plants for survival, culture and
love. And also, imagine this plant without a name, out
side of human conception.

@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
Kensington Market, Toronto, ON, Canada
Material Lives and
Afterlives
As you specify materials in order to assemble a new land
scape – whether soil mixes, stone, wood, steel or nursery
plants – consider also where they have been before and
where they will go afterwards. Picture how each has been
part of other landscapes: how a certain wood product
was a specific tree, that it was part of a habitat, a forest, or
maybe an industrial plantation. Picture how a metal, for
example, has taken different forms, from land to ore to alloy
to sheet metal to fabricated site furniture. Picture the
inputs and outputs of these stages, all that was required
to make those materials but that remains invisible in the
final product: the mining overburden, the water, the efflu
ents, the herbicides. Picture the many afterlives they might
have – in landfills, compost piles, salvage yards or clever
ly repurposed in new landscapes. Consider material spec
ification as an engagement with these distant activities
and reflect on which ones should be strengthened and
which ones should not.

@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
Toronto brick works, city dump, 1960s
Who Else You are
Working With
A landscape architect might work closely with a client, a
public agency, a contractor, a nursery and a materials
distributor. However, there are many other people particip
ating in any landscape project, for example those who
mine construction minerals, who care for plants, who clean
surfaces and who demolish the whole thing later. All of
these people work in different conditions – some hazard
ous, some unionised, some stigmatised, some valorised. In
this web, landscape architects are privileged in certain
ways, but they can also recognise that they are part of an
exploitative labour system rather than external to it. Think
ing about this connection can be a basis for solidarity,
for seeing one’s relationship to others’ struggles. How does
design work affect others’ work – those who maintain
a landscape or clean a space, for example? What design
efforts could support meaningful work for those who
recycle materials and cultivate landscapes?

@Arclib
Salt piles at Wellington Street, Street Cleaning @Arclib
@Arclib
Department, Toronto, ON, Canada, c. 1955–1956
What Will be Here after
Your Lifetime
A landscape project can take a long time to be realised,
designed and built – maybe five, ten or twenty years. This
is significant in a career and a life. But consider this place
beyond your lifetime, in a generation or three, after any
awareness of authorship has disappeared. It is impossible
to know what will happen here, but imagine. Will it be
inundated, waterlogged and dispersed into the ocean? Will
it be overgrown, host to unexpected new life that could
thrive because of planetary climate change? Will it be de
molished in ten years, landfilled and replaced with the
products of a newer trend? Will it be remade and renovated
beyond recognition but persisting in unseen, interesting
ways? There are so many things that landscape architec
ture can’t control; but at the same time, consider how
you’re putting into motion something. How does that some
thing participate in long-term change in order to support
life?
100 Jane Mah Hutton

@Arclib
→ Toronto, ON, @Arclib
Canada
@Arclib
Don River ice jam and flood, Toronto, ON, Canada,
@Arclib
28 February 1918
Solnedgangspladsen/
Sunset Space
The Sunset Space is a reflection that connects us to the
sun and the universe, joined together with the present
landscape of weather, wind and time, at dusk and dawn.
Gammel Skagen is a famous holiday village, known for
its unique cultural environment developed around the
original fishing community and the beautiful small houses
that all turn protectively against the wind from the north
west. Here you will embrace a very special light. People
have for many years been going to Sunset Space to enjoy
the sight of the sun going down over the North Sea.
With this new transformation of Sunset Space the
existing, incoherent space is gathered into a common
square, comprising a large, 20-metre-diameter solar disc
surrounded by several new sand dunes. Here, it is possible
to experience the phenomena and ever-changing fea
tures of the landscape such as time, wind and weather at
dawn and dusk.
The intention is not to let Sunset Space overshadow
nature but instead to enhance it, by showing the move
ment of the sky, the wind and the sand. It thus becomes a
space for reflection that connects us to the dynamics
of the sun and the universe.
101 Kristine Jensen@Arclib

→ Aarhus, Denmark
@Arclib
Solnedgangspladsen, Gammel Skagen, Around the large disc, a series of several small new
Denmark, 2019 dunes are established as an extension of the coastal
The solar disc is 20 metres in diameter and is adorned protection off Gammel Skagen, which also provides shel
with reflecting granite flakes, so that the clouds @Arclib
and the ter and the opportunity to linger. Landscape architects:
@Arclib
rays of the sun glint off of it. Kristine Jensen. Landscape & Architecture
Unesco World Heritage
Site Jelling
Interweaving past and present to create a significant,
memorable Viking place that continues to go with the
ever-changing story of Jelling.
In the middle of the little town of Jelling, two grass-
covered mounds rise majestically towards the sky, to a
height of 8 metres and a diameter of 60 metres. Between
the mounds are two giant rune stones and a white, chalk-
washed medieval church.
The monuments tell of a time when Jelling became a
significant area of royal power during one of the most
essential periods in the history of Denmark: when Harald
Bluetooth, the Viking, united the kingdoms of Denmark
and Norway into one as a Christian nation.
Through simple landscape modelling, the masterplan
interweaves the past and the present to form a signi
ficant and memorable place that communicates and pro
cesses historical layers and great new discoveries: a
palisade fence with four sides, each one with a length of
360 metres, surrounding longhouses and a burial site
formed as a longship dating from the year 980.
Based on an intention to identify and convey these
new findings, along with the site’s existing world-class
heritage, the project breathes new life into the story of
Jelling as a place of Viking-age supremacy and the
cradle of Denmark.

→ Aarhus, Denmark
@Arclib
UNESCO World Heritage Site Jelling, Denmark, 2014 steppe – in geographical terms, an ecoregion character
The site forms a palimpsest: layer upon layer of differ ised by grassland plains – filled with differently coloured
ent historical areas and importance. thyme, grass and bulbs.
Ground-laid concrete slabs form the base for hun This field of grass and variation of thyme boasts a
dreds of white concrete pillars that encircle the site, new identity along with a close connection to the town’s
marking the approximate location of its original wood existing plaza. Landscape architects: Kristine Jensen.
@Arclib
en stockade.The site is laid out as an open, green land Landscape & Architecture
@Arclib
scape filled with biodiversity from robust planting: a
Moesgaard Museum
Landscape
Combining the old estate and the modern museum into
a cultural-historical mosaic with the green roof has created
a democratic green landscape for all times.
Moesgaard manor house (c. 1750) sits in a splendid
landscape near the East Jutland coast, encompassing
forestry, agriculture, hunting and fishing. The original build
ings were erected on a 325-hectare property that today
also houses a university, and the new additions sit amongst
visible remnants dating back to ancient and medieval times.
With the new Moesgaard Museum building by
architects Henning Larsen as well as the manor house, the
17,000-square-metre landscape was given a modern as
pect that opened it up.
Today, the assembled cultural-historical mosaic of
landscapes forms the new museum and contributes to a
grand visitor experience. The museum’s mediation does
not restrict itself to the building’s exhibits, separated from
time and place, but is also present on site in the land
scape itself.
Based on the inherent qualities of the place, new
features add new ways to the old landscape: a historical
and democratic landscape, which we can learn from, and
which is important to safeguard in the future.

→ Aarhus, Denmark
@Arclib
Moesgaard Museum Landscape, for the whole city of Aarhus. The open grassed space
Aarhus, Denmark, 2015 of the roof has provided a whole new way of venturing
Besides being a narrative museum landscape, Moes into the forest. Landscape architects: Kristine Jensen.
gaard is also an international exhibition venue@Arclib
as well Landscape & Architecture
@Arclib
as a vibrant excursion spot and landscape of leisure
Marselisborg Park
Thinking of landscape as a whole: climate adaption com
bined with rehabilitation and recreation in a public park
filled with new possibilities and biodiversity – all in a former
park isolated and overused for car parking.
Around the Marselisborg Centre in Aarhus, a new
recreational public city park has been established that
combines health and rehabilitation with nature, biodiver
sity and climate adaptation.
For more than 100 years the Marselisborg Centre was
an epidemic hospital with traditional, red-brick pavilion
buildings and a classic, fenced-in garden. More recently the
site’s buildings were used as a rehabilitation centre, but
the garden had been forgotten.
Marselisborg Park uniquely combines and meets the
need for outdoor rehabilitation activities for the centre’s
users and for a comprehensive, recreational climate-
adaptation effort for the local area. The project provides an
example of how innovative rainwater solutions and bio
diversity can become active participants in the design of
recreational and social urban spaces. Nature’s ever-
evolving cycles are integrated into the park’s operation and
the appearance demonstrates a unique combination
of rehabilitation and recreation in a public park filled with
possibilities and biodiversity.

→ Aarhus, Denmark
@Arclib
Marselisborg Park, Aarhus, Denmark, 2020 By strengthening the park’s richness of species, a
Green grassy rainwater beds and ditches store up the greater level of biodiversity is created with several
rainwater locally and lead it visibly through the park. different habitat types. A flexible and robust urban na
Delay beds, with special vegetation and filter soil, purify ture is ensured, which is rich in resources and sensory
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road and roof water before it is passed on for evapora
@Arclib e
xperiences. Landscape architects: Kristine Jensen.
tion and recycling. Landscape & Architecture
J. C. Jacobsen’s Garden
Making the layers of a private park accessible to the pub
lic by taking its botanical heritage to new heights amidst
the post-industrial surroundings.
J. C. Jacobsen’s Garden is an important part of the
transformation of the former Carlsberg breweries into a
sustainable green district in Copenhagen.
As part of this process, the brewer’s old overgrown
garden from 1847 is transformed into a public green lung
related to the founder of Carlsberg Breweries, J. C. Jacob
sen’s own great passion for botany. Formerly it was a
private, enclosed garden, that now serves as a beautiful
public park that can be experienced along its meander
ing, historical paths as a green, recreational botanical
space in the middle of the newly built-up city in between
the transformed brewery.
The programming of this new space is based on a
thorough process of registration and research into the dif
ferent historical layers and functions of the site – and the
transformation also reflects the history of its development
across the various stages of the garden.
The garden has been brought into a new era of great
er public use, in which climate adaption and accessibility
are intertwined with the cultural heritage.

→ Aarhus, Denmark
@Arclib
J. C. Jacobsen’s Garden, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018 brought home from his travels abroad. For 160 years,
In 1848, landscape gardener Rudolph Rothe created this beautiful garden was closed to the public.
one part of the romantic garden for the private use Landscape architects: Kristine Jensen. Landscape &
@Arclib
of the founder of Carlsberg Breweries, J. C. Jacobsen,
@ArclibArchitecture
where he could grow the trees and vegetation that he
Start with a Small Project
and Execute it Yourself
Starting a design company as a young professional can be
very challenging. You don’t have enough experience and
you don’t have the necessary contacts to reach possible
clients to gain that experience – a vicious circle.
It can also be frustrating to realise that despite your
talents, in the design world nobody knows about you.
I believe a strategic way to start your career is through
a self-managed, self-financed and self-executed project
to back up your portfolio.
1. Find a few classmates, colleages or friends to

participate in an experimental project.
2. Find a public space with sufficient footfall and/or exposure.
3. The design is very important: it should be controversial
but smart, different, eye-catching.
4. Obtain the necessary permissions from the
municipality/institution owning the space.
5. Make it happen using basic materials, techniques or
any accessible means.
6. Record everything through photography/video –
the final outcome and the “making of” process.
7. Show your work in as many online journals as possible.
This entire process should take no more than two months.

Afterwards, you will have a decent amount of experi
ence and a built project in your portfolio. In architecture
and design, bigger is not better than built.
106 Marcial Jesus (100architects)

@Arclib
→ Shanghai, China
@Arclib
“Huellas Artes”, Santiago, Chile, May 2014 Huellas Artes is an urban intervention that– just by inter
This project was an ephemeral installation done by a vening in the surfaces of the space, and demarcating
group of fresh graduates in 2014. The project was self areas and signals, suggesting functions and actions
@Arclib
managed and, self-financed, and stayed in place for – transformed the existing space by adding stimulation
@Arclib
less than a week. and public functions. Designer: 100architects
The Age of Radical Differ-
entiation and Surprise
The number of talented designers with so much more expe
rience than you will be overwhelming. It is absurd to at
tempt doing “better” design with the same typologies that
we have seen over generations. Maybe only a genius could.
To earn your place in the design world you need to
differentiate yourself from what is being done now. This
means that if you want to make a splash, whatever you
offer as a designer needs to be unique in many more ways
than having a functional purpose, meaningful narrative,
economic design and good quality; what we are taught in
university is not enough. You need to be radically differ
ent and surprising. You need to be pop and controversial,
and incorporate experimental factors into your projects.
Paradoxically, in the pursuit of this goal, you might touch
the borders of the absurd. But that is OK. Often progress
is built upon the unreasonable.
However, this doesn’t mean doing weird design for
the sake of being different. It means finding a niche,
an aesthetic and a contrasting position that will make
you surprisingly different from your competitors.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the un

reasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasona
ble man.1 George Bernard Shaw

@Arclib
→ Shanghai, China
@Arclib
“High Loop”, Shanghai, China, 2020
High Loop is a project touching the borders of the
absurd. The circulation routes are at the limits of the
unreasonable. To design this project, we deliberately
discarded the strategies that landscape architecture
has traditionally used for this typology of projects. We
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risked being absurd in order to be radically different in 1 Shaw, George Bernard (1903). Man and Superman,
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our proposal. Designer: 100architects “Maxims for Revolutionists”.
Play is Not Only for
Children: The City of the
Future Will Have
Playgrounds for Adults
So far, our civilisation has understood our cities in a rather
serious-minded and solemn way. Of course, everything
has to be functional to the highest degree, but not every
thing needs to be so serious.
The concept of the playground is changing: it is not
an enclosed space just for kids; instead, it has merged
with the rest of the cityscape. Play is not only for kids; we
all want to play in the city. The city is our playground.
You, as a landscape architect, should focus on more
than just the ground. Interventions in the urban topography
can happen in deeper and more experimental ways
than hitherto, in order to create stimulating hardscapes
that incorporate architectural shapes and programmatic
functions, which should stimulate users by inviting them
to interact with the space and objects directly and closely.
Users of all ages should form an intimate link with the
space and feel encouraged to slide, climb, lie down, play,
hang out, take a selfie, rest, exercise etc.

@Arclib
→ Shanghai, China
@Arclib
“Pixeland”, Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China, 2018 a component with a different function on it. Thus, the
Pixeland is a public-space project comprising a com functional pixels are arranged and combined in order
bination of different outdoor facilities in a single space to generate a stimulating hardscape of leisure activities.
@Arclib
– such as landscape features for resting and leisure, and Designer: 100architects
@Arclib
playing features for kids and adults alike. Every “pixel” is
Play Along with the
Rules of the Culture of
Overstimulation
How to call attention to and make your projects remarka
ble in this culture of disposability? It is too late to go “anti-
system” – the world turns too fast and the trajectory is al
ready traced. Instead, you can get ahead of the game
by playing and knowing the rules.
Your “audience” today is an audience of experience
seekers – people who prefer to invest in meaningful and
memorable life experiences rather than anything else.
Kids nowadays are not the same as those of past genera
tions; they are exposed to, and used to, different kinds
of sensory stimulations – even overstimulation. And finally,
young adults also want to play in the city. In that regard,
urban public spaces should now incorporate a form of
recreation that meets the new needs of the current gen
eration – their demands for increased stimulation and
fantasy in experiences.
Your design for the cityscape will have to incorporate
interactivity on many different levels: digital and techno
logical interactivity on the one hand, physical and cognitive
activity on the other. Always keep in mind the fact that
humans learn by playing.

@Arclib
→ Shanghai, China
@Arclib
“Creek play”, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai, UAE, 2018 experience for the user. Each node comprises a con
Conceived as a playful village, the proposal manifests glomeration of capsules forming a stimulated village
as a 400-metre-long eye-catching playscape for the of fun, in which each capsule offers a different instant
enjoyment of kids and adults alike. All the capsules are function such as sitting, swinging, sliding, climbing,
inspired by Dubai’s arabesque shapes – such as those lying down, playing and hanging out – all of them en
@Arclib
used in traditional doors, windows and other elements
@Arclibcouraging social interactions. Designer: 100architects
of vernacular- architecture – providing an immersive
You Don’t Come
Up With Good Ideas,
You Build Them
All too often, I have seen people of all ages waiting for that
“good idea” to strike in their minds, believing that it will
magically change their professional reality and signify the
moment to “start” a business or launch a product etc.
This is a rather unhealthy and damaging myth that has al
ready lingered for long enough.
The truth is that professional success doesn’t work
that way. This is a principle that you should embrace for
any future endeavour, from building a company to finding
a concept for your project or product.
The fact is that almost 99% of successful companies,
projects – or, basically, anything that is good – were really
bad ideas at the beginning. However, they improved over
time and gained complexity through a process of trial
and error, incorporating new variables.
If you want to start a company, do it NOW. If you want
to publish your work, do it NOW. If you want to launch a
product, do it NOW. Maybe your output won’t be excellent
at the beginning – but the sooner you act, the faster you
can start improving.

@Arclib
→ Shanghai, China
@Arclib
“Pegasus Trail”, Chongqing, China, 2020 Pegasus Trail, a 3,000-square-metre permanent public
Before realising this project we designed and built many space following the same strategy but incorporating
“ribbon-like” schemes. They were temporary installa many complex functions – even including a “play cur
tions all using the same strategy: a ribbon that bent and cuit” for different age groups on the ribbon itself. This
twisted to provide simple functions like seating and design would not have been possible without our ear
sliding. This strategy improved over time and @Arclib
gained
@Arclib lier ribbon prototypes. Designer: 100architects
complexity. The experience lay the groundwork for
Knowledge
Trees have been associated with knowledge since ancient
times. They are a part of the cosmos just as we are, al
though progress has led us to neglect the fact that we live
in a shared space with Mother Nature. In a time of climate
emergency, social conflicts and global pandemic the
role of nature becomes apparent again. “We need to stop
the war on nature,” as US social theorist Jeremy Rifkin
daringly stated years ago.1 Our planet is revolting against
our indifference, but nothing should be indifferent to us
on Earth; as Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato
Sì’: “it’s time we make peace with nature”.2
We landscape architects are aware that knowledge is
necessary to plant trees; we must understand the
characteristics of a place in order to choose the seeds
that can thrive there. A landscape project often has “deep
roots”, which helps us understand the multiple layers that
shaped a particular environment and society; on the
other hand it looks to the future with a holistic approach,
not only as a superficial dressing of landscape but reflect
ing its body and feeding its soul.
111 Andreas Kipar @Arclib

(LAND)
→ Düsseldorf, Germany
@Arclib
1 Rifkin, Jeremy (2017). A History of the Future –
Parco Nord, Milan, Italy The World in 2025. Lecture on 31 January 2017.
Parco Nord Milano is one of the most important Euro European Central Bank (ECB).
pean experiences of green belt in the metropolitan ar
ea. Parco Nord, the first “Italian step” by Andreas Kipar 2 http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/
in 1985, is a continuous system of woods, meadows@Arclib
@Arclibencyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_
and rows of vines, enriched by ponds and watercourses. enciclica-laudato-si.html.
Awareness
Our new horizon is the urban landscape, a territory of
interrelations between nature, architecture and people
where our responses and challenges will shape society.
We can rethink our cities through regenerative trans
formation processes in which the environment plays an
active role in reaching global sustainability goals. Back
in the 1970s, Danish architect Jan Gehl put people on the
main stage of urban life, fully aware that we are the en
vironment and that it is only through us citizens that an
intervention on open space can begin.
Even after decades ruled by the predominance of
architecture, we still struggle nowadays to make our cities
more liveable. “Landscape architecture teaches archi
tects that living structures cannot be paralysed in static
schemes,” as Italian architect Bruno Zevi reminded us.1
We must embrace visions that are able to manage conflicts
and anxieties in our society by adopting more fluid urban
patterns than hitherto.

(LAND)
@Arclib
Slogans. We live in a time of great challenges: amid
climate emergency and the recent pandemic, we are
all beginning to understand the need to “reset” and
“reconnect” with nature. The urgency of this transfor
mation is made even more pressing by the new “Greta
generation”, named after teenage Swedish activist 1 Zevi, Bruno (1997). Paesaggistica e grado zero
Greta Thunberg, which is calling for action and@Arclib
asking
@Arclibdella scrittura architettonica: consultazione
for a strong repositioning of nature within our society. internazionale e convegno. Il Manifesto di Modena.
Perseverance
If it’s true, according to author Jorn De Précy, that the
garden created the man, then we need to constantly take
care of our garden, cultivating its ecosystems and public
spaces: we landscape architects plan development pro
cesses, we start interventions to heal damaged eco
systems and reconnect people with nature, we deal with
the governance of our urban and rural areas. Perception is
an essential component in starting long-lasting changes:
in the 1980s, former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt
imagined that the skies of the industrial Ruhr area would
turn blue again. After more than 30 years of cultivation, we
relish the completed regeneration of that German region’s
Emscher River and its cities. In 2010 “Essen for the Ruhr”
was designated European Capital of Culture, and in 2017
the region’s second-largest city was named European
Green Capital. These events irreversibly shifted the mind
set of people and paved the way for a new societal
and political course. Green infrastructures are the future
of our continent.

(LAND)
@Arclib
Krupp Park, Essen, Germany ters building collected in a new pond; and naturalistic
The Krupp Park project is a major redevelopment of playgrounds were placed as social, green infrastructure
the former Krupp steel factories located in Essen. The for all citizens. The green infrastructure for the entire
park’s topography has been created using the debris regeneration process in the Ruhr region led to Essen’s
of former industrial structures and soil excavated for successful nomination as European Green Capital in
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the new buildings. Many trees were planted; rainwater
@Arclib2017.
from the newly constructed ThyssenKrupp headquar
Cultivation
We have been woken up from a long, careless sleep by
a young Swedish girl who dared to remind us of our place
on this planet. Her message reached citizens, activists,
politicians and international organisations: “Natural re
sources aren’t endless”. So we need to start caring for our
habitat, recalling what US philosopher Lewis Mumford
declared over a century ago when initiating the City Beau
tiful movement.
The mission of landscape architects is the cultivation
of productive landscapes that recover soil, water and
biodiversity in a multidimensional way. Ecosystem services
are key elements in improving urban wellbeing and pro
viding a forward-looking, sustainable future. The new Euro
pean Green Deal sets a milestone in our era: we need
nature in order to build more resilient and prosperous
communities.

(LAND)
@Arclib
Krefeld Park, Krefeld, Germany was kept as agricultural land. The park became the
A cultivation process in Krefeld, Germany, based on “frame” between the city’s built-up area and the agricul
a competition-winning proposal by international land tural landscape, capable of giving space for new func
scape-architecture studio LAND, is anticipated to last tions and of drawing a border, not through the houses
several years. Of the total site of 120 hectares, @Arclib
only 40 but through the green of a row of pyramidalis oaks.
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have been actually transformed; the remaining portion
Prosperity
It’s too late to be moderate! We need to act now to ensure
a liveable environment for future generations. We can turn
the greatest challenges of our time into opportunities:
nature-based solutions are an effective tool for addressing
environmental, social and economic issues; digitalisation
and technological research can give a boost to shift us
to a climate-neutral society. Our ambition is great: we de
serve a better quality of life and we aspire to a fairer
economy. Green infrastructure is the answer; it is a social
matter because it concerns everybody, so we need to
communicate this message clearly through co-creation
processes and territorial cooperation. Landscape ar
chitects are mediators in this moment of global transition.

(LAND)
@Arclib
Landscape Digitalisation is a global and cross-cutting reveals new opportunities for socialising, gathering and
phenomenon that has completely transformed our exploring. Digital landscape is a new dimension of the
way of working and living. Public space has evolved public sphere that deploys data-driven processes to
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according to this trend; digital technology allows us to tell new stories and share information about our envir
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expand, connect and monitor the landscape, but also onment.
Distinguish between
Landscape Architecture
and Architecture
in Relation to Space
and Time
Common to both disciplines is an anticipation of space
and function – one might even say that it is necessary in
order to envisage them.
It is the consideration of time that distinguishes land
scape architecture from our neighbouring discipline,
architecture. When an architect presents his or her new
ly finished building, it is at the high point of its life. For
landscape architects the ultimate goal is still a long way
off. It takes almost another two decades before their
envisaged spaces become places and saplings have grown
into trees.
Outside experts are often consulted for the planting
design. However, I think that plant knowledge is essential
for landscape architects themselves – not necessarily that
of botanists but an awareness of the characteristics of
plants with regard to the definition of space, structure and
expanse; the expressiveness of a design repertoire that
ranges from materiality and colour to the recurring rhythm
of time.
116 Peter Latz @Arclib

→ Kranzberg, Germany
@Arclib
It took 20 years for the tree canopy to close over at changing; experience must be replaced by knowledge,
Landscape Park Duisburg Nord. A term you may recog the development of ideas geared towards the preser
nise clarifies this: “establishment maintenance”. Have vation of structure.
you ever heard of anything like it for a building? The park has “grown up”, in a way that existed only in
Management and maintenance in the park @Arclib
are our heads and in drawings during the design process.
@Arclib
based on experience. Two decades on the actors are
Explore the Information
Content of the Land-
scape, and Distinguish
between Introvert
and Extrovert Spaces
Landscape consists of information: notations of actual,
existing images and the connotation that exists only in the
observer’s mind. Following this theory, landscape design
aims not only to implement elements of a high quality but
also to provoke positive connotations.
The understanding that landscape and open space are
composed of assembled bundles of specific information
leads to an approach that distinguishes between introvert
and extrovert spaces.
In introvert spaces the essential information must be
derived from within the confines of the spaces themselves.
This could comprise neutral stimuli or their intended mani
pulation. Some things are mere coincidence and reach
beyond visual communication: the leaves of a tree rustle in
the wind, water in the stream may sound like a melody and
the twittering birds provide the background music.
Extrovert spaces are the exact opposite. They open up
panoramas and draw attention to special features in the
surroundings.

@Arclib
The experience of a space is not primarily shaped by that is considered to be constitutive of Duisburg Nord.
the quality of the place but by its external information. That is why the park establishes a relationship with the
Generally, the required images are selected and intru panorama. Images on the outside are drawn into the
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sive vistas, such as views of industry, are screened by park via the charging platform of Blast Furnace 5.
@Arclib
landscape interventions. But it is precisely this industry
Distinguish between
Structure and Form
Each project needs a structure that either exists or has
to be generated.
The principle of structures cannot be changed or
photographed but only extended or reduced, renewed or
left to fall derelict. Structures can absorb spontaneous
interventions without changing the essence of a scheme.
They can even be a welcome divergence.
The opposite is true for the designed form. It appears
as finished shapes, does not tolerate partition, can be fath
omed and depicted, can be viewed in a holistic way, and
relies on being something special.
The structure is produced by a repetitive configuration
of the same elements. These elements represent the
“normal” or the ordinary. However, unique, one-of-a-kind
objects are the product of form. They are “special”.
Both structure-forming and unique elements can
have completely different characteristics, different mater
ial properties and thus different manifestations.

@Arclib
What you need to consider: A concept that amasses can be placed – as a symbol of culture, of nature or of
only unique elements, aiming to repeat their special social events.
ness, must inevitably fail – even if it is the express wish In the Landscape Park Duisburg Nord, the crane
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of the client. The goal should be the normal; it provides
@Arclibbridge and the bunkers represent the serial while the
an essential basic structure in which special elements gardens represent the exceptional.
Acquire a Feel for
the Materials by Design-
ing and Implementing
at a Scale of 1:1
There used to be internships in Europe that offered the
experience of working on a building site or in a tree nurs
ery rather than in a landscape practice.
In order to make their significance tangible for the
profession, I conducted one-week workshops for several
years – held, among other places, in Saarbrücken during
the construction of the city’s Hafeninselpark.
The park’s structure is abstract, practically invisible.
It is based on the national grid of 20 by 20 metres. The
work at a scale of 1:1 went even further in an area of the
park where we incorporated recycling as part of the learn
ing process. The construction material was reclaimed
from building rubble that had been used to fill in the his
toric port. Students and apprentices were asked to formu
late instructions for a 20-by-20-metre plot in a single
sentence. Drawings and models were not permitted. They
could, however, propose a mathematical formula, such
as: “I subdivide the plot into ordered areas according to the
Fibonacci sequence.” They could alternatively be plant
typologies, patterns of arrangement, sequences of opera
tions, elements, planting principles or simply materials.

@Arclib
When we started digging into the wartime rubble in into something valuable and new: retaining walls, paths,
Saarbrücken’s former river port some 30 years ago, steps and gardens. It was the adaptation of this once-
we had no idea what it could be used for. Material destroyed material that generated creativity closely
was excavated and shaped into new elements.@Arclib
The related to its physical form.
@Arclib
“discovered” materials were spontaneously developed
Be Conscious of the
History of a Place and the
History of Garden Art
Each place has its history. And so it seems obvious to
understand design as the “invention” of information layers
that overlap existing ones before form or expression are
even considered. This means designing with the accepted
and the disruptive, the harmonious and the inconsistent:
a metamorphosis of the landscape without destroying the
existing.
The history of our profession dates back to the
gardens of Mesopotamia. In relevant courses of study,
the history of garden art is part of the core academic
curriculum. They favour examples that celebrate the rep
resentation of power and wealth.
Thus, it seems sensible to remind ourselves that most
gardens are not designed by landscape architects. Lay
movements play a major role in garden culture, formulating
concepts of society in private gardens. They love to ex
periment, have a group-specific regard for new topics (self-
sufficiency, health) and secure a broad sales market.

@Arclib
Landscape architecture must overcome the constraints a new feature was that it opened out onto the land
of “form follows function” and make its mark with the scape. The knowledge of the patterns of arrangement
power of images – images that endure. and technical know-how was passed down and applied
The garden at Castello Ruspoli in Vignanello is over many centuries.
from the early Renaissance period. Its vocabulary and This place was the inspiration for me to design a
@Arclib
form correspond to the aesthetic patterns of that time. garden along similar lines.
@Arclib
The garden itself was limited to simple elements, but
How to Listen
Sound is the essence and expression of life: birds singing
in the trees, children singing in the streets, the ocean
burbling in the harbour, trees whooshing in the backyard,
cars howling along the highway.
The act of listening, and respect for the living, are
always the starting point of my practice.
The place tells stories. I listen, understand and trans
late them into space. People talk and exchange news. I
hear them, and implement their needs and wishes into my
thoughts and design.
As landscape architects we need to know how to
listen in order to shape cities for life. Cities that make
people feel alive and allow them to connect to the world
and other people around them. Cities that offer plants
and animals a habitat. Cities that sound and vibrate.
121 Karoline Liedtke, Head of Landscape (Cobe)

@Arclib
→ Copenhagen,@Arclib
Denmark
Two women chatting in the garden in front of the Nor bridges the two and creates a meeting place. In an
dvest Library in Copenhagen. This northwestern area area dominated by very small apartments, the Library
of Copenhagen is located between the lively and and its garden become an extension of people’s
@Arclib
diverse urban district of Nørrebro and the suburban
@Arclibhomes, where residents line up for the daily 10 o’clock
neighbourhoods at the edge of the city. The Library opening.
Latin
The Latin-based binomial nomenclature is a formal system
of naming species of living things by giving each a dis
tinct designation. Every plant has its very own name, and
knowing these is our armamentarium for planning and
the basis of our communication. Through it we can cor
respond beyond language barriers and make sure we
mean the same thing. In a wider, interdisciplinary working
environment it sometimes becomes a secret language
that only an inner circle understands. I always enjoy the
question marks on my non-landscape colleagues’ faces
when excitingly chatting with other landscape architects
about different tree species and their special features.
Latin also means education, formality, tradition – and
it is associated with the roots of Western culture. As land
scape architects we are academically educated, and
we should always make sure we study further throughout
our careers. Extending our vocabulary is essential to
generate innovation without brushing aside traditions.

@Arclib
Denmark
Hortus Eystettensis is a codex produced by Nurem herbs and vegetables, and exotic plants were depict
berg apothecary Basilius Besler in 1613 of the garden ed near life size, producing rich detail. Descriptions of
@Arclib
of the Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, which changed
@Arclibthe plants were in Latin and, remarkably, anticipated
botanical art overnight. The plates of garden flowers, the binomial system by over 100 years.
Finding the
Extraordinary in the
Everyday
Copenhagen’s bicycle culture has caught on as an icon
of an attractive urban lifestyle that combines efficient,
green mobility, healthy living, and leisure. And the common
and daily use of the bike has raised a new set of chal
lenges here: How to accommodate the 650,000 bicycles
that exist in the city, without compromising the quality
of urban space? How to shape public environments where
infrastructure and public spaces are intertwined like
urban organisms – where the ordinary structural needs
to become extraordinarily beautiful?
The new university square in Copenhagen is arranged
as a superimposed surface of hills and valleys, with room
for 2,100 bikes underneath and space for social interaction
on top. Circular holes bring light in these sacred-looking
“bike-domes”. Stairs, like vertebrae on a bowed spine,
emerge on the outside surface, shaping stands for watch
ing and listening. The university square becomes Copen
hagen’s biggest bike-parking lot and outdoor lecture hall.

@Arclib
Denmark
Karen Blixens Plads at the University of Copenhagen plaza works as a campus landscape with an important
is one of the city’s largest urban spaces. A hybrid of functional role as well as being a recreational resource.
park and square, it is organised as a superimposed The necessary infrastructure is turned into a three-
surface of human-made hills and valleys with @Arclib
room dimensional student hang-out.
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for over 2,000 parked bicycles inside the “hills”. The
Copenhagen
In the 1990s, Copenhagen invested billions cleaning up
its former industrial inner-city harbour, making it acces
sible to and swimmable for everyone. Some people have
even begun to cultivate mussels and oysters in its waters –
and the media have recently taken to reporting sight
ings of seals. Copenhagen has transformed itself from an
industrial city to a city for life.
Smelling the ocean, having a notion of that natural
water body and its creatures just beside where you live
and work always awakens a certain yearning and thrill of
anticipation in me. Just imagine the satisfaction, then,
when jumping in and cooling down after a warm day. Or
the melancholic mood when hearing a seagull. A sense
of nature even in the densest city is magical. Conceiving
of and introducing nature as a fundamental part of the
city is an essential part of my understanding as a land
scape architect. It puts us in context. We are only
human after all.

@Arclib
Denmark
The new Nordhavn is conceived as an urban archi the planning of buildings. Strips of green spaces run
pelago or a series of dense neighbourhoods on the from east to west. Movement through these sections
water. Along with green strips, new canals will be dug is experienced as a diverse and varied journey. The
to enhance access and proximity to the water. @Arclib
The public spaces vary from “urban green” in the south to
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planning of “blue and green” city qualities precedes “natural green” in the north.
From Where the
Wind Blows
Denmark is a windy country. Wind here stands for leisure
and sport. Having a boat and being out sailing is common,
and forms part of most people’s everyday lives and
holidays.
Wind here means energy. Denmark can source almost
half (47%) of its electricity consumption from wind power,
and aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 70% by
2030.
Wind here creates a great awareness of moments and
places when it finally stops blowing – places of the kind
that are very much appreciated in most cities by the sea.
Being conscious of where the wind blows from is essential
when designing public and private spaces here.
And wind here is a cause for constant change.
Denmark’s coastlines are steadily eroding and reforming.
Extreme weather events and rising sea levels are inten
sifying their forces, allowing these natural phenomena to
become a threat to many communities and their property.
And coastal-protection measures often seem to push
the problem on to another place and time.
Here, some proper wind gusts might help us to clear
our minds and to think anew. We need to find strategies
with the wind and the waves rather than against them, let
ting natural dynamics become part of our cities and
systems.

@Arclib
Denmark
Copenhagen, a city based on reclamation and fortifi historic strategy of a step-by-step expansion into the
cations, seen from above. The transformation of Nord surrounding sea. A way of solving problems (shortage
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havn (North Harbour) – the largest metropolitan devel of housing or/and creating new problems (disturbance
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opment in northern Europe – continues Copenhagen’s and destruction of ecosystems)?
Make Landscape
Multifunctional
Rural landscapes are often multifunctional, responding
to human needs by adapting to climatic constraints and
the limitations of natural resources. Citrus orchards in
Iraq are planted under the high canopies of date palms to
shelter them and optimise irrigation needs. Olive trees
in the Mediterranean are inter-cropped with grain, doubling
the economic benefits.1 Multifunctionality takes on a new
meaning in these regions today. Because the urgent need
for economic and social betterment supersedes con
cern for environmental health, combining nature conserva
tion with livelihood generation, environmental mitigation
with development, is a sure way to address concerns for
human and environmental wellbeing.
126 Jala Makhzoumi@Arclib

→ Beirut, Lebanon
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1 Makhzoumi, Jala (1997). “The changing role of rural
landscapes: olive and carob multi-use tree plantations
The high canopy of the date palms, Phoenix dactilifera, in the semiarid Mediterranean”, in Landscape and Urban
provides a microclimate for oranges planted under Planning, vol. 37, pp. 115–122; Makhzoumi, Jala (2012).
neath. Palm canopies shade the citrus fruit from the “Olive multifunctional landscapes in Cyprus: sustainable
scorching summer sun. In the winter, the low angle of planning of Mediterranean rural heritage”, in Elisabeth
the sun allows it to infiltrate and warm the space under Conrad and Louis Cassar (eds.). Landscape Approaches
the canopy, which functions as a greenhouse. One @Arclib
irri for Ecosystem Management in Mediterranean Islands.
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gation network serves both palms and citrus trees. Malta: Progress Press Ltd, pp. 219–234.
Diffuse Boundaries
Like ecosystems, landscape boundaries can be difficult
to determine. Processes and natural cycles transform,
sustain and bind urban, suburban and industrial techno-
ecosystems/landscapes with agricultural, natural
and semi-natural bio-ecosystems /landscapes.1 Expan
sive readings of space/place cultivate a dynamic under
standing of landscapes as networks and processes –
everchanging, rather than passive scenery. Breaching
boundaries frees designers from the polarised thinking
of urban/rural, nature/culture binaries to think, rather,
of landscapes as continua and ecological continuities.
Only then can landscape architects restore ecologies,
heal cultural discontinuities and contribute to human
rights and social justice.2

→ Beirut, Lebanon
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1 Bakshi, Trilochan S. and Naveh, Zev (eds.) (1980).
Environmental Education: Principles, Methods and
Applications. New York and London: Plenum Press.
2 Egoz, Shelley, Makhzoumi, Jala and Pungetti, Gloria

(eds.) (2011). The Right to Landscape: Contesting
Landscapes flow across space and evolve over time. Landscape and Human Rights. London: Ashgate.
A spatially and temporally expansive reading of land Makhzoumi, Jala (2018). “Landscape architecture
scape encourages designers to look beyond the con and the discourse on democracy in the Middle East”,
fines of a site, city and national borders. Spatial contigu in Shelley Egoz, Karsten Jørgensen and Deni Ruggeri
ities and ecological hierarchies of the global landscape (eds.). Defining Landscape Democracy: Perspectives
invite a holistic, dynamic and networked reading @Arclib
and on Spatial J ustice. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton,
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writing of landscape. MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 29–38.
Celebrate Seasonal
Watercourses
Seasonal changes dictate alternative design sensibilities,
and so designers should be alert to the temporality of
landscapes. Parched earth and golden grasses in the sum
mer are as beautiful as the verdant landscapes they
morph into with the first autumn rains. Dry watercourses,
important geomorphological features in arid and semi-
arid ecologies, are favoured by humans and nature, which
compete for their climatic sheltering and favourable en
vironment. They also embody the seasonal absence/
abundance of water and, whether a wadi in the desert or
a small mountain stream, they are repositories of eco
logical memory, acting as nature’s footprints. Swelling up
with the first rains, flooding orchards and streets in the
spring before drying out in the summer, seasonal water
courses ensure ecological connectivity, enhance the
character of a place and render new landscapes meaning
ful to local communities.1

→ Beirut, Lebanon
@Arclib
Coastal landscapes in Lebanon, such as that of Saida
(Phoenician Sidon), are punctuated by rivers, streams 1 Makhzoumi, Jala and Al-Sabbagh, Salwa (2021).
and seasonal watercourses that extend beyond the “A seascape planning approach: Reconceptualising
municipal boundaries into the foothills. Local and coastal rivers and streams in Lebanon”, in Gloria
national authorities discharge sewage into rivers and Pungetti (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Seascapes.
dry watercourses, the result of outdated engineering Abingdon, UK: Routledge. In press.
infrastructural solutions. The Saida Urban Sustain
able Development Strategy (USUDS) recognises the 2 Makhzoumi, Jala (2015). “The greening discourse:
ecological, spatial and socio-cultural role of sea ecological landscape design and city regions in the
sonal watercourses, restores their ecologies and con Mashreq”, in Robert Saliba (ed.). Reconceptualizing
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ceptualises them as linear parks – key components for Boundaries: Urban Design in the Arab World. London:
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sustainable urban greening. 2 Ashgate, pp. 63–80.
Use Shade,
Shade and Shade
Large urban spaces and wide streets are problematic in
the Middle East. Western architecture can be emulat
ed, but with immense energy costs associated with cool
ing. The lush greens of temperate climates, however,
will not survive the heat and environmental limitations of
the region. Instead the strategic placement of trees and
shrubs, pergolas and trellises are proposed as a key to
energy-efficient landscape design.1 In application, select
ing native plants that are drought-tolerant and environ
mentally adapted, and organising them in rows and enclo
sures, can impact favourably on a site’s microclimate
and improve the microclimate of cities.
129 Jala Makhzoumi

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→ Beirut, Lebanon
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1 Makhzoumi, Jala and Jaff, A. (1987). “Applications
of trellises in retrofitting buildings in hot-arid climates”.
Proceedings of the International Building Energy
Management Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland,
pp. 460–466. Makhzoumi, Jala (1983). “Low energy
alternatives for site planning through the use of trees
in a hot arid climate”, in S. Yannas and A. Bowen (eds.).
Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Oxford: Perga
mon Press, pp. 499–505.
These modular tree enclosures are proposed by the 2 Unit 44 (2014). Madinat al Nakheel. http://www.
landscape masterplan for a new city south of Basra, unit44.net/practice/ecological-planning/project-
Iraq. The enclosures increase shaded ground area and 587353faf00518-62148024 (accessed 11.01.2021).
shelter from dust-laden winds. Ziziphus spina-christi Landscape and Human Rights. London: Ashgate.
and Prosopis spp, both native to the region, are used Makhzoumi, Jala (2018). “Landscape architecture and
because they are well adapted to the challenging site the discourse on democracy in the Middle East”, in
conditions and limited resources available for long- Shelley Egoz, Karsten Jørgensen and Deni Ruggeri
term landscape upkeep. The enclosed space doubles (eds.). Defining Landscape Democracy: Perspectives
@Arclib
up as sheltered sport fields and/or locations for solar on Spatial Justice. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton,
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panels. 2 MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 29–38.
Apply Indigenous
Knowledge
Indigenous landscapes in villages and cities can inform,
guide and inspire landscape architects in the Middle East.
Terraced cultivation in mountainous terrain, multifunctional
tree planting, rainwater-harvesting ponds in settlements,
wadi cultivation, and vernacular irrigation systems such as
qanat and aflaj are but some examples of these. Place
names and folk language, rich with landscape inferences,
are clues to the history of place, to unwritten social val
ues and to shared ecological memories.1 The domestic
village garden, the hakura, captures the essence of inher
ited knowledge2 wherein production and pleasure are
combined to optimise the use of water, and enclosure and
shade are prioritised to temper the climate.
130 Jala Makhzoumi

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→ Beirut, Lebanon
@Arclib
A vernacular domestic garden in Beirut (circa 1900) is 1 Makhzoumi, Jala (2009). “Unfolding landscape in
inspired by the village hakura. The space of the garden a Lebanese village: Rural heritage in a globalizing
is “full” and shaded – a place that engages the senses World”, International Journal of Heritage Studies 15(4)
with an abundance of shapes, colours and scent. The pp. 317–337.
hakura exemplifies the description of paradise in the
Bible and the Quran as a shaded landscape with a di 2 Makhzoumi, Jala (2008). “Interrogating the hakura
versity of fruit trees. Beirut’s vernacular gardens are the tradition: Lebanese garden as product and production”,
antithesis of the Western, modern garden designs that International Association for the Study of Traditional
came to replace them, which prioritised open@Arclib space
@ArclibDwellings and Settlements, Working Paper Series,
and form over productivity and climatic sheltering. vol. 200, pp. 50–60.
Taking in the Very
Essence of the
Territory
As landscape designers, when first visiting a site – while
walking and experiencing the land that will be transformed
and eventually improved with our work – we should breathe
in its very nature: the inherent qualities of this land and
the original physical arrangement of its natural elements.
At this moment (the one we should know is the most re
vealing and inspiring) we need to be open to the beautiful
and generous art of observation, intimately connected to
the gift of listening to nature. Let the earth and the water
talk – the trees and the silence, too. Once we take in all that
is there and all that is not, we can put a finger on it; then,
our hands can go to work, our thoughts and our drawings
progress – not before. It is the specificity and the essence
of a place that will provide us with a true muse for our
proposal. Let’s be awake.1
131 Teresa Moller @Arclib

→ Santiago, Chile
@Arclib
Lo Curro, Santiago de Chile, Chile
As part of an old water-collection system fed by local
streams, the site had a series of abandoned pools and
tanks. They were restored and rebuilt with stone to re
ceive the water at different levels, taking advantage
of the natural 15-metre change in elevation. In the
past, water timidly ran down the natural hill, getting
wasted; after clearing up the site it was rediscovered
and retained in the rebuilt tanks and ponds; now, as
it keeps falling and being caught, still hidden by trees
and shrubs, its constant soothing sound reveals @Arclib
that it
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is and it always was there. 1 Translation by Jimena Martignoni.
Dumping All
Preconceptions and
Orthodoxies
As designers, we need to be free. We need to empty our
selves of all preconceived notions and ideas, trends and
orthodoxies. Freedom, as we know, takes much courage.
In the same way, we need to be courageous in order to get
rid of everything we tried in former projects and every
thing other designers tried in theirs – not as an act of arrog
ance but as one of connection with the here and now.
We need to ask ourselves, “Is this a valid idea for this
place?” Sometimes a barely noticeable intervention is the
only answer for a given place, a subtle landmark or an
element that has a purpose and an intangible sense of life.
In this way, we are able to create a pact between design
and nature, the man-made and the pristine. Our work, then,
becomes a unique creation in response to a unique place.1

→ Santiago, Chile
@Arclib
Parque Villarica, Villarrica Woods, Chile
In southern Chile, a circular pond made of stone re
ceives the rainwater to feed an irrigation system and
creates reflections of the local woods and the light
coming through the foliage. Nothing else seems @Arclib
to be
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required by the site. 1 Translation by Jimena Martignoni.
Incorporating the
Needs and
the Customs of Others
We are designers, yes, but that does not make us protag
onists. We need to think about the people who will be
using, enjoying, inhabiting and experiencing the designs
we place on nature. What are the dreams, the tastes
and the expectations of these people? What do they take
pleasure in? And once we can identify this, we need to
be able to relate to it. The truth is that our work is not for
us but for them, not for the sake of design or for being
published. Our appreciation for others – together with the
capacity to incorporate our own “emotional baggage”,
creativity and knowledge – is the measurement that will
indicate how good the result of our work will be. The
more we appreciate their needs and expectations, and
the more we connect our thoughts and proposals to
them, the closer our project will come to being great.1

→ Santiago, Chile
@Arclib
Punta Pite, Zapallar, Chile
This is about a path that draws an itinerary through
the cliffs and takes the visitor closer to the ocean, with
no precise direction. Instead, the composition invites
walkers to create their own way and to be surprised
by the pieces that appear on the natural rocky sur
face. The path appears only at those spots where it is
needed to help visitors keep walking and, in order to
announce how to continue, isolated pieces are@Arclib
placed
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as signs in the landscape. 1 Translation by Jimena Martignoni.
Designing with the Less
Intrusive Geometry
Our work as designers should be something that reads
as a loving interaction and not as a careless intervention.
For this, we have to ask ourselves how to approach a
project and how we can touch the earth with our work. If
we tried to picture our design as seen from the air, and
then how people would walk the site without it losing its
distinctive character, we would find that working with
subtle elements and compositions was our most natural
choice. Lines are the subtlest way for humans to touch
the earth; they are a sign of the conversation between
humankind and nature from the beginning of times (water-
distribution channels, nomad routes, fences). They are
the healthiest and least intrusive design element that we
can use to relate to nature. However, even a line has
to be there for a reason; you don’t build a bridge if there
is no river to cross.1

→ Santiago, Chile
@Arclib
Punta Pite, Zapallar, Chile
Underneath a beautiful canopy of existing cypress
trees and framed by the water-receiving stones de
signed by sculptor Gerardo Ariztía, a runnel made of
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local stone appears as a subtle line in the landscape
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and a place of encounter. 1 Translation by Jimena Martignoni.
Activating
Economical Thinking
and Processes
As designers of an era in which sustainability is the only
answer for a struggling planet, we need to think and plan
with an economical perspective. This is about being aware
of (and grappling with) the fact that there aren’t enough
resources to satisfy all our needs and desires. We need to
make friends (responsible friends) with the concept of
scarcity – scarcity not only of natural resources such as
water and land but also of those apparently less important,
yet indispensable, ones such as time and funding. Today,
the more we commit to economical thinking and design,
the timelier our project will be. In turn, the less presumptu
ous our project, the stronger people’s response will be to
the places created because they will feel freer and will act
more naturally in them – becoming, themselves, part of
the scenery.1

→ Santiago, Chile
@Arclib
Venice Biennale 2016, Arsenale, Venice, Italy
Catch the landscape is an art installation made of dis
carded pieces of travertine found in some recently
discovered quarries of northern Chile. The Biennale’s
curators decided to keep this composition at the site
as a permanent exhibit. Travertine is a choice that
seeks to honour Italian history and also to create an
eternal conversation between the old and the new
world. These pieces seek to silently call the visitor in a
natural invitation to rest and to be there by the water,
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also understanding this element as a key component @Arclib
of Venice. 1 Translation by Jimena Martignoni.
Common
“Common” denotes a space shared between several rela
tionships of beings in the world – whether mineral, vegetal,
animal or human. Common is the regulating and funda
mental principle of public space, in the sense that it is not
specific to a particular type of population. A democratic
society is consolidated and nourished by its ability to “do,
be and dream” together. Limiting public spaces to com
ply with the social norms of the moment is part of the
criteria of comfort and security of a society inclined to
wards total control. The Living shows an ingenuity that is
out of all proportion to what our brains can grasp. When
one party fails, another party mobilises to take over. Each
party has the capacity for versatility in order to compen
sate for the fragility of the other. The potential of a place, of
an installation, resists the single thought of a single inter
pretation for the benefit of the common good.
136 Catherine Mosbach

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Spontaneous performing: “Louvre Lens” forecourt, isation. Spaces – outside of standards – nourish people’s
2016 minds, and are as much markers of initiatives for tomor
The landscape project weaves links between popula row’s populations. Landscape work has the power to
tions and living places. It indicates the potential links bring us all together, wherever we are, to share amen
between individuals and communities – a humanistic ities, imaginations, sensitivities – to welcome a better
issue. It is an indicator of a common good whose@Arclib
crea life for further generations through the ages.
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tive dimension should not be subordinated to standard
Design
Designing a programme on a site initiates a dialogue be
tween a community and other temporalities: animal, plant,
soil, water, sound, air and light. A dialogue nourishes the
dialectic between what is known, delimitable at the mo
ment of the facts, and what is in continuous formation of
a world where human beings are only one part of a larger
system. A child draws before knowing how to read and
write. Drawing unfolds the spectrum of the imagination, of
the reception of the one who emits as well as of the one
who receives. Imagination is the leaven of creation, of the
encounter between one world and another, between an
individual and a group. The world “delivers” to our beings
only if we establish principles of deciphering. The land
scape architect has the privilege of playing with the real
being incarnated. Let’s not lock it into pre-established
patterns.

@Arclib
Lithosphere design, Central Park, Taiwan, 2017 the last moment with the taking of shape of the materi
The line folds and unfolds in a whirlwind until it “sets”. al. Design is essential, like the words assembled for a
Fluid dynamics are represented by a bundle of lines text. No project without drawing (purpose): milestones,
or vectors. Drawing intentions translates a thought, a measures, rhythms to approach what you want to
way to play with the hazards without losing the @Arclib
heart achieve and unfold.
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of the subject. The design is a guide; it is revisited until
Imagination
Imagination is a vast field, still fallow in the limited universe
of life sciences. It is only manifested through the per
ception of what comes to it from outside of an incarnated
envelope. Yet its exteriors pass through the senses,
which, according to Rudolf Steiner, would be approached
by Speech – Taste – Sound – Balance – Meditation – Vision
– Motion – Identity of the I – Touch – Freshness – Smell –
Vitality. The works of landscape architects are intended for
a public, drawn from all cultures. The orchestration pro
posed for a place must be able to accommodate and nour
ish all its layers; it is a question of the capacity of being
on this Earth. Landscape architects have the duty to
nourish the imagination of whole populations in order to
cultivate their singular resources to live in this world.

@Arclib
Tribute to Michel Corajoud, 2014 initiates the foundations of an always-open dialogue –
Imagination takes hold of the nebula of phenomena exposed to the temporalities of the weather and the
and transcribes it in the hope of cultivating some of passing of time – offered to the appetite of the curious
the wonders of the world. It unfolds the possible. It is being that seizes it. A landscape project is accom
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receptive to what is not yet delimited, regulated by plished from the moment it invites people to marvel at
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the norms of the present time. The landscape project the world beyond technical performance.
Micro Macro
The world that welcomes us is multiscalar, incorporating
the scale of our daily environment and that of the uni
verse – constellations, galaxies – which exceeds our human
temporalities. Initiating a “fertile” canvas for capturing
the processes of the living implies becoming aware of the
invisible at the origin of the visible. Technologies for cap
turing images and waves – visual and sonic – at all scales –
micro and macro – have unfolded spectrums of know
ledge. Becoming aware of the micro “biological” world is
a prerequisite for any landscape architect. Questioning
the singularities of a site at the scale of its “initial” earth–
sea formation, above and below the surface, allows the
“tailor-made” transcription of a programme for a place. A
landscape project should be unique for one and only
one place. The infinite reproduction from one part of the
globe to another of dominant models, whatever the site
invested in, is a colonial paradigm.

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“In the net of desires”, Milan Triennale, Italy, 2016 pra medium that, through morphogenesis, generates
Landscape architects play with infinite scores. They mineral, vegetal, animal formations from a skein of
bring them to the forefront of the “market of the real” microorganisms. The possibility is offered to all and
on their space–time scale. Their universe of fabrication open to those who take the risk. Designers: Catherine
of the Living crosses the visible and invisible@Arclib
layers Mosbach, Ovvo Studio
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from the macro to the micro. They would be this su
Transmission
“Passing on” means bequeathing to the next generation
the virtues of living well together. It is accepted and easily
apprehended that monuments are an integral part of
such legacies, and the works of landscape architects are
most often destined to have a limited duration. The trans
mission of a landscape project’s spirit is defined as early
as its conception and implementation. The work of a
landscape architect is also defined by the management
of continuously arising formations in a particular place. This
dimension is random, depending on the actors involved
in the process. Yet, it is essential if our present-day selves
want to leave a sensitive impression for subsequent gen
erations. It is admitted that nothing is ever certain, that
everything is constantly being built. This capacity to build
through drawing with the Living must be cultivated. Not
to cultivate it is a denial of civilisation itself.

@Arclib
“Nebulosities”, sky, Dublin, Ireland, 2017 limiting the resurgence of seeds, welcoming wildlife,
The alliance of the elements on Gaia – water, air, earth and so on), these polarised masses indicate the inter
– dictates the instruments of a mode of producing land faces and migrations among them. They designate
scape, and exposes the assets highlighted in a singular operations of supportive environments – the move
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place. Independently of the ingredients mobilised to re ment and nature of one impacts on the movement and
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spond to one function or another (capturing rainwater, nature of the other – for lands hosting singular beings.
Landscape
Architecture is a Practice
of Care
The activity of caring, in the words of scholars Joan Tronto
and Berenice Fisher, includes “everything we do to main
tain, continue, and repair our ‘world’ so that we can live in
it as well as possible. That world includes our bodies, our
selves, and our environment, all of which we seek to inter
weave in a complex, life-sustaining web.”1 This woven web
of life is on full display in public spaces and landscapes,
where the interdependencies between species, environ
ments, ecology and society demonstrate the fundamental
interconnectedness of planetary inhabitation. 2 In the con
text of today’s compounding environmental and social
crises, it is increasingly urgent for landscape architects to
cultivate an ethic of care in order to nurture robust, re
silient and just spaces and ecologies. The practice of land
scape architecture carries the agency and responsibility
to bring about necessary changes – and to do so, we must
learn to listen, take care and act.
141 Aisling M. O’Carroll

@Arclib
Kingdom
“Parliament of Plants”, Studio Céline Baumann, 1 Tronto, Joan C. and Fisher, Berenice (1990).
exhibited at “Twelve Cautionary Urban Tales”, “Toward a Feminist Theory of Caring”, in Emily K.
Matadero, Madrid, 13 February 2020–31 January 2021 Abel and Margaret K. Nelson (eds.). Circles of Care:
In “Parliament of Plants”, woody, leafy and flowering Work and Identity in Women’s Lives. Albany, NY: State
beings convene in an urban, parliamentary forum. En University of New York Press, p. 40.
dowed with political agency, the plants shape an alter
native democratic debate based upon mutual care and 2 Fitz, Angelika and Krasny, Elke (2019). “Intro
support. This vegetative administration takes decisions duction”, in Angelika Fitz and Elke Krasny (eds.),
for the common good, informed by its knowledge @Arclib
of Critical Care: Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken
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ecology, inclusion, tolerance and diversity. Planet.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 12–13.
Take Time to
Appreciate the Otherness
of Plants
Plants are alive, dynamic and unpredictable. They are cap
able of forms of adaptation, reproduction, transforma
tion and a longevity completely foreign to us as humans.
Their structure, foliage, fruit, seasonality and aesthetics
offer endless fascination and variety with which to work.
Designing with a raw material imbued with its own intel
ligence, agency and vitality requires a nuanced mediation
between designer, site and material. The resulting relation
ships may get their start in the development of a project
on paper but they continue well beyond that point, and be
yond a project’s “completed” construction on site. As land
scape architects we have to take the time to learn from
plants as well as learn to work with them, to appreciate the
“otherness” of their vibrant, vegetative vitality rather than
seeing them purely through our own human perspective.
We have to commit to the long-term relationship that
working with plants entails.

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→ London, United
@Arclib
Kingdom
Forest profile from Saint-Élie, French Guiana, Francis ities and individual plants. The slowness of observing
Hallé, ink on tracing paper, 162.5 ×145 cm (undated) and drawing allows him the time to patiently discover
French botanist Francis Hallé has spent his life drawing a tree’s form and structure. His forest profile captures
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trees in order to become familiar with and understand not only the “architecture” of individual trees but also
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the interconnected complexity of rich forest commun the vitality of the whole tropical rain forest system.
Learn to Read
Multiple Histories
When designing with landscape, there is no such thing
as a “blank slate”. We are always working from an existing
condition that holds memories, meanings and multiple
histories. Urban-landscape historian Thaïsa Way describes
landscapes as being “thick with history”.1 Our ability to
design responsibly and well for the future requires engag
ing with the interwoven pasts that each site contains.
Landscape architects have to be dexterous and resource
ful in searching out these histories of place – particularly
as they require us to see a site from perspectives other
than our own. We have to develop appropriate tools and
techniques for representing, comprehending and commun
icating the complex layers of a site’s history in our de
sign process. This task is far more challenging than work
ing from a tabula rasa, but it leads to more powerful,
meaningful and resilient spaces.

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→ London, United
@Arclib
Kingdom
“Theoretical geological section through the
Paris Basin”, Georges Cuvier and Alexandre
Brongniart, 1832
In their study of the Paris Basin, French geologists
Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart read the
landscape’s history stratigraphically through its section,
wherein geological layers record chronological time.
A site’s convoluted histories can be found in various
forms: in books and written accounts; embedded in its 1 Way, Thaïsa (2020). “Why History for Designers?
geological, vegetative and built materials; or captured (Part 1)”, Platform, 2 March. https://www.platform
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in its representations and stories, and in the memories
@Arclib space.net/home/why-history-for-designers-part-1
of its inhabitants. (accessed 02.04.2021).
Read and Use
Representation Critically
Representation is an essential tool for landscape archi
tects. We use it in researching, analysing and interpreting
sites, and in developing and communicating design pro
posals. But representations are not simply descriptive, they
actively shape and produce landscapes. Far from being
neutral documents, drawings, sketches, maps, models, ren
derings and collages frame knowledge and construct
ways of seeing and reading sites. To use Donna Haraway’s
term, representations are “meaning-machines” that record
and convey the ideas, power relations and interactions
of those who produced them.1 In a field in which represen
tation is ubiquitous, landscape architects must recognise
the power of images and our own agency in producing
them. Applying representation critically as a tool for design
entails considering the role that instruments, materials,
technology and our own intentional perspective play in pro
ducing representations; the ideas embedded within them;
and, ultimately, the landscapes that they shape and
generate.

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→ London, United
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Kingdom
“Reconstructing the Dent du Requin”,
Aisling O’Carroll, 2019
Using a combination of digital and analogue techniques,
this drawing reconstructs a peak in the Mont Blanc
massif from a 19th-century drawing by French archi
tect, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Although the
architect’s simplification of the peak to a crystalline
form may seem harmless, the theory of a perfect nat
ural order that underlies the drawing carried far-less-
innocent claims of power and superiority that extended
to nation, race and architecture. By reconstructing the
errors and distortions of Viollet-le-Duc’s sketch, the new 1 Haraway, Donna J. (1984). “Teddy Bear Patriarchy
drawing confronts both his idealised view of geo @Arclib
logy Taxidermy in the Garden of Eden, New York City,
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and its limitations. 1908–1936”, Social Text 11 (Winter 1984–1985), p. 52.
Embrace
Not Knowing and Enjoy
Finding Out
Landscapes are complex things. They perform social,
ecological, infrastructural and political functions (to name
just a few). In designing these spaces landscape archi
tects have to navigate a field of varied interdisciplinary
domains. Design thinking itself requires a wide breadth of
diverse knowledge – and yet, despite being equipped with
that knowledge, when responding to complex environ
mental, social and engineering problems we often don’t
have all the answers. Rather, one of the most important
skills of a landscape architect is to identify which questions
need to be asked and what other expert knowledge and
input is needed. This means having conversations, crossing
fields of expertise, testing and experimenting, working
with other specialists, and recognising that the best de
signs are co-produced by multiple individuals. In order to
deliver projects that are innovative and effective, we
need to understand the language of different fields, and
then lead through collaboration.

@Arclib
Kingdom
“Ocean-Chart” (The Bellman’s Map), Lewis Carroll, 1874 process can feel similarly uncharted – an interdiscipli
In Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark, the crew nary terrain to get productively lost in. As landscape
praises the Bellman’s map for being “a perfect and architects we need to be comfortable enough to dive
absolute blank!” The ocean-chart, free of the “merely into unknown territory and lead a project to a satis
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conventional signs” of cartography, presents the sea factory resolution.
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as an open, ambiguous territory to cross. The design
Everything
is a Competition of
Some Sort
We have come to learn that the entire universe is dynam
ic, not static. One aspect of life on Earth as it has devel
oped is that all living organisms are in competition for one
thing or another. This is a function of acquiring energy
and nutrients to fuel ongoing life processes and growth –
for better or worse. Everything from viruses and algae,
to mosses and invertebrates, through the plant and animal
kingdoms to scientists battling viruses and each other
is in one sort of competition or other – whether for sunlight
and space, sexual propagation, funding for a project or
time to think a bit more about one’s work. It’s OK, however.
It keeps us going and on our toes. One nice thing about
design and art is that the ultimate competition is not with
one’s peers, ancestors or successors but with oneself,
one’s own ideas and to improve on earlier work.
146 Laurie Olin @Arclib

→ Philadelphia, @Arclib
PA, USA
Competitions. Competitions offer an opportunity to Government decided to proceed in 1999, and fund
think and work conceptually. The invited competition raising began. Construction commenced in 2003 and
for Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Eu the memorial opened to the public in 2005. This is one
rope was won in 1997 by the concept design of Peter of 18 competitions Olin and Eisenman have collaborat
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Eisenman and Richard Serra. Laurie Olin joined the ed on to date, a handful of which have been built.
@Arclib
team, and later Serra withdrew in 1998. The German
Water Still Runs Downhill
– Thank Goodness
While others (architects and clients) commonly try to make
things flat, landscape architects know that water moves
and that it is easy to improve life with good, positive drain
age. Pumps and other mechanical devices will always
need maintenance and frequently break down, but good
old gravity is your friend and will do a lot of work for you
if you do a good job of grading (setting the levels well).
Plus, you can have a lot of fun playing with how water moves
and the nature of the path it takes. Water is the lifeblood
of the Earth. Designs that have water invariably please and
attract humans and other animals. We love it and can’t
stay away. It is mercurial, rarely at rest. It can be serene,
lively, playful, or intimidating and dangerous. People, young
and old, almost always walk up to its edge if they can
and stick their toe or hand in it. Treat water with respect.
Be generous and think carefully about how you wish
to accommodate interaction with it.

PA, USA
Water. Many of our favourite places contain water in nades and overlooks just for the pleasure of being
some form. It’s hard to keep people out of it, especially near and viewing it. Clients often find it worrisome and
children – so its situation and design are important. It resist, but it’s worth fighting to include it. Here, people
moves, reflects and looks best in sunlight. We @Arclib
have cool off on a hot summer day at the National Gallery
@Arclib
done countless water features – and designed espla of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.
If You Can’t Get Soil
That is Adequate
in Quality and Character,
Forget about
Planting Anything
It’s all about the $100 hole and the $10 tree. Without prop
er drainage, the correct pH and the right sort of nutrients
and microbial life, plants are guaranteed to struggle and die.
The world is full of failed and struggling landscapes that
ignored or didn’t meet this basic need. What others call dirt,
you know is soil. This also means you must do everything
possible to prevent its erosion and loss, as well as to avert
its contamination – often enough caused by the very con
tractors who are building your work. This is truly a case of
quality – often over quantity, although it matters that there
is enough soil and that it is fed (replenished) as plants draw
on it and use its minerals and nutrients for their structure,
growth and remarkable photo-chemical processes.

PA, USA
Soil. Transplanted old olive trees, Cupertino, CA. The land without becoming trapped in what amounts to a
combination of soil, excavation and planting mix is pot with hard sides.
critical, and is where a project can fail. The future No one – except the labourers and landscape archi
success of this planting has everything to do with the tect – is particularly interested in this, but everyone sees
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soil – how well it drains, the balance of structure with the result – sometimes tragically, but when done well:
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texture, whether the roots can enter the surrounding gloriously.
“Native” Plants are
on the Move
Many species on every continent have been coming or
going like immigrants and emigrants throughout history.
The world is dynamic, not static, and climate change is
a fact, the biggest problem facing the entire population of
all the creatures on the Earth – whether plant or animal,
on land or in the sea. So-called “native plants” are on the
move again, as in earlier eras (ice ages etc.). Pay atten
tion. In the USA, climate zones have already been revised
from what they were for the past hundred years – and
most likely will need to keep being readjusted: don’t “hang
your hat” on soon-to-be-extinct plants in your region. Think
instead about what is most likely to succeed in a decade
or two, which is just the blink of a landscape’s eye. Where
will such future successful “residents” be from, and how
do you get hold of them, now – not after it is too late? Be
ware of ideologies – even supposedly ecological ones –
when facing natural processes, new facts and crises. Stay
open-minded. Think globally and act locally.

PA, USA
New and old “natives”. A mixture of Mediterranean, fill particular niches and purposes seems an appropri
southwest-desert and Bay Area native plants. With the ate response. Planting has always been an experiment:
deepest drought in a century expected to continue and worldwide, plants, insects and animals on land and in
possibly worsen, many traditional and familiar region the sea have been moving – and experimenting – for
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al plants are struggling and may not survive the dec survival. All our natives – people and plants – arrived
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ade. Experimenting with a selection from elsewhere to here from somewhere at different times.
Thanks to Entropy,
There is No Such
Thing as Maintenance-
Free Anything
Just as we take care of our clothing, houses, cars and chil
dren or else they develop problems, fall apart or become
unruly – so, too, it is with the environment. You should fire
any client who demands a maintenance-free or foolishly
low-maintenance design. A handsome well-built landscape
will usually hold up better and receive more care than a
cheap one. People usually take better care of a Mercedes
or an Armani suit than they do a Volkswagen or blue jeans.
So, too, with landscape. Short-term cost savings are
anathema to landscape design.

PA, USA
Everything requires maintenance, just as there is a deep and eventful aspect of our medium. With
still is “no free lunch” in society or ecology time things grow and blossom; with time also comes
The desire for beauty with little or no investment in its entropy: things age and fall apart. To avoid living in a
care and maintenance is an affliction of contemporary ruin or wilderness, effort, time and investment must be
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Western society. It is one of the landscape architect’s
@Arclib made in care and maintenance. How much is enough
tasks to educate those we work with and for. Time depends upon the situation.
Bitches Get Stuff Done
It’s time for women to lead the design fields forward. Time
for landscape architects to shed our reputation as medi
ators and peacekeepers brought in to plant, buffer and
beautify; time to cut through the traditional boundaries of
private practice and the aestheticisation of the status
quo. Our circumstances – racial injustice compounded by
a pandemic; warming, expanding oceans; the “sixth ex
tinction” of biodiversity – require more of us. The climate-
feminist movement models a path forward, a more radical
conception of landscape activism. Landscape architects
have much to learn from social movements. Racial and cli
mate justice are inextricable, and both help us define
spatial goals that question entrenched notions of property
and ownership and challenge the powers that control
the built environment – engineers, planners, developers,
elected officials and donors. As landscape architects in a
climate-changed world, our role is to forge more trans
formative connections in the public realm at every scale.
Not everyone will like you in this process. That’s fine.
To quote comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler1 and, more
recently, US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
“Bitches get stuff done.”2
151 Kate Orff (SCAPE)

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→ New York, NY,@Arclib
USA
All We Can Save, 2019 (One World Books) is an anthol
ogy of essays, poems and art by women climate lead 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3vAVhaIE
ers, edited by Dr Ayana Eliza Johnson and Dr Katharine Ik&feature=emb_title.
Wilkinson; Kate Orff was one of 60 contributors. It has
@Arclib
gone on to create a non-profit organisation providing
@Arclib 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkQ4DBvjX
support and community for women climate leaders. w8&feature=emb_title.
Landscapes
are Messy and Very,
Very Hard Work
Landscape architects have spent decades trying to catch
up with architects’ visual culture. We sharpen our Illustrator
drawings, Photoshop™ ourselves into a corner of perfec
tion and pizzaz. We hire photographers to create passive,
pastoral images of swooping meadows and dew-kissed
lawns. This is marketing, not reality. Landscapes are labour.
By smoothing and polishing our representations of the
“ideal” landscape, we leapfrog over what really makes them:
groups of people working together, doing the hard work
of digging, planting, weeding, picking up plastic and debris,
pruning, sowing, trimming and sweeping. How can land
scape architects represent, photograph, draw and sketch
in order to foreground this labour? How do we keep the
hand of the land steward in the frame?

@Arclib
USA
103rd Street Community Garden: Street Community Garden in East Harlem – the project
Park Raising, New York City, NY, USA was built on a limited budget, almost entirely with the
In collaboration with the New York Restoration @Arclib
Proj
ect, help of volunteers.
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SCAPE participated in a “park-raising day” for the 103rd
Design is
Falling in Love
For me the design process is like falling in love (with a site).
What is unique, special and hidden? How do you foster
connections between people and their immediate environs?
Site design is an exhausting process – one that requires
both emotional and technical investment. Rather than the
pursuit of endless novelty, akin to Dali’s “paranoid-critical
method”, I propose a design method that patterns itself
after falling in love. Let’s foreground passion, creativity and
connection in our work and understand that as we plough
through technical-drawing sets, everything landscape
architects do is a form of loving the Earth and all the spe
cies on and below its surface. For every project, I swoon
with land-philia.

@Arclib
USA
Toward an Urban Ecology,
New York City, NY, USA, 2016 @Arclib
@Arclib
Oyster gardening in New York Harbor
Follow the Water
A first step in designing landscapes is to study where and
how water flows in them. Wherever you follow the water,
it tells a story: the history of the land, of displacement, of
ownership, power and control. A site’s ecological health
and social vibrancy tie back to how water is regarded, re
directed, activated and valued – or not. Landscape archi
tects are not trained as policymakers, politicians, historians
or anthropologists, but the political and social histories
of water can help us forge connections and mend fractured
landscapes. As designers, we can learn about land history
by looking at hydrology, translating its processes into
spatial design and physical landscapes that connect, re
store and inspire.

@Arclib
USA
First Avenue Water Plaza, New York City, NY, USA by a high-performance water-management system
At the base of the American Copper Buildings @Arclib
along designed by SCAPE to respond to both storms and
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the East River, First Avenue Water Plaza is undergirded coastal flood risk.
Excel at Excel
SCAPE represents an ethos, a stance, a collaborative and
creative design practice and a 75-person mid-sized busi
ness with payroll, insurance and complex financial projec
tions. I never imagined that being a business owner would
be one of the most exciting and intellectually engaging
things I would do in my life, or that I would enjoy the busi
ness aspect of practice as much as its creative and de
sign facets. Hand sketching, yes! AutoCAD, yes! Grass
hopper software, yes! But the real skill to learn in
leadership is how to orchestrate and manage teams and
finances through tracking hours and cost over time. It may
seem basic, but the software to learn is Microsoft Excel.

@Arclib
USA
Living Breakwaters design and implementation, in that most basic of tools: Excel. These include Living
Staten Island, NY, USA Breakwaters, SCAPE’s proposal for a series of near-
Behind the public-facing renderings of every @Arclib
project
@Arclibshore breakwaters off the southern coast of Staten
there are projections and extensive details mapped out Island.
5th Façade =
24/7 Landscape
Although the physical constraints brought by a pandemic
are only temporary, they are a sharp reminder of the im
mense value that lies in public accessibility and free move
ment through urban spaces: an outdoor picnic with good
friends, a walk to take in art and fresh air, large masses
of people gathering for a concert or finding the perfect
spot to watch the sun set. We typically need different,
programmed areas of a city in order to have these experi
ences – parks, galleries, concert halls and terraces. The
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, however, facilitates
it all on its roof as a non-programmed space. As a fifth
façade the roof is no longer part of a building with opening
hours but an urban plaza for the people. Through close
collaboration between architects and landscape architects,
we seamlessly integrate buildings into our landscapes, and
landscapes into our buildings – for everyone to enjoy.
156 Jenny B. Osuldsen (Snøhetta)

@Arclib
→ Oslo, Norway@Arclib
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, to “the Opera roof” as a place. The 19,000-square-metre
Oslo, Norway, 2008 white Carrara marble jigsaw puzzle consists of 33,000
Since its inauguration in 2008 more than 1.7 million peo individual stone pieces, and was created by an inter
ple have annually crossed the bridge leading to the disciplinary team incorporating three artists, an archi
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet – most of @Arclib
them tect and a landscape architect.
@Arclib
to take a stroll on the roof, which has led people to refer
Combine Digital and
Analogue Discoveries
For every tool you learn to use, whether analogue or di
gital, new possibilities appear. It is easy to get carried away,
letting the tool’s functionality dictate the outcome. We
should, rather, let the possibilities discovered set the course.
Parametric design was one such discovery in the devel
opment of the landscape design for Max IV, a research
park in Lund, Sweden. It played a crucial role in the design
of an undulating landscape that reduced ground vibra
tion from the nearby highway, allowing the research labo
ratory to operate with higher accuracy. Equally important,
however, were the analogue discoveries. The existing
monoculture landscape was transformed into meadowland,
essential to improving the area’s biodiversity, using ana
logue methods to harvest meadowland species and letting
sheep do the “maintenance”. The precise yet rough clay
terrain surrounding the Max IV research park was execut
ed using a bulldozer as a live 1:1 3D-plotter on site. Since
the opening, researchers have found that ground vibra
tions caused by the nearby highway have been reduced
by 30%, mainly due to the undulating landscape.

@Arclib
Max IV Laboratory Landscape, Lund, Sweden, 2016 from the area. Wildlife, in the form of birds and insects,
The hay that was sprayed over the mounds was har is now reoccupying the open landscape and the “hairy”
@Arclib
vested from the neighbouring nature reserve in order mounds are the area’s new signature, which also in
@Arclib
to secure a natural selection of meadowland species vites humans as visitors into the wavy, iconic landscape.
Make Slow Spaces
in Urban Jungles
Times Square was once one of the busiest and traffic
dominated areas in the world. New Yorkers themselves
hated it. Once you were in, getting out was difficult. A
trap, they said. The narrow, overcrowded sidewalks forced
pedestrians to spill into the roadways. It is still one of the
busiest places, but something has changed. Cars were
removed, and pedestrians were given access. By almost
doubling the pedestrian area, subtle changes such as
the elimination of kerbs, the removal of site clutter and the
introduction of a street carpet with sculpted horizontal
“obelisks” made eye height important and guaranteed a
feeling of being safe, as if walking along a building. There
are places to sit, walk, talk – to do yoga or meet an old
friend. By bringing human scale to an otherwise gargan
tuan spot on Manhattan Island, the new Times Square
became a hotspot from which to experience the beauty
of the urban jungle, enjoying people-watching and be
ing singular in the plural at your own pace.

@Arclib
1 Wilson, M. (2015). “Amid Times Square’s Bright
Lights, Murders in the Shadows”, New York Times,
Times Square Reconstruction, New York City, 23 January.
NY, USA, 2016
After closing Broadway to vehicle traffic into New York’s 2 New York State Department of Transportation
Times Square, pedestrian injuries fell by 40% in the (2014). “Friendlier Broadway Paves Way to Safety in
area1 despite a 59% increase in pedestrian foot traf New York”, April.
fic.2 Almost 80% of visitors say they feel that the new
pedestrian plazas make Times Square a safer, @Arclib
nicer 3 Times Square Alliance (2015). “Roadmap for a
@Arclib
and a more New York-place to be.3 21st Century Times Square”, 8 October.
Microscale Landscapes
in Urban Backyards
Through an initiative in the 1970s, Oslo’s worn-out housing
areas from the 1890s were saved from remediation, and
their backyards were also given a chance of a new life as
politicians allocated resources to urban renewal by means
of retaining and restoring. These otherwise lifeless, left
over, in-between spaces were transformed into lush, social
meeting points with lasting qualities. This allowed for im
provements, in both social sustainability and urban ecology,
in these microscale spaces. From 1980 to 2005 more
than 300 backyards in downtown Oslo were transformed
into meeting places for neighbours. Citizens could apply
for funding to cover up to 80% of the cost involved, using
professional landscape architects to execute the design
and user participation processes. But more importantly, the
yards were converted into shared space both for resi
dents to continue to live in the city centre and for visitors
to enjoy – an initiative for public health as much as for
biodiversity.

@Arclib
Oslo’s Backyards, revitalised as urban gardens, creates a catwalk through the new urban garden, with
Oslo, Norway white permeable gravel covering a detention basin
This backyard was transformed, using urban ecolo taking care of surface water. Green frames of peren
gy and sustainability parameters, from an outworn nials and cut hedges of beechwood; ivy as green
asphalt-covered area with three car-parking s paces “fur” on walls; and four small red mirrors, along with
@Arclib
and neglected vegetation to a meeting place for neigh custom-made benches, tables and loose chairs, create
@Arclib
bours. The white in-situ concrete with recycled glass a comfortable, peaceful and inviting courtyard.
A Long-Term Plan
with Invaluable Impact for
Generations
Landscape architecture requires patience. More often than
not, projects need time to grow into their full potential
and originally intended vision. Like its projects, the profes
sion of landscape architecture is itself also a phenom
enon of long lines. Already by 1919, Norway was among the
first European countries to offer Landscape Architecture
as an academic discipline. Its century-long investment
in educating landscape architects has resulted in signi
ficant long-term planning to secure the establishment,
resurgence and protection of urban green spaces and the
design of new common landscapes. In 2019 this devel
opment was explored in a book about the Norwegian pion
eers in landscape architecture and an exhibition at the
Norwegian National Museum of Art, Architecture and
Design. Being the museum’s first ever exhibition on land
scape architecture, a century after the profession’s mani
festation through the country’s educational system, it
underlines the fact that it is worth waiting for a tree to turn
100 but that you shouldn’t forget to take a photo when
it is newly planted.

@Arclib
Outdoor Voices, 2019 the pioneering era of the discipline, based on treasures
The historical archives of Norwegian landscape archi from the archives. Its main purpose was to tell stories to
tecture are managed and maintained by a research inspire and strengthen research into the history of land
group at the School of Landscape Architecture and scape architecture and green-heritage management. It
the University of Life Sciences at Ås, Norway. @Arclib
2019 is about learning from history, taking action today, and
In@Arclib
the book Outdoor Voices was published to celebrate all the while thinking of the future.
The Language
of Plants is Growth
Plants are the miracle of landscape-architectural design
because their very nature is constant change. When
we imagine, say, a forest or a tree-lined boulevard we are
actually imagining not the material – the tree – now but
long in the future. And in doing so we are projecting a fu
ture that is consistent and not catastrophic. In that mental
picture of the future a protagonist is lurking just out of
the frame: the gardener. Intuitively we know that the gar
dener is there, keeping the plants watered and cared
for, yet we don’t imagine that this act of care is an inherent
part of those plants’ materiality, which is not green but
made of growth itself. I have devised the term viridic,1 like
the concept of tectonic in architecture, to recognise that
plants need to be celebrated as a unique, transformative
material with acts of care at their heart. This challenges
landscape architects to practise in real time, not only with
drawings.
161 Julian Raxworthy

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→ Canberra, ACT,
@Arclib
Australia
The pollarding of trees at Insel Hombroich (western
Germany) shows how, through a process of “traumatic 1 Raxworthy, Julian (2018). Overgrown:
@Arclib
reiteration”, growth is catalysed to make landscape Practices between Landscape Architecture and
@Arclib
form. Gardening. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p. 135.
Ownership
Shapes the Boundary,
but Shouldn’t
Ian McHarg taught us to look at the large-scale landscape
and see its layers1 while Richard T. T. Forman helped us
to read its patterns, as a mosaic.2 In the 20th century these
types of readings tied landscape architecture to the
region – to understanding landscape writ large, which was
supposed to help contextualise and inform site design
decisions on a smaller scale. That scale was the scale of
land tenure and property ownership – because in capit
alism there is no landscape that is ambiguous or outside
a spatial schema of land value defined through precise
surveying techniques that describe exact dimensions of
land in drawings and then tie them to contracts in words.
The implications of land tenure are to be found in every
formal, and thereby spatial, type of landscape architecture:
the street? The gap between property boundaries; the
park? A certain scale of governmental ownership; a row of
trees? The demarcation of a boundary using other means.

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→ Canberra, ACT,
@Arclib
Australia
1 McHarg, Ian L. (1969). Design with Nature.
New York: Natural History Press.
The historic coastline of Fremantle, WA, Australia is
shown in paving – its fluidity juxtaposed against the 2 Forman, Richard T. T. (1995). Land Mosaics: The
@Arclib
arbitrary boundaries of land ownership, manifest in its Ecology of Landscapes and Regions. Cambridge, UK:
@Arclib
adjacent kerb. Cambridge University Press.
Policy is Design by
Other Means
Landscape architecture’s responsibility to the time-scale
of landscape systems resists the summative limitations of
the static drawing. Treating design as a way of thinking
allows for speculation in other media better suited to time,
like the indexing of maps to building policies and codes,
activated later by proposed changes in applications. As
Michael Sorkin showed in Local Codes,1 bringing creativity
– even humour – to the banal documents of government
can mitigate the limitations of both the drawings of design
ers and the texts of planners. Landscape architecture,
because of the way it sits between these acts and the dif
ferent scales of design, can work in other media, squeez
ing through gaps in professions to design not just objects
but methods – and, thereby, engage with a scale that is
unique to the discipline.

@Arclib
→ Canberra, ACT,
@Arclib
Australia
West 8 established urban rules at Borneo Sporenburg,
Amsterdam, that constrained the “bounding box” of
@Arclib
urban form while allowing for much differentiation, by 1 Sorkin, Michael (1993). Local Codes. Cambridge,
@Arclib
designers, between dwellings. MA: MIT Press.
The Stick
in the Sand
Landscapes often work abstractly, with one thing (an ob
ject, for example) creating the conditions for another thing
to occur. This is because objects interact with diverse
systems in the landscape, becoming catalysts. To design
with this approach in mind is to “work at a distance”, to
do something in order to do something else. Roel van
Gerwen has used the analogy of “the stick in the sand” to
describe this process.1 Gerwen contrasts two approaches
to making a sandcastle. One is to form it as precisely
as possible in sand; however, its form will disappear when
faced with the elements of the seaside. The other, for
which he argues, locates a stick in the sand and those
same forces of wind and sand deposition will cause a
“sandcastle-like” form to arise over time. Here, the design
and positioning of the stick would be the r elevant instru
ments for orchestrating this emerging form.

@Arclib
→ Canberra, ACT,
@Arclib
Australia
1 Gerwen, Roel van (2004). “Force Fields in the
The form of posts and sand fencing at a beach creates Daily Practice of a Dutch Landscape Architect”,
very specific dynamics in relation to local wind and site in Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood (eds.). The
conditions, with successive waves of building @Arclib
up and MESH Book: Infrastructure/Landscape. Melbourne:
@Arclib
then excavating again. RMIT Press, p. 239.
The Ground
is Wedged between
Sky and Stone
“Water runs downhill” seems like the most banal of re
minders but its truth is most visible in what it does to the
landscape. Sandwiched between the ever-present tur
moil of the sky – sucking up moisture from evapotranspira
tion here, dumping it as rain there – and the slow churn
of millennial geomorphology, erosion shapes topography
in a symphony of ridges and valleys. Now – in the city –
hyper-precise surfaces are simulations of that process in
paving that play by the same rules; minute ridges and
almost-invisible valleys mimic larger landscape/geomor
phological systems as the designed landscape creates
technological analogues. Learning that when a landscape
architect looks at a surface that is solid, relentless, they
are really simulating its opposite in their mind – ephemeral
water, moving across it – is the kind of subtle shift in mind
set that characterises our profession.

@Arclib
→ Canberra, ACT,
@Arclib
Australia
In this garden by Franchesca Watson for a building by
StudioMAS at the base of Table Mountain, Cape Town,
South Africa, the ground is a thin layer between@Arclib
granite
@Arclib
and the misty atmosphere.
Landscape is
Catalytic
No mere background or scenography, landscapes are
active environs of work, doing, being. Always in the process
of making or unmaking, they can themselves instigate re
sponse and change.
Consider the act of gently tilting the ground, and how
that simple move sheds water towards lower elevations –
perhaps, in turn, creating high/dry and low/wet regimes for
cultivation and growth. Further manipulating the ground
into undulations inaugurates a different set of hydrological
and ecological potentials (puddles, vernal pools, wetlands
etc.), or – in combination with surfacing in a spongy ma
terial like rubber – encourages playful responses and ex
ploration in people, especially children, who are eager to
explore the physical and sentient world before them. Con
sider, too, human and ecological responses in relation
to level ground covered by lawn or sand, or steeper rugged
mountainside topographies – each of which propels
different kinds of action and activity. Scaled-up, designed
landscapes have the capacity for positive and transfor
mative change in cities, can clean water and heal the
environment, moderate temperature and transform leaf
cover, and positively impact on people’s everyday lives.
In all these ways, at multiple scales, landscape is active,
transformative and catalytic. Leverage these qualities.
166 Chris Reed (STOSS)

@Arclib
→ Boston, MA, USA
@Arclib
Xun Liu and Ziwei Zhang, Fluid projections, for Re-Tool
@Arclib
ing Metropolis studio; Chris Reed instructor, Harvard
@Arclib
Graduate School of Design, 2016.
Embrace Change /
Anticipate + Adapt
We know trees, plants and other living things grow. But the
entire world is changing, sometimes dramatically, before
our eyes. Oceans and rivers rise and fall, and occasionally
flood. Weather intensifies and ebbs. Cliffs erode while
beaches are built and rebuilt. These are constant, open cy
cles; conditions do not simply repeat. These open cycles,
and the landscapes caught up in them, evolve and adapt.
Odum’s Energy Diagram: Energy and Matter Flows through
an Ecosystem1 expresses the open-ended nature of eco
system dynamics, with inputs and outputs that connect a
particular ecosystem to external forces – forces that
could shape and be shaped by internal forces and mech
anisms. Models like Odum’s partly inform complex adap
tive systems ecology, which explicitly acknowledges that
environmental health is best measured by an organism’s
or an ecosystem’s ability not merely to survive or even
resist change in the environment, but especially to adapt
to it.
The inevitability of change in landscapes and cities is
a powerful and necessary frame for strategy and design.
Our thinking and work should anticipate and adapt – remain
open both to changes and dynamics we know and, per
haps counterintuitively, to those we cannot know.

@Arclib
→ Boston, MA, USA
@Arclib
@Arclib
1 Odum, Howard T. (1971). Environment, Power, and
@Arclib
Barrier island dynamics, Galveston Island, TX, USA Society. New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Render the
Invisible Visible /Amplify
the Muted
So many sites – urbanised or previously occupied ones
especially – have many things to hide, many things to un
earth, many things to discover. Industrial and urban dev
elopments typically obliterate ecological functions and
environmental dynamics. Histories are buried – including
those of early inhabitants and Indigenous populations
who lived lightly on the land; and often including Black and
other racial or ethnic minorities whose neighbourhoods
were deliberately eliminated by racist violence and plan
ning, zoning and urban-renewal activities.
There is a richness here to be mined – not to be repli
cated but to be brought to light, reinitiated, remembered,
honoured and reinvested in, in new and meaningful ways.
Embodied, denuded and buried histories, cultures, environ
mental dynamics and people can be surfaced as design
“informants” – at multiple scales. Importantly, these latent
and buried pasts can broaden the starting points for de
sign; can help to reverse deliberate (and not-so-deliberate)
processes and policies that have oppressed and muted a
fuller and more diverse set of inhabitants and actors in
the landscape; and can put us on a path towards creating
more inclusive, more healthful, more grounded and more
beautiful landscapes and open spaces.

@Arclib
→ Boston, MA, USA
@Arclib
@Arclib
Unearthing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People
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of Colour) histories, St Louis, MO, USA
Landscape
is a Cultural Project
Landscape can do many things – cleanse water, air and
soil; cool down cities and improve public health; trans
form the nature of cities and urban life; have remediative
environmental effects; and reverse long-standing social
and environmental injustices.
Designing landscape, though, is fundamentally a pro
jective, imaginative and creative act. Like fine arts and
architecture, landscape architecture is a cultural project –
one that just happens to embrace the living world. In
this vein, develop a set of design agendas – avenues of
exploration and elaboration – and let this work inform your
design thinking broadly (not just in solving problems).
Investigate colour, texture and materiality; figure, form and
qualities of the field; landform and earth; structure and
accommodation.
For, truthfully, we are not better environmentalists or
social scientists than trained environmentalists and so
cial scientists themselves; we are not better activists than
full-time activists. We will never be those things, though
these agendas can and should form important parts of our
work. Rather, our distinction as a discipline lies in our in
tegrative and projective capacities, in our larger cultural
(design) project – the Project behind our projects.1 And our
collective voice – our cultural capital – depends on this.

@Arclib
→ Boston, MA, USA
@Arclib
1 This idea is an extension of a series of conversations
with Julia Czerniak, captured in her essay “Appearance
and (Aesthetic) Experience: The Ongoing Project
Robert Rauschenberg, Estate, Photomontage, oil and of Stoss”, in Chris Reed and Mike Belleme (2021).
screenprinted inks on canvas, 1963. Gift of the @Arclib
Friends
@ArclibMise-en-Scène: The Lives and Afterlives of Urban Land
of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1967. scapes. Novato, CA: ORO Editions.
Design for Life
Design for fun, for play, for the everyday. Design for qui
etude, and for intimate moments. Design for individual and
collective joy, and outrage, and sadness, and hope. De
sign for the mundane, the extraordinary and the peculiar.
Design for all the things we do, for all the things plants
and animals and ecosystems do, and for all the things
that infrastructures and cities do and can do.

@Arclib
→ Boston, MA, USA
@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
Parade in downtown St Louis, MO, USA
Superficial Surfaces
While architects concern themselves with the inside as a
different entity from the outside – even though they some
times attempt to overcome this dichotomy – landscape
architects don’t follow this distinction. For us there exists
a different sensitivity regarding surfaces, for the thin layer
between earth and sky makes up our canvas. By means
of form giving and graphical treatment we can activate
such surfaces, so that our ideas find a place where they
become tangible and visually comprehensible. Surfaces
are the central starting point of our work process as land
scape architects, and they demand an understanding
of the definition and clarification of the expanse of the ter
rain in question. In the Maselake Canal project, graphic
designs installed on the former industrial site explore
this interpretation of surfaces in landscape architecture.
Users are encouraged to interpret the site as they wish
and engage with it accordingly, creating personal experi
ences of the space.
171 Martin Rein-Cano (Topotek 1)

@Arclib
→ Berlin, Germany
@Arclib
Maselake Canal project, Berlin, Germany, 2006
Playful pattern on the asphalt ground in Spandau, along
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with yellow and black dividers, reference the site’s in
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dustrial history. Designers: Topotek 1
The Fetish of Things
The objects in our urban spaces – furniture, plants, trees
etc. – are subject to individual interpretation while carry
ing the designer’s intended identity. Attached to these
objects, therefore, is an emotionalisation and attraction
that, upon further development, can give public open
spaces a strong character and allure. Depending on the
context of these objects are, this subjectivity may be
turned into a desired fetishisation. This design strategy,
of transforming an object in such a way that it generates
a power of attraction, awards the space that the ob
ject occupies a desired design quality. For designers, an
understanding and belief in the fetishising of things will
empower them to turn a banal object into an animated one.
As such, fetishisation – an excessive devotion – will give
agency to an object like a dentist’s sign, creating a new
identity in a new context. Its characteristics are e
xpanded
by the space and its people, as it is able to take on new
interpretations.

@Arclib
→ Berlin, Germany
@Arclib
Superkilen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2012
A dentist’s sign in the middle of the Black Market, doing
everything except signalling a dentist’s surgery. @Arclib
@Arclib
Designers: Topotek 1, BIG and SUPERFLEX
Being and
Staying Foreign
Even today inspiration is still taken from the traditional
English landscape garden, and objects are accordingly im
ported from all around the world in order to create spaces
of great character in our urban landscape. Intimately
connected with these translocations is the notion of “for
eignness”, guiding the progression of including and mov
ing various artefacts. Once taken out of their original con
text, all artefacts – and also, more conceptually, all ideas
– undergo change to some extent. A necessary side effect
of such translocation is therefore translation – and the
possibility that, as Jorge Luis Borges put it, “[t]he original
is unfaithful to the translation.”1 Even though those arte
facts have been transformed, they will remain foreign
in their new context. The newly created spaces gain much
of their character from such fundamental foreignness.

@Arclib
→ Berlin, Germany
@Arclib
Picturesque foreignness 1 Borges, Jorge Luis (1999). “On William Beckford’s
@Arclib
The Palladian bridge with the Pantheon in the back Vathek”, in Jorge Luis Borges. Selected Non-Fictions.
@Arclib
ground at the Stourhead estate in Wiltshire, UK. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., pp. 236–239.
Cultivating Conflicts
Conflicts carry with them a negative connotation in every
day life, but in our profession they are the gateway to cre
ative interactions. The transformation of such conflicts
is initiated by allowing a clash of aesthetics as well as vari
ous forms of appropriation of functions and usages in
order to reach a maximum level of creative, often surpris
ing, possibilities. Instead of turning a blind eye to existing
conflicts in the hope that they will resolve themselves, one
should embrace them since they are a real part of every
day life and cannot, and should not, be covered up. Ac
knowledging the reality of places will ultimately lead to a
multifaceted public open space. Creating spatial and
aesthetic settings in which conflicts can be expressed will
transform them into productive, creative interactions. We
will find ourselves with complex spaces that have a strong
character, and we’ll avoid a numb, muted-down space.

@Arclib
→ Berlin, Germany
@Arclib
Wasserpicknick, Federal Horticultural Show,
Schwerin, Germany, 2009
A purposefully conflicting situation in Schwerin: picnic
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tables placed in the water create a unique spatial ex
@Arclib
perience.
Fail Better
While failure is unavoidable in our occupation, over time
you learn to overcome and, more importantly, to channel
and transform it. In my years as a landscape architect,
I’ve learned that we must train ourselves to fail and to do so
in a way that realises the actual components of failure –
not overlooking them by focusing on a euphemistic, ideal
ised outcome. Samuel Beckett put this notion into words
best: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”1 Losing a competi
tion or plummeting into a creative black hole are realities
for every landscape architect, and they should be treated
as such. It is tough situations that take our creativity to
the next level and force us to reflect on and understand
what can be improved in future projects. Only when ac
cepting the brutal reality of failing can we move forward
in order to brace ourselves for the next, slightly less
dramatic, failure.

@Arclib
→ Berlin, Germany
@Arclib
Shot from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001:
A Space Odyssey (1968)
Setting off on new quests again and again, acknow
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ledging and transforming obstacles along the way – as 1 Beckett, Samuel (1983). Worstward Ho. New York:
@Arclib
demonstrated in the classic science-fiction movie. Grove Press.
The Expanded
Context of Land over
12,000 Years
In Canada we are designing upon land with at least 12,000
years of continuous inhabitation – most of it unceded, tra
ditional territory of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peo
ples. That is the expanded context – we need the humility
and flexibility to work within it. This means both learning
and unlearning as we adapt the way we practise. More than
ever we are profoundly open to new forms of collabora
tion, listening to those who knew a place first. The insights
are humbling and often call into question our profession
al tools for “solving” or “envisioning”. Working in this ex
panded context can’t be about definitive answers; rather,
it’s a search for the source for answers, and the start of
posing challenging new questions. We are not the authors
of a site, but the next generation seeking deeper connec
tions with a place and its long histories and ecologies –
seeking enduring dialogues in order to shape new futures.
176 Marc Ryan (PUBLIC

@ArclibWORK)
Canada
Nepean Point, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2017 for dialogue and coming together? In contrast to the
How can landscape architects advance change with picturesque parks of the capital, Nepean Point was a
in this expanded context? And how do we ensure our provocative proposal for a new kind of park – one that
solutions aren’t defined or prescribed by normative creates both space and time for the Indigenous com
standards? Could a park-making process be a@Arclib
spatial
@Arclibmunity to lead the collaborative discovery of what a
response to the process of reconciliation – a platform gathering space for all Canadians could be.
Our Work is
Never Finished
It takes a different orientation to embrace the design of
places that sustain the dynamics of constant evolution –
rather than fixed compositions – but it’s at the core of what
is so amazing about landscape. We try to apply fundamen
tal landscape sensibilities to the design of urban places,
layering these process-based qualities into the design of
the public realm and, in turn, the way in which public life
is cultivated. Cities endure and remain relevant precisely
because they are constantly changing. It’s so refreshing to
encounter designed places that aren’t in an end state:
spaces in which people are invited to be active participants
in shaping how they feel and evolve over time. If public
spaces in cities are deliberately conceived as forever in
progress, we get closer to spaces that feel spontaneous,
that remain open, leaving space for others to add their
“fingerprints” and inspire new action. This understanding
can be at once practical, adaptive and symbolic, and
– hopefully – produce memorable and engaging places.

@ArclibWORK)
Canada
National Holocaust Monument Competition, that engages both human action (ongoing rituals of
Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2014 adding and inter-mixing soils) and ecological process
When collaborating on this monument with Wodiczko + es (weathering of incisions in bedrock, growth of aspen
Bonder, we were guided by James E. Young’s thinking grove) for it to thrive. We have found this way of think
that only an unfinished memorial process can guaran ing to be a relevant model for the design of the public
tee the life of memory. Our proposed “working@Arclibmonu realm in cities.
@Arclib
ment” is also living; it’s a slowly unfolding environment
Resourcefulness
When living and working in Tirana, Albania in the early
2000s I saw the intelligence of a so-called developing
nation that was way ahead of anything I was familiar with
in terms of its ingenuity in reimagining a city under pres
sure. I was forever changed. This inspired an ongoing
pursuit of impactful design interventions using the most
minimal means possible. An ethos of resourcefulness
can express itself at every scale – from the selection of
materials through to individual sites, urban infrastructure
and even at the scale of the city as a whole. For me, it
opened up a way of looking at our existing cityscape in
search of opportunities for transformation and impact –
by recasting existing resources rather than covering up
or starting over. Leveraging what came before and re-
situating it as part of a new public realm can lead us to
discover urban landscapes of a different kind.

@ArclibWORK)
Canada
The Bentway, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2018 We did as little as possible. The underside of the ex
The starting point for conceptualising The Bentway was pressway is recast as a metropolitan-scaled piece of
the structure itself. The expressway’s supportive con public equipment, while the public spaces and trail
crete columns (“bents”) create a series of civic rooms stitch together seven neighbourhoods and create a
that can function collectively or independently @Arclib
offer new gathering place for Toronto’s growing population.
to@Arclib
spaces for a diverse range of programming and events.
Be a Local
with Fresh Eyes
Home should be the ideal place to practise; it’s the place
we know best. But over time we can get stuck in a static
way of seeing these familiar places or be pulled into the
status quo. I practise in the city where I was raised (and
then left and returned), so I’m conscious of trying to main
tain a fresh outlook on my environment as if both an insid
er and outsider. I’m also trying to stay attuned to those
details (big and small) and particularities about the place –
which can either be overlooked or slowly forgotten – and
to remember that they are, in fact, remarkable. If we
can learn to discover and rediscover our local condition,
we can translate that perception to create works that
re-awaken a sense of wonder in others about our envi
ronment. The ultimate local practice focuses on the famil
iar with fresh eyes, putting emphasis on the points of
strategic impact in the places in which we live and work.

@ArclibWORK)
Canada
TOcore Downtown Parks Vision, embrace the larger systems that our profession can
Toronto, ON, Canada, 2018 weave back into everyday life. Working on a vision for
It helps to maintain a perspective of the whole city in Toronto’s downtown parks and public realm allowed
order to make sense of the small, independent sites us to be both proactive and reactive. It forced us to
where we often work. We can then look past @Arclib
the conceive our local projects within a larger, more co
@Arclib
“edges” of conventional plans or client’s properties to herent idea about the city as a landscape.
“Think Green
and Fill Your Work
with Love”
This was the last thing Rich Haag told me when I left his
Seattle office in 2001. I was young (less than three years
into my career) and I wasn’t ready to grasp its potency.
I might have been so fuelled at the time by a desire to cre
ate something “critical” or “new” in landscape that I took
his words as being slightly romantic. But they made an
impression on me. This was one of the most radical land
scape architects I’d ever met . . . Could it be this simple? It
took me years of life and work to find my way to Rich’s
wisdom and fully appreciate both the simplicity and com
plexity of his Zen-like way of practising. He has profoundly
shaped my outlook and his message still guides me to
day: recognise the urgency and centrality of the environ
ment in everything you do, and never hesitate to let your
passion and optimism drive your work.

@ArclibWORK)
Canada
Gas Works Park, Seattle, WA, USA, 2004 landscape remediation and reclamation. Look at this
Rich Haag was, for me, a model of the fusion of land masterwork – it’s an ever-relevant example for a new
scape architecture and civic activism. Gas Works Park, generation of practitioners, reminding us that to innov
Seattle, created in the early 1970s, will forever be an ate we need tireless energy and spirit to self-initiate
inspiration in design perception, persuasion and@Arclib
per projects and processes able to engage communities
@Arclib
severance as well as a brave, early experiment in as well as being politically minded.
Timefulness
In Roman iconography the genius of the place was often
depicted as a figure holding a cornucopia, a metaphor
promising the present-day landscape architect that con
sults her the rich reward of being able to express the
essential identity of the site.1 But are all the goodies roll
ing out of this horn of plenty enough to make a successful
design? It’s a good start, but it is only the mise en place
of a rich array of spatial characteristics and connotations.
We need the programming, boiling, steaming, cooking
and assembling processes to shape it into a dish. If some
thing like the spirit of the place exists, there must cer
tainly be something like the spirit of the process, too.2 And
although landscape architects work with living material,
they haven’t yet developed a rich vocabulary for processes
that accurately characterise their workings, rhythm,
amplitude and widely different time scales. To become
process-literate, we need to develop timefulness.3
181 Dirk Sijmons @Arclib

→ Amsterdam, The
@Arclib
Netherlands
1 Kahn, Andrea and Burns, Carol J. (2020).
Site Matters – Strategies for Uncertainty Through
Planning and Design, second edition. Abingdon,
UK: Routledge.
2 Sijmons, Dirk (2015). Moved Movement.

Delft: TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture and the Built
The changing shape of the Sand Engine, from Environment.
completion to 13 August 2014
“Site” might be where the genius of the place meets 3 Bjornerud, Marcia (2018). Timefulness – How
the genius of the process. An artificial dune, aka the Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World.
Sand Engine (52.054330, 4.187569) supplies sand to Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
the weak parts of the dune coast. The Earth–Moon
system (periodicity, some 30 days) causes the North 4 Stive, Marcel, Luijendijk, Arjen, Ranasinghe,
Sea Basin to fill up and drain again. The resulting tides Roshanka et al. (2013). “The Sand Engine: A Solution
(every six hours) produce a coastal stream (two steps for Vulnerable Deltas in the 21st Century?” Paper
forward, one step back), slowly eroding the Sand En presented at the Conference: Coastal Dynamics 2013,
gine (lifespan: 30 years) and transporting sand@Arclib
to@Arclib
sedi 7th International Conference on Coastal Dynamics,
ment along the coast.4 Arcachon, France, 24–28 June.
Reverse Engineering
Looking back, one can’t help but observe that the most
interesting designs of the last 50 years were almost
all brownfield parks.1 From Parc de la Villette in Paris and
Duisburg-Nord in Germany’s Ruhr region to New York’s
High Line, our field has been instrumental in transforming
the moraines of the industrial glacier into parks. There
might be another formidable task ahead: healing the
wounds inflicted by modernist engineering. In urban areas,
this repertoire is already beginning to materialise in the
conversion of concrete storm drains into green-blue
infrastructure that adds public space to the city. Looking
at the landscape through this lens reveals a myriad of
tasks. Reverse engineering of too-one-sided agricultural
water systems, the demolition of obsolete dams in order to
restart fish migration, the reconnection of fragmented
nature areas – the list goes on. We shouldn’t just leave this
new frontier to grassroots activists and ecologists. Our
discipline must help shape these developments by adding
a meaningful cultural layer.2

→ Amsterdam, The
@Arclib
Netherlands
1 van der Velde, René (2018). “Transformation in
Composition – Ecdysis of Landscape Architecture
through the Brownfield Park Project 1975–2015”,
Fatou Dam, Haute-Loire, France doctoral thesis #09, TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture
Recent research reveals that there are more than a and the Built Environment.
million barriers of all kinds in European rivers – sluices,
locks, culverts, portages, dams, pumping stations, hydro 2 Brugmans, George and Strien, Jolanda (eds.)
power plants – obstructing fish migration. 3 In France (2014). IABR– 2014– Urban by Nature. Catalogue
alone, some 7,000 dams of widely varying sizes have curated by Dirk Sijmons. Rotterdam: International
become obsolete but funds to remove them are rare Architecture Biennale Rotterdam Publishers.
ly available. The image shows the Fatou Dam on the
Beaume River in the upper basin of the Loire: a small 3 Belletti, Barbara; Garcia de Leaniz, Carlos; Jones,
hydropower plant erected in 1907, which ceased @Arclib
op Joshua et al. (2020). “More than one million barriers
@Arclib
eration in 1957 and was removed in 2007. fragment Europe’s rivers”, Nature 588; pp. 436–441.
The Necessity of
Constant Gardening
The modernist division of labour has created a separation
in architecture between design (“we” do that); execu
tion (the contractor does that); and maintenance (paint
ers, window cleaners and maintenance mechanics do
that). The last-named are hired to keep the building in pris
tine condition, as many Modernist buildings do not age
gracefully. As landscape architects, we have allowed this
separation to happen. Wrongly. Landscape architecture
is distinguished by working with living materials and living
processes. This often means practising “judo” with eco
logical succession, favouring certain species and sup
pressing others to get the desired result. Rewilding is also
allowed, if a conscious choice. In short, our profession
revolves around the garden and the necessity of constant
gardening, and our designs must be allowed to come
of age. Patient, repetitive actions create enormous spatial
and ecological variation, while, counterintuitively, doing
something different each time leads to uniformity.1 We
have to rediscover the formidable formative power of
management.

→ Amsterdam, The
@Arclib
Netherlands
Kokedera, Kyoto, Japan: the moss garden
The 14th-century Japanese monk Musō Kokushi found
ed and laid out the Zen garden Saihoji that was to
become known as “Kokedera”, the moss garden.2 Af
ter some decades, the monks observed that mosses
especially thrived there and decided to optimise their 1 de Jong, Taeke, de Vries, Ger, Tjallingii, Sybrand
management to account for these modest creatures. et al. (eds.) (2015). The Theory of Chris van Leeuwen.
The meticulous removal of twigs, fruits and seedlings Delft: TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture and the Built
for almost 700 years resulted in a magic garden that Environment.
boasts a highly differentiated moss field of just shy
of 120 species, with a corresponding myriad of @Arclib
shades
@Arclib2 Treib, Marc and Herman, Ron (2018). A Guide to
of green. the Gardens of Kyoto. San Francisco: ORO Editions.
Take a Holiday from
Being Human
As we have to design for non-human earthlings too, the
question arises, how we can empathise with the wishes of
these additional clients. Shamans and artists have pre
ceded us, mainly focusing on large species that are quite
similar to humans.1 That leaves most of our living planet
neglected. Lichens might provide an “entrance ticket” to
the dazzling complexity of our biosphere. They arise
from the ancient symbiosis between fungi and algae. The
fungus provides protection and adhesion, and the algae
provide glucose through photosynthesis. With its symbi
onts from different domains of the tree of life, this inter
action was a mystery at first, and has been a nightmare for
taxonomists ever since. Recently, specific mixes of bac
teria were also found to be part of this life form,2 which was
hitherto considered to be a dual organism. A lichen, how
ever, turns out to be a microbiome: a “get-together” of
Earth’s most important life forms, a planet on a micro-scale
– sublime and literally unidentifiable. Enjoy your vacation!

→ Amsterdam, The
@Arclib
Netherlands
1 Foster, Charles (2016). Being a Beast. London:
Your friendly neighbourhood lichen Profile Books; and Twaithes, Thomas (2016). GoatMan:
Calogaya decipiens (as it is formally known, showing How I Took a Holiday from Being Human. New York:
some of the taxonomic skirmishes inherent in defin Princeton Architectural Press.
ing this extraordinary life form) is an urbanite and your
friendly neighbourhood lichen. It can be found on all 2 Sheldrake, Merlin (2020). Entangled Life: How Fungi
@Arclib
kinds of basic rocks and stones, ranging from basalt to Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our
@Arclib
concrete to bricks. Futures. New York: Random House, p. 106.
Don’t Overreach; Don’t
Underestimate Either
As an echo of 20th-century spatial determinism, some
still seem to believe that virtually all social and environ
mental problems can be solved by spatial means. Maxims
like “systemic design can change the world”1 keep alive
the illusion that the world pivots around spatial planning.
This type of thinking can lead us to overreach and could
seriously erode our credibility, as we cannot deliver on its
exaggerated claims.
We have to nurture modesty by acknowledging the
limits of our profession. At the same time, we should
not underestimate the unique strength of our field. All the
important societal challenges we face – from climate adap
tation to energy transition, agricultural reform, mobility
issues and more – meet each other in the landscape. De
sign can therefore “build bridges” between widely different
practices and shape new syntheses at various scales.
This is a task that offers every reason for more legitimate
self-confidence, and, as a bonus, a solid base for coop
eration with the social and economic disciplines.

→ Amsterdam, The
@Arclib
Netherlands
Middle section of a multiscale map of Sloehaven, the
Walcheren Peninsula on the Westerschelde, the coast
of Zeeland and Holland, northwestern Europe and the
English Channel, and the northwestern hemisphere of
the globe in the 2134 Eco-modernist scenario.
This scenario postulates a 2.5 degrees warming and
2.0 m sea-level rise, and draws a synthesised picture 1 Berger, Alan (2009). Systemic Design can Change
of the effects and policies of the energy transition, the World. Nijmegen: Sun Publishers.
water safety, nature, food supply, the environment and
settlement patterns. This is one of four scenarios (De 2 Pop Down | Melt Up. Diepe adaptatie voor een
@Arclib
nialist, Eco-modernist, Post-humanist and Anthropo
@Arclibverre toekomst 2020 [Deep Adaptation to a Remote
centrism 2.0) from the “Pop Down | Melt Up” study.2 Future]. Middelburg: CBK Zeeland.
Topography as
the Starting Ground
Everything starts with topography. From water runoff to
accessibility for all, topography has a major impact on any
landscape project. But it should not only be a constraint,
it should also become an opportunity. Topography has the
power to transform a site. Whereas in nature it is the result
of decades of weathering and erosion, in design topog
raphy can become the means to create a new landscape.
Topography decides where water accumulates, where
people prefer to walk and where plants choose to grow.
Topography is about preparing the ground for future
life to develop. It surpasses simple, local inclinations as
it always is part of a greater geographical entity – part of a
valley or part of a mountain. Where architects look for a
perfect horizontality to organise the functions required
of their buildings, landscape architects should be looking
for the ideal undulations to help living communities to
thrive. Remember, even the horizon is curved.
186 Bas Smets @Arclib

→ Brussels, Belgium
@Arclib
“Le Massif du Mont Blanc”, Eugène-Emmanuel “study of its geodesic and geological construction, of
Viollet-Le-Duc, 1868–1879 its transformations, and of the . . . state of its glaciers”.
Viollet-Le-Duc is best known for his restorations of For Viollet-Le-Duc there was no essential difference be
France’s most prominent churches, among them the tween constructions made by humans and mountains
Notre-Dame in Paris. He also was a passionate explorer made by nature. Both can be understood and restored
and had studied the Mont Blanc massif for more@Arclib
than if so required.
@Arclib
a decade. This detailed map is the culmination of a
Understanding Climatic
Conditions
The urban context we work in has to be understood as
an artificial climate. Buildings change wind patterns and
have a direct influence on sun and shading. Roads and
pavements interfere with water infiltration and absorb sun
rays, resulting in “heat islands”.
The built environment is, by definition, an artificial one.
As a result, a city consists of a myriad of microclimatic
moments. It is important to understand the climatic condi
tion of a specific site, as it may differ from one street to
another. Climate thus becomes a way of designing. Which
plants to introduce in this microclimate? Where to posi
tion a bench to capture a sunray at noon? How to block the
cold wind in winter while still allowing a refreshing breeze
in summer? It is important to acknowledge the fact that
climate is both a global and a local condition. Both scales
should be addressed simultaneously in each project.

@Arclib
Biospheric Urbanism, A better understanding of geology will indicate where
Bureau Bas Smets, 2018 and how to infiltrate water, while a better understand
Within the expanse of the atmosphere, humankind oc ing of the climate will allow us to use rainwater, wind
cupies a thin layer of only several hundred metres of and solar heat as assets. This sectional rendering
the Earth’s crust. However, this inhabited layer often explores a “biospheric urbanism” wherein man-made
creates an impermeable barrier between the air@Arclib
above
@Arclib space becomes the interface between meteorological
and the ground below. effects and geological reality.
Using the Logics
of Nature
A landscape project should never merely imitate an image
of nature but should always work with the logics of na
ture. What plants grow where, why and how? A good under
standing of climatic conditions is essential for designing a
landscape. Similar climatic conditions in a natural situation
should be examined in order for nature to become a
source of inspiration – not for what it looks like, but for what
is possible in terms of plant growth. This research should
focus on root development: how much volume is needed,
to what minimum depth? The section is more important
than the plan as, in landscape architecture, the latter is
often the result of the former. This research will allow us to
introduce plants into an artificial environment that is
strangely similar to their natural habitat. A better under
standing of the logics of nature will help to conceive
a new urban landscape that can better adapt to our built
environment.

@Arclib
“Géographie des Plantes Équinoxiales”, entity. This famous section through the Chimborazo
Alexander von Humboldt, 1805 Volcano shows all measures taken at different eleva
During his extensive travels to the Americas in the early tions: plant communities, soil cultivation, animal life, air
19th century Alexander von Humboldt tried to describe pressure, humidity, temperature and even the blueness
everything he encountered. He wanted to understand of the sky. Considering all these observations simulta
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how nature works as a whole, and sought to combine@Arclib neously, Humboldt had an extraordinary capability to
diverse fields of knowledge into one interconnected extrapolate them into general principles.
Accelerating Ecological
Succession
The natural ecological succession of vegetation in a cer
tain area reaches a relative stable state over time. In this
process one vegetation community is replaced by another,
in a process known as succession, until the climax com
munity is established.
This natural process can be used to bring vegetation
back to an abandoned site. Through an intelligent choice
of plants, the force driving the ecological succession
can be accelerated. Plants from successive communities
are planted at the same time in order for one to push
the others to grow more quickly. This acceleration can help
to rewild an area that has been cleared. Instead of planting
mature trees, tapping into the process of succession
uses the force of nature to transform a site. This gradual
transformation creates a much more resilient vegeta
tion community over time. Instead of imagining the end
state of a project, the process by which to reach it be
comes the main focus of the design.

@Arclib
Parc des Ateliers, Soil Depth, Arles This diagrammatic section shows how the depth of the
Bureau Bas Smets, 2018 soil defines the plant type. Starting with the pioneer
The recolonisation by plants of an abandoned in plants on the shallowest soil, each increase in soil depth
dustrial site in Arles is conceived as an accelerated corresponds with a successive plant community.
process of plant succession. Dunes of fertile soil are The movement through space along the dune thus
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installed on its concrete platform, as if they had been becomes a movement through time, radically trans
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blown there over time by prevailing winds. forming the space/time notion.
Urbanism of the
Underground
Most cities have been built close to available fertile ground.
Over time their expansion has impermeabilised these
fields with roads and buildings. Gradually “the underground”
has been filled up with services, from sewers to gas, elec
tricity and subway tunnels. This has usually been done
without a general plan or idea.
Today it is impossible to obtain a clear view of what lies
underneath pavements and plazas. There is an urgent
need for a precise cartography of the underground. Based
on this mapping an “Urbanism of the Underground” can
be developed. This will allow us to understand better where
space can be found to provide fertile soil in which trees
can grow. The opening around the trunks will allow rain
water to infiltrate below. Runoff is thus stored where it falls,
right beneath the pavement. It is reinjected into the air
through the transpiration of the trees, lowering the air tem
perature in the process.

@Arclib
Cities of the Future, with separately, without any co-operative plan, and as
Eugène Hénard, 1910 occasion arises.”
A century ago, Eugène Hénard was already complain In his well-known sectional rendering of the future
ing about the lack of organisation of below-ground street, Hénard argued it should be designed as a multi-
services: “All these pipes and tubes are located above layered construction, like the adjacent buildings. To this
or beside one another without order or method.@ArclibWhen day his “coupe” still shows the urgency of reinventing
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they have to be repaired, each system . . . has to be dealt the street.
Drawing is a
Sacred Act
The implements you use to birth your vision into the world
are an extension of yourself, therefore they deserve care
ful consideration. If you don’t have one already, get yourself
a good fountain pen. Head down to your local art store
or pen shop and check out their inventory.
Always keep your sketchbook within reach, with your
pen ready to observe and record what you see. Build up
a reservoir of ideas. I use sketchbooks in a variety of sizes.
Find one that is convenient to carry and that is compat
ible with your drawing style. If it is too cumbersome to ac
cess you will be less inclined to use it. Remember, every
spare moment is an opportunity to draw – and with every
mark you make in this sacramental process, you embark
on a quest for creative expression.
191 Chip Sullivan @Arclib

→ Berkeley, CA,@Arclib
USA
Draw every day! Your sketchbook and pen are your imagination becomes alive in your sketchbook; dance
passports into a parallel dimension. Every blank page in through your visions with your pen. Capture those fleet
@Arclib
your sketchbook is an opportunity for visual adventure,
@Arclibing moments of insight, or they will vanish and be lost
a portal for investigation and experimentation. Your forever.
The Genius Loci
Never forget to consult the genius loci, or spirit of a place.
It is the foundation of our profession. Every location has
a distinct spirit of place. The principle dates back to the
Ancient Greeks and Romans, who erected shrines and
temples to the genii that inhabited each unique landscape.
In order to grasp the genius loci at the renowned Sea
Ranch site in northern California, esteemed landscape ar
chitect Lawrence Halprin camped out for a week to ana
lyse the place before he began his design. Experience the
landscape first-hand. Our reliance on digital techniques
moves us further and further away from direct observation
of the landscapes we are designing and inhabiting.

USA
The landscape is alive; it is a living, breathing entity. to the rhythms of nature, the hidden characteristics
Can you find the spirits of place that reside in the land that can’t be found at a first glance. Only through a
scape? Take a moment and look through the above sustained period of observation can you catch the
image. Wander around the woods. Look again! @Arclib
The transitory moods, rhythms and cycles of nature.
@Arclib
genius loci is waiting to be discovered. Attune yourself
Understand the
Fundamentals of Climate
Design
Where is the sun? Know the yearly cycle of the sun’s
movement, and design for proper solar orientation. Create
solar pockets and spaces that take advantage of the
sun’s warmth during the cool seasons. What is the direc
tion of the prevailing winds throughout the year? Funnel
the cooling summer breezes into your garden’s structures
and habitats with vegetation. In the winter, block the cold
northern winds with densely planted hedgerows. Incor
porate water features that act as passive air-conditioning
by aerating the water to cool the air. Be knowledgeable
about the climate in the context of future conditions as well
as current patterns. Using its historical vocabulary, land
scape design has unlimited potential to reduce energy
consumption and become the foundation of a green future.
Many new and exciting possibilities lie ahead for the cre
ation of garden forms that not only conserve energy but
are also works of art and places of spiritual renewal with an
intimate connection to the seasons, time and place.

USA
Energy-efficient landscape architecture is still in its
infancy. New systems will merge energy conservation
with aesthetics. Passive garden design can be@Arclib
both
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functional and beautiful.
Do the Coolest
Thing Ever!
Be self-motivated to pursue your personal interests and
passions. No one is going to give you your dream project.
You must be self-directed, determined and dedicated in
order to cultivate your creativity. Innovation must come
from within; you can’t wait for the perfect project to come
your way. Establish a consistent, sacrosanct time and a
personal workspace in which to work. Power off your mo
bile phone and wifi when you are working. Don’t let any
thing interfere with this time, no matter how hard the temp
tation might be to head down to the pub with friends. Work
first, then reward yourself with that beer. Aim to work on
three different projects at the same time. Accept that your
ideas are valuable. Find your passion. What is it that you
want to do more than anything else in the world?

USA
Don’t be afraid to “blow it out” and make speculative be prepared to be criticised and ridiculed. Persevere;
landscapes that are visionary and provocative. Once continue to exhibit, write and lecture. Search, experi
@Arclib
you’ve put together a body of work, get your ideas out ment, explore – and, most of all, communicate.
@Arclib
into the world. As the great innovators of the past were,
Become a Mentor
You have the opportunity and the responsibility to share
your knowledge and inspire the next generation. Pay it
forward. I have been fortunate to have been guided by
others at critical points in my career. For example, when I
was an undergraduate at the University of Florida, I saw
Professor Herrick Smith putting up a poster for an exhibi
tion of paintings by Harry Stowers, a recent graduate. I
challenged the idea that painting was landscape architec
ture and Professor Smith replied emphatically, “YES, this
IS landscape architecture!” His statement had a profound
effect on me; I had an epiphany that landscape architec
ture is an art form, and since then have dedicated my
career to that pursuit.
Cultivate a community of creativity. Initiate a weekly
salon, “drink-and-draw”, or plein-air sketching groups as a
means to share your work and connect with others.

USA
I am continually grateful to my mentors and teachers author Carlos Castaneda’s mentor, Don Juan, ex
who led me onto a path of self-discovery and enlight claimed: “For me there is only travelling on paths that
enment. As we all have stood on the shoulders of our have heart, on any path that may have heart . . . and
@Arclib
teachers, it is paramount for us to pass the torch and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.”
@Arclib
light a path for the next generation. Just as American
Scale Error
The world we inhabit is a space made up of various scales.
When you regard the world on a microscopic scale, you
lose sight of the whole. Similarly, if you try to capture the
whole on a macro scale such as that of the Earth, the sky
or the universe, you forget to consider small things. By
constantly going back and forth between the small and the
large, however, we can avoid losing our sense of scale.
Fortunately, there are many things surrounding the spaces
that we design – plants, buildings, cityscapes – that help us
measure scale. Although it is important to use these as
“rulers”, so as to grasp the space carefully and understand
the appropriate scale, it is also crucial to still keep an eye
out for the smallest and for the largest – to find, correct or
compensate for the “scale errors” that occur in mutual
relations between various objects, so as to conceive new
situations and spaces.
196 Eiko Tomura @Arclib

→ Tokyo, Japan @Arclib
The Surface of the Moon
Looking at the Moon’s scenery, it is extremely difficult
to recognise whether a mountain is large or small,
close or distant. That is because reference objects like
buildings, trees, cars and people are absent. Such a
slip in perception is fascinating. The landscape of the
Moon is formed of large craters, reaching 2,500 kilo
metres in width, which in turn are entirely made of ex
tremely small regoliths – superficial deposits, around
50–100 micrometres (μm)1 in diameter – covering @Arclib
al
@Arclib
most the entire surface of the Moon, like a blanket. 1 A unit of length equal to one millionth of a metre.
Blurred Boundaries
Once, while I was looking at a blurry picture, I noticed a
tiny crescent Moon. It was the only clue that made me
aware of the nature of the image – and a space, ambigu
ous and elusive at first glance, emerged before my eyes.
Boundaries delineate a space, but they are not neces
sarily physical or fixed; blurring them means going beyond
spatial and temporal borders, and seamlessly connect
ing different objects and phenomena. Through this process,
the landscape and all the other elements assume equal
value. One small plant may be envisioned as architecture –
or, alternatively, furniture may be regarded as a compo
sitional element of the scenery. Every time I contemplate
a space, I have a good look for boundaries – and then try
to blur them and make them ambiguous. In this way, new
spatial possibilities can be investigated. I believe new
values are to be found in these very boundaries.

Revolution 006, Arctic Ocean, NordKapp, 1990 But can we indeed discover cosmic laws within the
[. . .] a relativised view of [. . .] apparent “absolutes” human mind?
based upon a sceptical stance toward presumed The relation between the brain and the external
“truths” led [people] to overturn old beliefs and find world resembles the relation between camera and im
newer, more factual truths. The heliocentric model age. The projected image is always an inverted fiction.
provided a more accurate, rational explanation of ce Excerpt from “Revolution”, Hiroshi Sugimoto
lestial motions, thus supplanting earth-bound @Arclib
human
@Arclibhttps://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/new-page-80
ly perceived “sense” by an aerially imagined “sense”. (accessed 08.05.2021).
Komorebi
When you walk outside you may experience beautiful mo
ments of light and shadow. This can be like the atmos
phere of a room whose curtains softly allow light to “pour”
inside: many small fragments of sunlight filtered by tree
leaves and plants swaying in the wind – this is komorebi.
When these fragments are projected onto the ground,
komorebi results in gentle spaces of light and shade. It
is important to analyse such a space and to comprehend
it as an environment – not only in its planar and three-
dimensional composition but also in its materials, textures,
density, moments and seasons. Leaves with different
shapes and sizes create a myriad of komorebi, which re
sults in a variety of spaces as diverse as the trees above
them. The gradation of light and shadow projected onto
the ground softly connects spaces to one another. We
have to remember that komorebi is both a natural phenom
enon and one that we can design.

A portable camera obscura in Athanasius Kircher’s in the drawing, where projections of the surrounding
“Ars Magna Lucis et Umbra”, 1646 scenery appear as reversed and mirrored images inside
Komorebi cast on the ground looks like round spots of the camera obscura. Similarly, a tree becomes a sort
light. Tree leaves overlap, and the small gaps between of natural camera, casting many virtual images of the
them become pinholes, projecting an upside-down @Arclib
im Sun on the ground. During a solar eclipse, the project
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age of the Sun. This optical phenomenon is illustrated ed komorebi looks like bright crescents.
Depiction
Accurate depiction is very important, not only to express
and communicate thoughts but also as a means of deeply
understanding spatial and scenic harmony. In a drawing,
a variety of spaces that are usually three-dimensional
inhabit a two-dimensional plane. Temporality is also repres
ented by the depiction of occurrences taking place in
one specific time frame or in different time frames simultan
eously. In this way, inaccuracies not found in real things
are introduced into the drawing – and a new reality appears,
combining the real and the virtual. The more detailed
and meticulous the depiction is, the easier it is for us to
accept the imperfections – and the discrepancies between
real and virtual start to disappear from our minds. Those
flaws may actually become a trigger for the imagination.
This is not only part of the allure of drawings but may also
become an effective and necessary process in order
to understand complex spaces and conceive new ideas.

“Kidai Shoran”, 1805
Kidai Shoran (“Excellent View of Our Prosperous Age”)
is a 43.7-centimetre-tall and 1232.2-centimetre-wide
picture scroll, meticulously depicting the Nihonbashi
area of Edo1 in 1805. The hand-scroll format allows
for a variety of scenes to develop one after the other
along the 764-metre-long cityscape. The viewer is able
to grasp the space, the way it is used and its scale. The
@Arclib
hand scroll also unfolds as a story because it conveys
@Arclib1 The city that became known as Tokyo following the
both motion and the passage of time. Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Spatial Composition
Plants are one of the elements composing a space –
and are of equal value to the others. Their contribution is
three-dimensional (space formation), visual (scenery for
mation) and indirect (environment formation). It is extreme
ly important to understand the way in which even a single
small plant exists inside a space, and to create spatial
meanings and values through each one. I find that building
a three-dimensional model and checking its spatial compo
sition makes it easier to evoke new images and ideas.
Images of plants printed on a thin film possess a transient,
figurative quality; sometimes, they do not show their true
nature at all. However, the green hues seen through many
layers of film give us a perception of true depth. Then you
look at the arrangement and the overlapping of the leaves,
and start noticing subtle differences in the spaces creat
ed by the plants. Because you cannot see everything pre
cisely, there is room for imagination.

Model for planting design study fixed shape, making the design “inexact” – but that is
By placing each individual plant in a physical model fine. It may be better to figure out a way to complement
it is possible to understand how they exist in a space. this inexactitude instead. The appearance and discov
Inside the model plants appear and disappear in three ery of new and interesting spaces is often a result of
dimensions. This allows me to contemplate ideas@Arclib
from this process.
@Arclib
a purer perspective. Natural objects do not have a
Design is Fun!
Stop considering your job as a job – see it as an oppor
tunity, and consider your abilities as a designer a gift! Re
cognise that you get to dream all day, explore, research,
perhaps even invent, and then materialise all your efforts as
tangible expressions! You have the opportunity to build
your wildest dreams! Responsibly, of course. This process
is incredibly fulfilling, and it will build your character. Have
courage and speak up – don’t let others spoil your passion
or discourage you, but do be receptive to constructive
criticism. Understand that you’re not alone in this; there are
many others who all want the same thing, just from a
slightly different perspective. Don’t be distracted! Design
is not torture – it is fun! It’s having fun and creating fun!
Cultivate a fun work environment because that will enrich
you and the ones around you, which will be evident to
your clients and the users of your projects.
201 Jerry van Eyck @Arclib

USA
“The wonderful world of !melk”
Design should be fun! Channel the joy of being in a hap
py place! Be thoughtful, mindful and responsible – then
make your design a reflection of pure expression@Arclib
and
@Arclib
release!
Keep a Cool Head!
Always stay rational. Bold ideas can only live when backed
up with research and development. “Working hard” is not
the same as “work-related stress”. The creative process is
fraught with high emotions, frustrations and setbacks, but
it is crucial to understand that circumstances are often
beyond your control. Learn when to identify this, and
become comfortable in your ability to adapt. Know when
to say “no”; not every opportunity is worth the effort.
Manage your expectations and the flow of your team.
Make sure everyone is looked after, and that their view
points are expressed. Tension can build up if members of
your team feel unheard – so be the guide who provides
perspective and insight. Just as important: stop glorifying
all-nighters. You’ll gain nothing from them, and they’re
not cool at all. Manage your time well and be efficient. The
art of anticipation can keep a complex project running
smoothly and your design resources properly allocated.
Don’t be arrogant, and ditch the ego – no one is infallible
and it’s always a team effort.

USA
Construction details by !melk/ Charles Bronson acter was hyper-focused; made decisions based on
as Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic accurate information; was efficient, undistracted and
Charles Bronson (1921–2003) kept a cool head during extremely precise. Your management style matters.
his entire Hollywood career. He was, and still@Arclib
is, the Objectivity and rationality will always reign supreme.
@Arclib
coolest of them all. In every role he played, his char
Put Your Health First!
Rest well – deadlines happen; however, a burnout is un
acceptable to yourself and your team. Exercise – get those
10,000 steps in and take those stairs! Lift some weights
if you can. When you feel good, you look good! And when
you are content, you are focused. Sleep well – try to get
at least eight hours of sleep per night. Make room for down
time to pursue personal hobbies and activities. Eat real
and nutritious foods, and avoid processed grab-and-go
meals or snacks. Your body is a temple and it’s directly
connected to your performance at the office. Set an exam
ple for your team and promote healthy lifestyle habits.
No more sugar! Instead, get your Omega 3, your magnesi
um, your D3 and B12! Healthy gut, healthy head – which
means staying alert and sharp-minded at all times! Push
yourself OUT of your comfort zone once in a while! And
for the real troopers out there: shower cold!

USA
Quality designs don’t create themselves; they require be amazed how much your performance and ability will
a designer’s clear and focused mind. Consider @Arclib
your improve when living a healthy lifestyle.
@Arclib
personal health as part of the design process. You will
Find Your
(Own) Groove!
Don’t follow others. Who cares what they do? You didn’t
become a designer to follow the herd, did you? Think! Com
municate! Open your mind and your . . . skills will follow!
Practise, learn, practise again, make a few mistakes, accept
your failures and use them as tools of learning and per
sonal growth. Practise more – experiment when there is
room for that, and become even better by taking an occa
sional risk; there is no status quo! Constantly keep edu
cating yourself; your passions, interests and inclinations
have real value, and you must develop those traits into
tools and new skills. If you can improve a situation, do it!
Develop your “voice” and communication style by de
termining what works well for you and how that can be a
unique asset to a project or design team. Push yourself,
which leads to pushing boundaries. Don’t be afraid to find
your own groove! Feel it – and be it!

USA
Landscape plan by !melk /Bootsy Collins collage Bootsy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHE6hZU
Bootsy Collins (b. 1951) is the grandmaster of groove. 72A4
He played with James Brown – and after that with Par
liament-Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band and many Just be you. Find your group or create your own path,
@Arclib
others. As a bass guitar player, he developed his own but always be unique in your pursuits and define your
@Arclib
recognisable, unique musical style. There is no one like own path.
Mr Scott Was a
Miracle Worker; You Can
be Too!
The chief engineer of Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise al
ways invented his way out of complex situations – and you
can do the same by inventing brilliant solutions to com
plex problems, or by anticipating and planning for problems
that require multiple contingencies. Nothing is inevitable,
there is always a way out – which usually means taking a
step back first before leaping forward. Remember, you
will never practise design in isolation; there will always be
variables (e.g. clients, consultant team members, the
economy) that can derail even the most well-managed
design project. Never accept unsubstantiated assertions
and never settle for less than what you think is actually
achievable. Press ahead, and put up a fight if needed. Be
clever, learn to think on your feet and draw from past ex
perience. Know when it is appropriate to challenge beliefs
or the process, and have your evidence handy! Brilliant
ideas thrive when they are demonstrable. And remember:
always underpromise and overdeliver!

USA
Landscape details by !melk /Mr Scott collage exemplifies the fact that you don’t have to be the cap
Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott consistently invent tain of the ship in order to have a big impact.
@Arclib
ed solutions to save the (original) Starship Enterprise
@Arclibhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9SVhg6ZENw
and its crew from many a predicament. Mr Scott best (accessed 08.05.2021).
The (Hi
Hi))story
of a Landscape
When designing open spaces, real experiences with the
landscape are immensely important. The field trip – i.e.
exposing oneself to the landscape over a longer period
than merely a site visit, and perceiving it consciously
or unconsciously – is, therefore, an ideal way for landscape
architects to acquire these experiences. Sometimes such
a field trip can and may be completely unintentional and
without preparation. It is not directly about the acquisi
tion of knowledge but about the actual landscape experi
ence. The images of a subjective experience stored in
the memory might only flow into a design years later.
Another type of field trip is directly linked to a design. This
type aims to acquire specific data about a project and
to “read the landscape” by incorporating existing know
ledge. Both image-based and knowledge-based design
are valuable techniques that help to read the history of the
landscape and crystallise the issues relevant to the de
sign process.
206 Günther Vogt @Arclib

→ Zurich, Switzerland
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VOGT field trip, The Netherlands 2014
The Second Law
of Thermodynamics
Every landscape architect should be familiar with the sec
ond law of thermodynamics. How do the processes gov
erned by it proceed? Are breaks reversible or irreversible?
Do they lead to entropy? Even if the general opinion is
that physics is a rather insignificant factor in dealing with
the landscape, a basic background knowledge of the
field is no less important than that of botany, geology or
sociology – equally, it enables a better understanding of
the landscape and adds a new level to it when designing,
which goes beyond the visual–aesthetic dimension.

@Arclib
@Arclib
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Model test of physical interventions
Profound Knowledge
of Botany, Geology and
Sociology
Without an in-depth knowledge of botany, geology or even
sociology it is hardly possible for a landscape architect
to design. From this broad spectrum of disciplinary sources
criteria have developed that help practitioners to design
landscapes in all their fascinating complexity and diversity.
These completely different disciplines naturally presuppose
an incredible amount of knowledge, but they are all close
ly connected to the landscape and appear again and
again in one form or another in the process of landscape-
architectural design. This specialist knowledge can be
enriched and stored – for example, through one’s l ibrary
and a reflective approach – but it can also flow into a
design through the design process via a diversely struc
tured team with a wide variety of focal points of know
ledge and with intensive dialogue between specialists
from the relevant disciplines.

@Arclib
Venice Biennale 2021, Venice, Italy
The installation ”Migrating Landscapes“ addresses
questions about new kinds of ecosystems and @Arclib
globally
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shifting landscapes due to globalisation.
The Personal Library –
Embrace the
Knowledge of Books
One of the most important tools in landscape architecture
is the personal library. Every landscape design is closely
linked to various disciplines and issues. Regardless of the
approach chosen for the design, sooner or later one will
come across certain questions that can be answered using
a book from one or more of these disciplines. The history
of landscape, in particular, can ultimately only be opened
up with the help of what has already been written down.
Of course, the personal library also has an incredibly strong
symbolic value. A landscape architect can quasi-physically
embrace the accumulated knowledge of generations in
their collection. At a time when, figuratively speaking, even
the furthest corner of the world has been opened up,
books may actually provide the last chance to experience
real adventures.

@Arclib
@Arclib
@Arclib
Part of Günther Vogt’s personal library
You Never Design for
Yourself, but for the
People – the Majority of
Users Should Agree with
Your Design
As landscape architects we design public spaces not for
ourselves but almost exclusively for other people. Even if
such a person belongs to a group of future users of the
realised design, he or she is only a single element of it. The
design of a landscape or urban space should be such
that the greatest possible number of future users are likely
to approve of it. Even if, in a manner analogous to demo
cratic procedures, unrestricted consent corresponds to an
ideal value, a “Common Ground” always presupposes
a “Common Sense” – i.e. a democratic agreement on what
public space means to us in the first place. We should
therefore design public spaces not as sole authors but in
groups. In this way, the most diverse experiences possible
flow into the discussion during the development of ideas,
and thus an intersubjectivity – which, ultimately, benefits the
design – is already activated in the early stages of devel
opment. The increasing privatisation of public space drives
this factor further, and makes this issue one that will
continue to occupy and influence us greatly in the future.

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People gather on the steps of the Europahafen@Arclib
in@Arclib
Bremen on the occasion of a public event.
Landscape Porosity
By 2050, rising sea levels could affect triple the number of
people previously predicted – erasing some of the world’s
great coastal cities, including Bangkok. Southeast Asia, the
region with the longest coastline, is at extreme risk. Root
ed in agrarian, water-based societies, our cities have now
transformed into paralysed concrete developments.
“Landscape porosity” can be understood in this
context as a city’s capacity to adapt to the natural flow of
water, focusing on fluidity and flexibility as essential mech
anisms of climate adaptability – especially in the context
of muddy, delta cities. The need to shift away from concen
trated land-based development is apparent.
Breathable voids and healthy “pore” structures, allow
ing for the flow and penetration of water and wind, are
key necessities. My mission is to defend these ecological
spaces through urban context. Bangkok and many other
water-based cities serve as an excellent example of how
building eco-centric green and blue infrastructures can
revive our cities’ urban ecosystems.
211 Kotchakorn Voraakhom

@Arclib
→ Bangkok, Thailand
@Arclib
Chulalongkorn Centenary Park, Bangkok, Thailand mitigates urban flooding and responds to regional cli
For the first time in 30 years of rapid development, an mate change. It includes wetlands, detention lawns, a
enormously valuable property in central Bangkok was retention pond and a green roof. Bold concepts con
not turned into yet another commercial block. Instead trast with small, intimate moments, reminding us that
it became a public park that epitomises green @Arclib
infra landscape architecture can help a threatened city
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structure. Designed for beauty and active use, it also learn to live with water rather than fear it.
Reclaim Our Roots
Sitting on the floodplains of the Chao Phraya River, Bang
kok is often referred to as the “City of Three Waters”. Its
trio of hydro-ecological characteristics are formed by the
rivers, the rain and the sea. This terrain proves essential
to life and its culture, which is deeply interwoven with the
natural cycles of water.
This land influenced how we used to live with water.
Integrating new design technology and our traditional
amphibious living is key. Understanding traditional water
management is pivotal to designing effective climate
solutions for our changing climate landscape.
Deeply rooted in us, traditional agriculture is the per
fect integration of human design with nature. We can in
terpret our past wisdom to come up with a future-resilient
design. For developing countries, imported technology
means expensive and high-maintenance equipment. We
have often mimicked these without understanding our
own cultural maintenance and our changing landscape.
Adopting seemingly great technology is not necessarily
relevant to our land.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Thammasat Urban Farm Rooftop, Bangkok, Thailand of traditional agricultural practices on mountainous
Repurposing 22,000 square metres of wasted rooftop terrains across Southeast Asia, TURF creates an inclus
space, the landscape architect helped Thammasat ive, circular economy for the campus – incorporating
University envision and implement a climate solution sustainable food production, renewable energy, organ
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with Asia’s largest organic rooftop farm – Thammasat ic waste, water management and public space for all.
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Urban Rooftop Farm (TURF). Inspired by the ingenuity
On Board at Par
In my country, landscape architecture practices are often
perceived in the shadow of architecture. Truth is, we are
not simply designers of visual greening aesthetics, we
are the creators and fixers of urban ecology. With current
environmental degradation, we can see ourselves im
mersed in that scope of work – and need to combine our
approaches in order to figure out climate solutions.
Landscape architecture should not be the last amen
ity in finishing a project, or relegated to using up the final
chunk of the budget for some minor greening. Landscape
architecture should be considered as the source of a pro
ject’s initial concept, as the voice and restorer of a healthy
urban environment. If architects and engineers work more
collaboratively with landscape architects, I’m certain we
can strengthen our climate-focused architecture in very
significant ways.
To start a project, we need to get everyone on board
at par, to openly discuss and brainstorm – especially
across various disciplines – without fear of judgement or
domination.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Chao Phraya Sky Park, Bangkok, Thailand communities. Forty-year abandoned infrastructure has
In 2020, amid the COVID pandemic, the Bangkok Met been given new life as a Bangkok landmark. This project
ropolitan Administration, under Bangkok Governor shows that all vacant urban spaces can be reborn as
Aswin Kwanmuang, opened the Chao Phraya Sky vibrant places – particularly important for the adap
Park: the first river-bridge park in any capital worldwide. tation climate solutions of walkable cities and add
It represents a collaboration between all professions ing, wherever possible, to much needed public green
at par under Chula Unisearch, Chulalongkorn@Arclib Univer
@Arclibspace.
sity – and, especially, the voices of the surrounding
Compassion Now
If you want to be a true professional, you will do something
outside yourself, something to repair tears in your com
munity, something to make life a little better for people less
fortunate than you. 1 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
I am making landscape architecture as the way to making

meaningful life. We dwell in a society that focuses so heavily
on individual passion. However, what the world needs
most at this moment – from all of us – are acts of comp as
sion, the passion that involves others, as we confront this
climate uncertainty. There will be millions of lives devas
tated, displaced and homeless. Women and children, espe
cially, will always be the most vulnerable in this crisis.
In both practice and education, our generation needs
to transmit this generous passion, the compassion, to
the young generations of built designers in every way we
can by showing them in action. Compassion Now! True
professionalism is what we all need to demonstrate.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Lat Phrao Canal Community, Bangkok, Thailand
Porous City Network went into the Lat Phrao com
munity in order to listen to its climate-vulnerable
community’s needs, and has integrated these needs
into their community designs – so different from tradi
tional infrastructure projects in Bangkok. Through a
human-centred approach, the landscape architects
showed that by working with the community to inform
flood-resilient designs, running educational events
and raising public awareness of environmental issues,
the Lat Phrao community can be empowered with a 1 https://news.stanford.edu/2017/02/06/
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voice and can live safely by the canal in an age of in supreme-court-associate-justice-ginsburg-talks-
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creasing floods. meaningful-life/ (accessed 08.05.2021).
Waterscape Urbanism
as the Way Forward
In order to address diminishing landscape porosity, every
square metre is needed to reclaim resilience so that
the land can live with water rather than fear it. Porous land
scape innovations can provide a much-needed answer.
However, how many porous parks do we need to
sustain a city and prevent it from flooding?
The answer lies not in the number of parks but in per
manently returning to our natural waterscape. This is not
an option – it is the only way to survive.
An understanding of our adaptive living with water ap
proach is evident in the indigenous processes that are
crucial to the waterscape urbanism needed for the future
of cities on delta land. To keep our water-based home
afloat, we must start by revitalising our canals, floodplains
and once porous lands in order to align them with our
development as we move forward.
Urban development is inevitable, and the population
is bound to grow, while climate change remains an urgent
and enigmatic puzzle to solve. But we must consider
every possible solution and sign of hope for our future.

@Arclib
@Arclib
Chulalongkorn Centenary Park, Bangkok, Thailand single drop of rain wasted. The runoff is channelled
By harnessing gravity, the park can sustainably collect, down through the park’s topography to generate a
treat and hold water to reduce flood risks in its sur complete water-circulation system. Due to rainfall in
rounding areas. Sitting on a 3° slope, it is equipped tensity, and the frequently overwhelmed public drain
@Arclib
with several ecological features: green roof, wetlands,
@Arclib age system, the park is able to hold up to 1 million
detention lawns and retention pond – leaving not a gallon (3.8 million litres) of water during heavy rainfall.
Reimagine the
Past for the Present
History has a profound role to play in shaping our present
and future realms. A critical engagement between the his
toric and the contemporary in spatial planning and design
is an important subject of discourse. With imaginative
and sensitive designs, historic precincts can become an
invaluable part of the imagination of public spaces, as en
vironmental and cultural assets. Due to distinct context,
they have a unique potential to address an aesthetic and
spatial uniformity that has become a feature of many
developments at the present time.
In the words of Mohammad Shaheer, landscape
architect, Historical relevance implies respect for what
has gone before, articulated through restraint in what is
attempted today. At the same time, it is probably not wise
to look at ruins nostalgically or sentimentally, to maintain
them as quaint oddities. So, where possible, historical
artefacts have to be looked after in the best possible way
to ensure their life, and also find a dignified landscape
context.
216 Geeta Wahi Dua@Arclib

→ New Delhi, India
@Arclib
Sunder Nursery Heritage Park, New Delhi, India heritage park. Developed as a series of gardens in
The site, with many historic structures belonging to the spired by historical traditions – with an open-air theatre,
14th century, lies in a larger cultural zone with the an artificial lake, a microhabitat zone and a plant nurs
World Heritage Site of Humanyun’s Tomb and its gar ery, all integrated as sequential experiential spaces – it
dens and Nizamuddin Basti nearby. Used as a plant is now an integral part of the open-space system of
@Arclib
nursery during British times in the early 20th century,
@Arclibthe city. Client: Aga Khan Trust for Culture; Landscape
the precinct, with around 150 mature trees, is now a architects: Shaheer and Associates, New Delhi
Traditional is
the New Modern
The tradition of the design, construction and maintenance
of water-harvesting structures has evolved over centuries
in different states of India. They are lifelines for the subcon
tinent’s rural settlements, for their agriculture, domestic
and other needs. Over time, they have proved to be exam
ples of resilient systems of collection and distribution of
water. In the arid and dry western states of Rajasthan and
Gujarat, several such water structures, built with imperial
patronage in historic times, are cultural sites – shared,
managed, maintained and revered by local communities.
They hold invaluable lessons for creating ecologically
and economically resilient environments, especially for
new developments that strive for the conservation of
water resources.
Although all the ten directions are open yet many things
have been taken care of while making a choice of the
site. This is a pasture for the cow; this is a slope, low-lying
area where water will come. [. . .] then its cleanliness
and protection are ensured. [. . .] Varuna, the water-god is
being remembered.1 Anupam Mishra

@Arclib
Anupam Mishra, Aaj bhi khare hain taalab [The Ponds
are Still Relevant], 1993
This book is a compilation of stories about the planning,
construction and management of water-harvesting
structures by various communities and individuals in
the state of Rajasthan. It documents the life and work
of several of them engaged in harvesting and manag
ing such systems. Interspersed with local myths and
religious references about water, the book (translated
into more than 15 Indian languages) is written in an en
gaging and personal way, making an easy connection 1 Mishra, Anupam (1993). The Ponds are Still
with – among other readers – farmers belonging @Arclib
to dif Relevant [Aaj bhi Khare Taalab], “From Bottom to the
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ferent cultures across the country. Top”. New Delhi: Gandhi Peace Foundation, pp. 12–13.
The Ultimate
Journey is That of Return
With the idea of “greening” the land, derelict wastelands
are often afforested with fast-growing plants – frequently,
exotic species. If the practice continues for decades, the
afforested sites may look like stabilised landscapes but in
real terms their ecosystem has been disrupted, with trans
formed soil character, altered surface and subsurface
water regimes, and the associated biodiversity. The intrin
sic character of such lands is thus lost forever. They be
come inert sites with no ecological value or benefit. The
restoration approach for such sites may strive to simulate
and reconstruct the natural landscape with the reintro
duction of native plants or regionally appropriate species.
Over a period of revival, the native ecology of the sites,
which is truest to their nature, is restored. Once again, they
become natural habitats to other life forms – local birds,
insects, pollinators, bees and fauna – and occupy their place
in the micro- and macro-ecological realms.

@Arclib
Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park, Jodhpur, trees from the rocky strata with the help of the local
Rajasthan, India, 2006 mining community, followed by improving the soil and
The site, a heavily eroded volcanic hill adjoining a his planting a range of native species of plants that belong
toric fort, had a pervasive presence of Prosopis juliflo to the rocky microregion. The area is now thriving,
ra, a fast-growing tree that was introduced around a with more than 150 species of birds and butterflies.
century ago with the objective of afforesting the area. Client: Mehrangarh Trust, Jodhpur Consultant: Pradip
With time, it became an invasive species. The @Arclib
restora
@Arclib Krishen, New Delhi
tion process started with the eradication of the mature
Know Your City
A strong relationship with nature and its processes is
the most significant aspect of the “journeys” of Indian
cities – of their evolution, development and survival.
Other significant aspects include the location of settle
ments in the context of natural features and cultural
sites – rivers, forests and religious precincts; climatically
contextual built forms organised in an organic compo
sition; traditional systems of harvesting natural resources;
and a strong sense of community. Such cities comprise
some of the finest examples of sustainable living, with
a diverse set of attitudes towards nature – functional,
aesthetic and philosophical. The narrative of their evo
lution over different periods informs ways of living with
nature and the conservation of its systems and processes
for the present-day urban discourse. This learning be
comes critical when we “retrofit” these cities to accom
modate new needs and functions, and plan and design
new ones for the growing population.

@Arclib
Delhi: Hills, Forest and a River, a study, 2017 opportunities and concerns in the light of knowledge of
This study attempts to examine the changing relation the city’s natural and cultural histories in a sensitive and
ship between nature and the city as seen through the balanced manner. The pilot project was adopted to
history of the latter. Within its scope, it also identifies study other Indian cities, including Pune, Bengaluru,
and lists the city’s important natural and cultural@Arclib
sites. Kolkata and Dehradun. Concept: Geeta Wahi Dua
@Arclib
The core idea is to analyse present-day development
Embrace the
Wilderness
A mosaic of interrelated natural ecosystems encompass
ing many ecological processes and sub-processes, the
wilderness is the true representation of any region’s nat
ural ecology. Thriving for decades or even centuries, it marks
the natural history of a place, and can form an urban
“ecological heritage”. It comprises low-maintenance and
self-perpetuating landscape, performing important eco
logical and environmental functions. In spiritual, philo
sophical and spatial terms, wilderness showcases spaces
of serenity and repose, of surprise and wonder, which
diverse cultures across the world have celebrated through
out their histories. With more and more parcels of land
coming under the ambit of designed landscapes, the
wilderness can reveal to designers an enlightened direc
tion in which to imagine landscapes that are ecological,
experiential, creative and thought-provoking.

@Arclib
Transgressing Wilderness – Investigating the us to imagine our spaces in ways that nascent ideas
Wilderness Idea in the Urban Realm, 2020 of true wilderness can be introduced so that in time
The book studies the construct of wilderness, decodes careful stewardship can assist nature to be a designer.
it as a mix of complex but discernible spatial arrange Foreword by Aniket Bhagwat; Researcher: Rushika
@Arclib
ments, and links it with elements and variations that Khanna, LEAF Publications, Ahmedabad.
@Arclib
lend them their unique character. On the way, it allows
History as the
Basis of Design Art
When I look back over 60 years of practice, certain things
stand out as particularly important for design success. One
of these is history.
My interest in history began in undergraduate school
at UC Berkeley – not in landscape history, as you might
expect, but in architectural history. Sitting in a darkened
room and drawing from black-and-white slides suggested
to me that the significant works of the past were a vast
visual resource, one that could be seen in books and visit
ed in person and used in environmental design. The sub
stance of later history courses at the Universities of Illinois
and Harvard has stayed with me, while most other course
work has become irrelevant or less valuable over time.
History also taught me to compete not with my peers
but with historical greats like Olmsted and Le Nôtre, or
the Japanese Zen masters.
221 Peter Walker @Arclib

USA
Barangaroo Reserve has been built on top of a 1950s below the concrete slab and plants not merely from
container port, and is a remembrance of Aboriginal Australia but from Sydney itself. The bluff morphology
people that lived there before European settlement. It is built over a great underground meeting hall and an
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is not a reproduction of previous time – it is naturalistic
@Arclib interior parking garage, producing a new raised open
rather than natural. It utilises sandstone quarried from space of extended views at the downtown waterside.
Learning
to See the Real
The days of the Grand Tour are gone. Today’s rich environ
ment of digital and photographic images makes it easy
to think you are seeing the real thing. But visiting real sites
offers a deeper level of understanding of the basis for
design. Adjacent views, temperature, sounds and smells
are but a few details in the wealth of information you can
gain when you go beyond synthetic images. Stanley White
has said that landscape architecture is a cultural enter
prise and therefore can be practised as an art – an art of
milieu. The creation of that art requires the ability to “see”
into complex reality. Over time this gathering of informa
tion widens beyond a particular site to include museum
exhibits, reading, memories, conversations and, of course,
digital and photographic material. But in the beginning
much needs to be gleaned from the specific site as a ba
sis for the expression of particular design ideas.

USA
The IBM Fountain in Costa Mesa, California, and the gleaned from observing water elements and simple
@Arclib
“Finite/Infinite” mirrored garden in Beijing demonstrate
@Arclibgeometric groves.
the complex visual richness possible in characteristics
Prediction
Given that living materials are central to landscape design,
you need the ability to predict spatial effects in projects
that are constantly changing over time. These changing
states require the designer of landscapes to think in a more
complex and fluid way than the designers of more fixed
compositions, like those of architecture. I believe this
perhaps makes landscape the most difficult and demand
ing environmental art. From seed to maturity, through
seasonal transformation and finally decline, landscape re
quires the designer to be aware that even the simplest
composition is in reality going through continuous slow-
motion change. Sometimes dramatic, sometimes subtle,
this continuous change requires us to imagine years of
successful growth. The simplest composition may in fact
become the most powerful over time. The prediction of
continued maintenance, or lack thereof, is also important.

USA
Before construction began, our National September 11 visual interest that a simple grove of swamp white oak
Memorial design was criticised for being “just a bunch produced through a single year (not to mention their
of trees”. We responded by commissioning a@Arclibseries
@Arclibgrowth over a projected 80 years). These drawings
of drawings by Chris Grubbs to show the continuing solved our problem.
Measuring into Scale
Scale, or apparent size, is both an essential and the most
elusive aspect of environmental design. To achieve scale
you must be able to measure visited sites and projects with
more precision than is possible with photographic images.
And when physically present you need a way to quickly
and accurately measure what you are seeing.
Happily, a series of simple tools can exactly establish
the various heights, widths, lengths and distances in an
existing site or garden.
If you know your – and your partner’s – height, length
of foot and pace, and distance between the extended fin
gers of the hand, you can measure anything precisely. The
height and depth of a bench or a wall, a stair riser and
tread, or a tree – can all be discovered, measured and not
ed. Many of these measurements can be remembered
and used over and over again, the humble act of remem
bering past measurements adding precision to simple
observation.

USA
The careful measurements and combination of unlike ivy have here been composed into a composition of
@Arclib
elements such as parking lots, shaded pathways and linear elements, both human and monumental, at the
@Arclib
the architectural combination of windows and beds of Weyerhaeuser Headquarters south of Seattle.
Observation
Landscape programmes are notoriously vague. Rather
than depend on a list or some form of functionalist theory,
I prefer to find a comfortable place to sit quietly in all
weathers and observe how visitors – young and old – walk,
stand, sit, climb on a bench or a wall, stop to examine an
object, enjoy a view, talk to a companion, or even jump
into a pool or fountain. Over time, this simple observation
can produce a deeper understanding of visitor use and
design potential. Many times, a simple solution may turn
out to be more complex and/or rewarding because you
understand its range of use. Such design elements as
steps, low walls, planned spots of shade or sun, and un
expected views can greatly augment the quality and
variety of visitor experience. A conscious script derived
from observation may enhance even the simplest phys
ical composition. And you can learn how many mod
est elements serve multiple functions, thereby deepening
both the spatial richness and the visitors’ enjoyment and
even length of stay.

USA
Observing a person seeing art in the Nasher Sculpture Park, New York are activities rarely included in a land
Center garden in Dallas, Texas, and a child playing at scape-design brief. The designer therefore must bring
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the Harvard Fountain in Cambridge, Massachusetts, or the depth of programme understanding to a project.
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viewing the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central
The Art of
Looking Down
Whereas architecture has an ambivalent and acrobatic
relationship with gravity, the ground is landscape archi
tecture’s desideratum. And the fact that there isn’t
much to see down there is precisely the point. Looking
down requires imagination. Looking down is to think
of landscape-as-process not picture – ten billion bacteria
in every spoonful of soil, no less. Looking down is to try
and c onnect where you stand in the moment with the
larger temporal and spatial flows of what Earth Systems
scientists (as if they were artists!) now refer to as the
“critical zone”: the thin bandwidth of life sandwiched be
tween lava and ozone. Looking down is to seek non-
Euclidean orientation; to topple the axis mundi and Aris
totle’s scala naturae to name but two sacred pillars of
urban history. To look down is to turn away from heavenly
cities and escapist technological fantasies, and return
to Earth to face the fact that the blood of the 6th extinc
tion is on our hands.
226 Richard Weller @Arclib

PA, USA
@Arclib
Montage asking what’s the genius loci of 10 billion
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bacteria by Elliot Bullen and Richard Weller.
The Idea
of the Garden
As the primitive hut is to architecture, so the original garden
is to landscape architecture. This garden begins with the
drama of first clearing the forest. Then: fire, meat, stars,
crazy creation stories, dogs, the sowing of seed, livestock,
geometry, and eventually the proverbial hut itself. The hut
multiplies to become a village – then a city, which frames
the garden as a memento of all the city has lost. And now
that the city has engulfed the world, the question is whether
the garden can make a comeback as a viable metaphor
for the world’s future – not as a return to paradise but as a
place of labour, care and coevolution. This is a question
of whether this earthly garden will be enough to – once and
for all – settle the human spirit and pull it back from the
brink of its Faustian desires.

PA, USA
The idea of the garden is not a question of either do
minion or stewardship (originally defined as “Stigward’”
– the keeping of pigs) but a metaphor for the hard
labour and technological precision of ecological recon
struction. Montage based on Laugier’s Primitive @Arclib
Hut
@Arclib
by Elliot Bullen and Richard Weller
Hard Labour
It’s easy to draw a line but not so easy to build one, par
ticularly if that line is retaining earth – which, in the case of
landscape architecture, it most often is. To learn respect
for lines and the people who build them, every landscape
architect should personally build a retaining wall. This crash
course in gravity and hard labour should then be extend
ed to gardening and working on farms, where one learns
about plants, time, and details that can’t be drawn. It is
also in gardens and on farms that one meets the unsung
heroes of history – the slaves, the peasants and the mi
grants. The experience of working in the dirt teaches re
spect for materials, for workers, as well as a restrained
use of lines.

PA, USA
Note to self: remember someone has to build every
line I draw; not only that lines can join and link but
more often than not they divide, cut and exclude. Mon
tage based on Hogarth’s Line of beauty by Elliot@Arclib
Bullen
@Arclib
and Richard Weller.
The Real Transect
New (old) urbanists like to simplify and categorise cities
according to a transect subdivided into six sections
with high-density architecture (culture) at one end and
low-density landscape (nature) at the other. For them,
design should then conform to certain codes related to
each of the sections. To challenge this reductio ad ab
surdum and get closer to the raw beauty (and brutality)
of the city’s psychogeography, I recommend packing
some survival gear and trying to walk said transect. But
here’s the rub: try to stick to one line through an entire
city from centre to periphery without using streets except
when absolutely necessary. Depending on your physical
ability, mental resilience and propensity for risk, a stub
born city could take more than a few days, perhaps weeks,
to get through, so pack as if for an extreme wilderness
expedition – which, in fact, it is.

PA, USA
A highly unlikely recording of an intoxicated situationist
trying to walk the new urbanist transect. Montage @Arclib
by
@Arclib
Elliot Bullen and Richard Weller.
Winning and Losing
One of the great highs in a career is winning your first de
sign competition. In a sea of doubt it is a moment of
pure, intoxicating validation coming directly from a panel
of eminent and most excellent judges. Not only is the
win addictive, in many countries entering competitions is
an essential way of getting work – which is to say that
one also has to get used to losing them. I’ve said many
times that no one ever really loses competitions because
everyone gains intellectual property, and it’s more or
less true. But losing a big one – one you were shortlisted
for and then put your heart and soul (and your wallet)
into – can be devastating. In this moment of profound in
validation, you shake your fist at the sky, mope in bars
and seriously contemplate giving it all away. But above all,
you blame the judges – obviously, now a bunch of cor
rupt morons. As time goes on and you go through this a
few times you learn to manage it, but only just. As re
nowned landscape architect Laurie Olin said to me, the
real competition is with yourself.

PA, USA
@Arclib
Win, lose. A lesson all the same. Montage by Elliot
@Arclib
Bullen and Richard Weller.
“The Untutored Eye”
Imagine an eye . . . which does not respond to the name
of everything but must know each object encountered . . .
through an adventure of perception. How many colors are
there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of
“Green”? 1 Stan Brackhage
Avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brackhage, along with philo

sophers over millennia, encouraged surrendering what
we “know” in order to perceive what we really “see”. Artist
Robert Irwin says, “seeing is forgetting the name of the
thing one sees”. 2 And Cy Twombly painted with no spatial
hierarchy; our eyes repeatedly flow over the painted sur
face of his works, creating a new reading with each en
counter. Privileging sensory experience over interpretation
offers the landscape architect ever-new inputs for visions
of each site’s potential. In spatial terms this engages us
in space and place with participative perception, making a
place our own. The mandate for reading a site, therefore,
is that of unknowing, direct physical experience.
231 Robin Winogrond@Arclib

@Arclib
If you listen to Beethoven it’s always the same.
But if you listen to traffic, it’s always different.
John Cage 3 1 Stan Brackhage quoted in Wees, William C. (1992).
Light Moving in Time: Studies in the Visual Aesthetics of
Studies for the winning entry: Avant-Garde Film. Berkeley, CA and London: University
Sound Barrier Wall, Grünau. Zurich, Switzerland of California Press, p. 55.
The design reframes negative connotations of traffic
and sound-barrier walls, searching for a new poetics 2 Robert Irwin quoted in Weschler, Lawrence and
of urban infrastructure. In a kilometre-long glass wall, Getty Foundation (2008). Seeing Is Forgetting the
varied etched-glass panels gather, abstract, juxtapose Name of the Thing One Sees: Over Thirty Years of Con
and estrange ephemeral images of daily happenings. versations with Robert Irwin. Expanded ed. Berkeley,
Blurred imagery of natural and artificial light, traffic, nat CA: University of California Press.
ural features, buildings and people in motion contribute
their changing rhythms of time and use. Landscape @Arclibar 3 Cage, John (1961). http://www.futureacoustic.
@Arclib
chitects: Studio Vulkan with Robin Winogrond com/silence/ (accessed 08.05.2021).
Geographical Re-
enchantment: In Search
of the Oddity of Place
Unruly places have the power to disrupt our expectations,
of stimulating and reshaping our geographical imagination,
to re-enchant geography . . . Aristotle said “place should
take precedence over all other things, it orders the world”.
Space sounds modern in a way that place doesn’t. The
reaction of modern societies has been to straighten and
rationalize . . . the oddity of place.1 Alastair Bonnett
In an unprecedented process of banalisation of our built

environment, generic, sterile, urban and cultural land
scapes are replacing distinct, luring and rich places of
experience. By contrast, urbanist Susanne Hauser speaks
of cities as once places of the unknown, wild, the unex
pected, of all things fluid. Alongside the complex demands
for projects with ecological and social justice, our pro
fession is charged with building environments capable of
offering new, unexpected readings and experience of
place with its inherent frictions, contradictions and com
plexities. Re-enchantment, not to be mistaken with
nostalgia, moves us. It's inherently rooted in places able
to captivate the imagination, taking us beyond that
which we already know.

@Arclib
Gradually and silently the charm comes over us,
we know not exactly where or how. 2
Frederick Law Olmsted
Landscape is increasingly regarded as a resource

serving many interest groups, each with its own voice
except one – the landscape itself. Landscape fragments,
particularly urban-peripheral ones, are rapidly trans 1 Bonnett, Alastair (2014). Unruly Places: Lost
forming into well-functioning yet sterile places, unnat Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geogra
ural, constructed landscape imagery and semi-natural phies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, pp. xii-xiii,
nature. Contradiction, paradox and friction should be xvi, 251.
come an integral part of contemporary landscape
design, nature, atmosphere and sense of place, beg 2 Olmsted, Frederick Law (1850) quoted in
ging innovative design languages able to express@Arclib
oddity
@ArclibThe Hartford Courant. Connecticut: The Hartford
of place. Courant (2003).
“Nature without an
Audience”
At times when terms such as “nature” or “landscape” defy
clear definition, not that either of them is waiting around
for us to provide one, the expression “nature without an
audience” by British writer Jay Griffiths1 reminds us of her
autonomy: nature isn’t asking to be perceived. It’s our
willingness to surrender to our own direct experience of
natural phenomena, regardless of how small, that allows us
access to their archaic depths. This resonates with what
writer Gary Snyder refers to as the green man in us, spoken
to when we experience nature in its uncontrolled form –
even in a piece of moss. For landscape architects, the in
tensity of direct experience, as opposed to gathering
sources for our designs via the perceptions of others, al
lows us to express it so strongly in our own works as to
affect the dweller in an equally potent way. When we think
in terms of natural phenomena, and not natural objects,
they can become great sources of power for landscape
projects.

@Arclib
Wildwood Plaza, Uster, Switzerland
Writer John Fowles fears a growing emotional and
intellectual detachment from nature. He reveres the
woods for what he calls their “explorability” and “un
capturability”. In the circular clearings of Wildwood Plaza
the dweller can surrender, within seconds, to the pleas
ure of disorientation that the woods affords us. With no
front, no back, no left, no right, we are left to a @Arclib
state of 1 Jay Griffiths quoted in Fowles, John (2010).
@Arclib
drifting. Landscape architect: Robin Winogrond The Tree. New York: Ecco.
How We Think City:
Recalibrating
the Natural
If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope
for it. 1 Albert Einstein
Urban biodiversity is one of this century’s critical chal

lenges. While we cheer on each new ecological measure,
the real need is to radically rethink the premises upon
which we build our cities. To date, decisive motors of city
planning have been defined by immediate human need.
However, we know that drastic change is required at
lightning speed and at a large scale. One example of this,
“Butterfly Highway”, is a conceptual yet realistic proposal
to replace 10% of city streets with open soil – allowing
for an ecological unfolding within a wide variety of typo
logies for an extensive array of living matter, reducing
temperatures and promoting the water cycle. With millions
of organisms living in the upper 50 centimetres of each
square metre of open ground, a fine network woven with
in the urban fabric will reshape our cities as a dialogue
between natural and human dynamics.

@Arclib
“Butterfly Highway”, Zurich, Switzerland
In the “Butterfly Highway” concept 10% of city streets
are replaced with open soil for the unfolding of ecology
in living matter. Well-conceived, the benefits are many.
Cities can respond flexibly to the dynamics of natural
phenomena, offer sorely needed space for new forms
of slow mobility and disperse open space throughout
their extent with equality. They can incorporate often-
bulldozed, site-specific morphologies of our urban
environment and experience in a way that asphalt
streets cannot, and encourage new forms of local so 1 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/110518-
cial engagement in the building of the urban@Arclib
fabric.
@Arclib if-at-first-the-idea-is-not-absurd-then-there
Landscape architect: Robin Winogrond (accessed 08.05.2021).
Where Atmosphere and
Imagination Linger
The dualism between the external and the internal world
had preoccupied philosophers for millennia. [. . .] For a
scientist such as Humboldt who was trying to understand
nature, this was the most important question. Humans were
like citizens of two worlds, occupying both . . . 1
Andrea Wulf
In our built contemporary landscapes, nature increasingly

needs the design mandate of a strong voice to serve as
a catalyst of atmosphere and imagination. The potential for
natural phenomena to do this lingers in the realm of the
in-between, the dialogue between our inner and outer
worlds. It demands practical skills to draw it out and create
poetic experience. To help “read” the more ephemeral
facets of landscapes I created “The Landscape of Three
Layers”: on the bottom, archetypal natural phenomena,
uncontrolled, raw; above that, cultural landscapes of
socio-political manifestations on the land; atop both, the
“Landscape of Imagination”, of memory, longing, desire,
experience. When designs activate this last-named layer,
works offer “open-ended stories”, left incomplete as
catalysts for our imaginations, inviting multiple interpreta
tions. To create powerful places the irrational and the
intuitive are our strongest tools, combining rational and
sensory worlds into intelligence at lightning speed.

@Arclib
One should always be drunk . . . But with what? With
wine, poetry or virtue, as you choose. But get drunk. 2
Charles Baudelaire
Sky Platform, Zurich Airport Park, Switzerland

The park consists of a glacier moraine that has been
continually transformed over time by large-scale infra 1 Wulf, Andrea (2015). The Invention of Nature.
structural projects. In the new park, on still days, the London: John Murray, p. 35.
30-metre-diameter Sky Platform on the summit engulfs
the dweller in fog, allowing the sensation of getting 2 Charles Baudelaire in Louis Simpson (ed. and
lost in the middle of the most connected infrastruc trans.) (1997). Modern Poets of France: A Bilingual
tural hub in Switzerland. Landscape architects:@Arclib
Studio
@ArclibAnthology. Story Line Press, Inc. Reprinted by permis
Vulkan with Robin Winogrond sion of the author and Story Line Press, Inc.
Resist the Urge to
do Too Much
Transforming a landscape and leaving one’s personal mark
on the earth has always been an alluring prospect for all
humans – particularly for landscape architects, who are ex
pected to make their names (and fortune) in exactly this
fashion. But all too often, so much energy and labour go
into reshaping the land that the result is like a new face
after plastic surgery: superficially beautiful, but without
character or soul. Minimal intervention means approaching
the natural landscape as a canvas on which the artist
adds only a few deft strokes, and trusts nature to do its
own work. To be sure, less intervention usually means
greater challenges: the “messiness” of nature often runs
counter to popular tastes (to say nothing of the client’s
vision). Wild landscapes can sometimes look weedy, and
harbour snakes – along with bugs and beasts of all kinds.
But these are, of course, exactly the things that make
a landscape truly alive.
236 Kongjian Yu @Arclib

→ Beijing, China@Arclib
The Red Ribbon Park in Qinhuangdao City, work was carried out, not a single tree was cut and no
China, 2007 flood walls were built, the impact on natural processes
Minimal intervention: using a single red bench to trans was minimised while fulfilling local residents’ needs
form a former suburban riparian corridor into a popu for recreation and relaxation. Landscape architects:
@Arclib
lar urban park that serves the ever-growing population
@Arclib Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
of the city of Qinhuangdao. Because no earth-moving
Reopen the
Land to the Rain
and Floods
Reopening the land to the rain and floods is a nature-
based way to retain rainwater at source, slow the often
destructive surge of water downstream and be adaptive.
The idea is completely contrary to conventional engin
eering approaches that rely on dams, concrete flood
walls and massive amounts of energy used to pump
water away from where it naturally flows. Creating “spon
gier” land not only means protecting and restoring
wetlands, which are extremely productive habitats and
highly effective carbon-sequestration landscapes, but also
creating terraces on steep slopes to stop soil and water
erosion, building ponds to catch and remediate f ertiliser
and pesticide runoff from farmland, creating low dykes
along waterways to slow down the flow, and making urban
pavements more permeable. Using simple techniques
such as cut-and-fill, the landscape can be made spongier
in order to retain and remediate water locally, create
diverse habitats and make the whole landscape lush and
climate-resilient.

Sanya City, Sponge City Initiative, China, 2016 Managing water by simple cut-and-fill is arguably the
Reopening the land to the rain and floods: inspired most effective nature-based solution for adapting to
by the ancient wisdom of farming and water manage climate change. Thousands of years of aquaculture in
ment – including techniques such as terracing, pond the monsoon-prone region has helped build a rich body
ing, dyking and islanding – the formerly flood-plagued of wisdom to inspire us in addressing climate change
urban centre of Sanya City on China’s Hainan@Arclib
Island
@Arclibtoday. Landscape architects: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
was transformed into a water-resilient “sponge city”.
Create Deep Form
Landscape architecture has become focused on the
creation of form. But the form we end up creating is often
superficial and fragile, and, as John Lyle put it, “lacks
the solidity of coherent process beneath the surface”. By
contrast, a deep or authentic form “is shaped by the inter
actions of inner ecological process and human vision”.1
Such a deep form has a sustainable beauty. No interaction
between human vision and nature’s inner ecological pro
cesses is as strong as that between peasants and their
land. But this deep connection has been largely broken by
modernisation and urbanisation. It is therefore fundament
ally important to understand how peasants, with their
traditional farming practices and survival wisdom in adapt
ing to a changing environment, transformed their local
landscapes to sustain themselves in the face of natural
challenges and thereby evolved a variety of inspiring deep
forms. In this sense, landscape architecture can be con
sidered as an art of survival that creates deep forms.

Sanya Mangrove Park, Ecological Restoration
Initiative, Sanya City, China, 2018
Deep form through designed ecologies: designed eco
tones in the form of interlocking fingers help draw
in ocean tides while reducing destructive freshwater
flushes and tropical storm surges. In this case, deep
form helps encourage the natural process of mangrove
restoration and the establishment of a resilient coast
al habitat that is rich with species. An area of lifeless
landfill within a concrete flood wall was successfully
restored into a lush mangrove park where nature and 1 Lyle, John T. (1991). (1991). “Can Floating
@Arclib
people, ocean tides and freshwater all come together.
@ArclibSeeds Make Deep Forms?” Landscape Journal, 10(1),
Landscape architects: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape pp. 39–40.
Edges Matter
In any landscape, what matters most is the edges – whether
between land and water, forest and open field, urban and
rural, or built and green space, to name only the most
obvious examples. Not only do important energy, material,
information and species fluxes occur at the ecotones
between any two ecosystems or two types of landscapes,
but we humans are ourselves an edge species that evolved
at the boundary between savanna and forest – and there
fore are particularly sensitive to the landscape edge. Yet at
the same time, edges are usually most vulnerable in the
built environment: the peri-urban areas are usually the most
ignored and chaotic; the riparian edges, which otherwise
would be occupied by a diverse set of species, are covered
with concrete flood walls; the edges of green spaces have
become dumping grounds; and the edges outside build
ings are paved with cement. If a project’s budget is tight,
make sure to invest as much as possible at the edge!

Haikou Meishe River, Haikou City, China, 2019 replaced with eco-friendly and flood-resilient water
Transforming a grey edge into green: the landscape ways, native habitats have been rehabilitated, wet
architect led the implementation of nature-based solu lands have been built along the river to catch and
tions to transform a grey, concrete-jacketed river into a clean contaminated runoff, and recreational facilities
resilient green infrastructure that revives the river with have been integrated into the ecological infrastructure.
clean water, rich wildlife, lush beauty and social@Arclib
vital Landscape architects: Kongjian Yu/Turenscape
@Arclib
ity. The concrete flood walls have been removed and
Think Like a King and
Act Like a Peasant
According to legend, the first king in China was Yu the
Great: a master of water management and flood control,
as well as of fulfilling a vision of peace and abundance
for his subjects. Yet no matter how powerful, a king’s vision
can only be realised through the action of each of his
subjects. So it was that one simple tool, a hoe in the hands
of a peasant, which subsequently transformed much of
the territory of China: the terraces that made rice cultiva
tion possible on steep hillsides, the expanses of ponds
and dykes that transformed vast river-delta marshes into
the most productive and sustainable paradises. A wise
king and a peasant have at least one thing in common:
each wants to pass his or her own piece of land, no mat
ter how large or small – and in which they have invested
so much toil – on to the next generation. This ethic is
probably the essence of the profession of landscape
architecture.

Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province, China, 2010 formed much of the world’s surface long before the
A peasant and his land: with tools no more advanced advent of industrial earth-moving equipment. It is a
than a hoe, and generations of continuous hard work, profound testimony to how a big vision of a sustainable
hillsides across China have been transformed into a planet can be realised through techniques as simple as
productive and beautiful landscape composed @Arclib
of cut-and-fill, using tools as basic as a hoe.
@Arclib
millions of rice paddies. This same kind of tool trans
That “Landscape”
is Not a Thing
“Landscape” is not a thing. There is no discrete, physical
feature of the natural environment one can point to and
call a “landscape”. Rather, landscape is a social construct.
It is the human compositional frame upon the Earth that
we project onto it, reflective of our comprehension of the
world we live in. As J. B. Jackson writes, landscape is “a
man-made system of spaces superimposed on the face
of the land, functioning and evolving not according to
natural laws but to serve a community”.1 Our values, as
a society, are recorded in the landscape; our role then,
as landscape architects, is that of scribe.
241 Sara Zewde @Arclib

USA
1 Jackson, John Brinckerhoff (1984). Discovering
@Arclib
the Vernacular Landscape. New Haven: Yale University
@Arclib
Wheat fields in Virginia, USA Press, p. 8.
“Where the Burial
Grounds from the Time
of Adam Are”
This is an old Arabic saying, reminding us to be cognisant
of our place in history. The entire Earth’s surface is a burial
ground, an unbounded palimpsest of multiple histories.
As landscape architects intervening on that surface, we are
asked to intervene in the burial grounds of many past life
times – as well as future ones. As such, landscape architec
ture is inherently in dialogue with generations before and
after us. This same Earth will become the grounds for our
own imminent burials. Approaching what we do in this
regard prompts us to work with care, respect and delicacy,
in view of those before us as well as those to come after us.

USA
@Arclib
The Bethel Burying Ground in Philadelphia, Pennsyl
@Arclib
vania, USA; competition submission by Studio Zewde
The Poetics of a
Construction Detail
Big ideas don’t stop at the early phases of a landscape-
architecture project. Rather, the details of landscape
construction – the material expression of the landscape
itself – are ripe for the infusion of innovation, idiosyncrasy
and poetics. Every corner, every joint, every material
finish in the built environment is foundational to the res
onance of a landscape with its people, its place and
its ecology.

USA
Section profile of the Bethel Burying Ground; @Arclib
@Arclib
competition by Studio Zewde
That Landscape
Architecture is an
Inherently Political Act
Land itself is a means of production and a demonstration
of power. To design a landscape is to project a vision for
how a place ought to be. Some designs seek to reify the
way things are; others are projections of change. Either way,
designs themselves are campaigns for one or the other,
and landscape architecture is an inherently political act.

USA
Community installation of Africatown Plaza, Seattle,
WA, USA – a project by Studio Zewde for the@Arclib
Africa
@Arclib
town Community Land Trust
That Frederick Law
Olmsted Wrote a Book
about Slavery
In 1852 the New York Daily Times (now New York Times)
commissioned the founder of this profession, Frederick
Law Olmsted Sr, to conduct an immersive research jour
ney through the Southern slave states. The country was
headed towards civil war, and the paper sought to dispatch
the young Olmsted for his ability to reveal the cultural
and environmental qualities of landscape in a narrative
voice. Notably, Olmsted’s period of writing and reflecting
on the South would coincide with his work designing
and overseeing construction of Central Park, the seminal
project of the US profession. In this way Olmsted’s reflec
tions on race and slavery in the United States propelled
him towards the practice of landscape architecture – and
are, in fact, present at the origin story of the discipline.

USA
The first appearance of Frederick Law Olmsted’s@Arclib
writing
@Arclib
on the South in the New York Daily Times
Verb
Design narratives have been increasingly linked to story
telling, in which nouns and adjectives have been rebranded
to form new meanings and ideas such as these ASLA
Award-winning schemes: “the Big U” (2016), “Deep Form
of Designed Nature” (2020), “Proving Grounds” (2017),
“Heritage Flume” (2019) and “Abstracting Morphology”
(2017).
These narratives provide big pictures of the visions
underpinning projects, which have strong branding ideas
behind them. However, the actual design actions/methods
are obscured by these narratives. For young designers
who are searching for a clearer design vocabulary, there
is an alternative narrative approach in which the verb
plays the main role. The verbs provide more accurate and
vivid design descriptions of the projects, and help build
more critical design thinking and analysis.
246 Huicheng Zhong (Atelier Scale)

@Arclib
→ Shenzhen, China
@Arclib
The following four short sections introduces four verbs, – social space, “terracing” – topography and “furnishing”
each of which addresses one specific design @Arclib
chal – lifestyle.
@Arclib
lenge, e.g. “aggregating” – craftsmanship, “landforming”
Aggregating
“Aggregating” is a strategy for dealing with low-budget pro-
j ects in which construction quality is unpredictable. Usu
ally, this strategy consists of two parts – prototyping and
repeating. Based on project-specific needs, a prototype is
selected; through repeating the prototype with certain
structural rules, an aggregating pattern of space is devel
oped. This method offers a great way of achieving rela
tively fine construction quality in low-budget conditions:
modules allow savings in material supply and repetition
allows easier workflow, once operatives familiarise them
selves with it. And the accompanying simple, legible
construction documentation provides contractors with
smooth communication and high levels of efficiency
in their fieldwork.
However, “aggregating” does not mean compromising
on creativity in terms of design. A careful study of typo
logy and a repetitive structure are the keys to achieving in
novation. A prototype of simple but interesting forms brings
identity to the site, while the repetitive structure brings
richness to the design.
247 Huicheng Zhong

@Arclib
→ Shenzhen, China
@Arclib
The Wave, Shenzhen, China, 2020 after the flower show was over. The module prototype
The Wave was a low-budget and recyclable display was inspired by the texture of the ocean, which forms
garden at the 2020 Flower Show in Shenzhen. The a backdrop to the city of Shenzhen. Through the tilting
landscape architect devised a prefabricated modu and moving of modules (repetition), a field of waves is
lar system, through which the garden could@Arclib
be re created to simulate the ocean. Landscape architects:
@Arclib
built on another site with 90% of its material reused Atelier Scale
Landforming
“Landforming” is a design operation that aims to create
social space. Landform not only brings powerful sculptur
al qualities and aesthetics to design but also accommo
dates a range of programmes in modern landscape archi
tectural works. In the West, influenced by Modernism,
landscape architects have emphasised the performance
of landform in their design. Examples include Byxbee Park,
Palo Alto, California, by Hargreaves Associates (eco
logical treatment), Cumberland Park, Nashville, Tennessee,
by Hargreaves Jones (community programmes), and
Storm King Wavefield, Mountainville, New York, by Maya
Lin (sculptural park).
In traditional Chinese gardens, by contrast, land
form has been used to emphasise experience. The design
process was triggered by how people experienced the
space, and many design decisions were made on site. The
emphasis on bodily movement in landforming provides
a dynamic perspective on place making. We could learn
from both of these types of wisdom on landforming.
248 Huicheng Zhong

@Arclib
→ Shenzhen, China
@Arclib
The Folds, Changzhou, China, 2020 a folding lawn and transitions to similarly contoured
The Folds is a community playground that mobilises wooden decks. This distinctive landform encourages
children’s perceptions of landform. It is designed with children to perceive the space with their hands and
the notion of returning to basics through the folding of feet. They can run, climb, play hide-and-seek and de
spaces, and the use of playground equipment @Arclib
is de cide how to have fun by themselves. Landscape ar
@Arclib
liberately minimised. The spatial sequence starts from chitects: Atelier Scale
Terracing
“Terracing” is a site-specific strategy responding to topo
graphy. It can be understood as the creation of programmed
rooms on sloped/graded sites, and its simplest applica
tions can be studied through sections.
Once a site with changes in elevation is cut into ter
races, it requires negotiation between the horizontals and
verticals. The wider the flat space, the taller the accom
panying vertical façade will need to be – while the shorter
the vertical façade, the narrower the horizontal space is.
Behind this logic lies a series of considerations of comfort,
habitability and views. Therefore, a careful study of pro
portions based on the varying site challenges is needed.
249 Huicheng Zhong

@Arclib
→ Shenzhen, China
@Arclib
Restroom in the Mountains, Yantai, China, 2019 provided a waiting place and the best viewpoint of
Restroom in the Mountains is a functioning public toi the nearby mountains. A dialogue can be observed
let as well as a terraced courtyard constructed on ex between the horizontal “landing”, created for pro
isting topography. The courtyard is threaded through grammed spaces, and the layered vertical façades. Ar
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with a series of transitions between toilet blocks and chitect and landscape architect: Atelier Scale
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landscape pavilions. The setting of the viewing deck
Furnishing
“Furnishing” is an important design consideration in
addressing how people enjoy their daily lives. In a highly
developed industrial society, instead of specifying cus
tomised furniture, it’s tempting for landscape architects to
choose outdoor furnishings from product lists for their
works – which is a cost-effective choice. However, an out
door furniture set is not a simple aesthetic and economic
consideration; there are other, social and cultural, fac
tors involved. Designers should always pay more attention
than they are inclined to do for furniture design, which
accommodates most of human social behaviour. And there
are many smart strategies we could use for furniture
settings; here are some tips:
First, “site impromptu” – furniture design can be

integrated with site features such as grade change.
Second, “modular design” – modules can bring rich com

binations and interactions to the sitting environment.
Third, “surprise” – it doesn’t need to look like furniture;

have people discover and explore the way they want.
250 Huicheng Zhong

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→ Shenzhen, China
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Raindrop Garden, Shenzhen, China, 2020 space beneath, offering a mini-playground for toddlers
Raindrop Garden is a commercial rooftop garden that (upper right); a raised “tatami” wooden deck, providing
is open to the public. It accommodates a wide range of an area for casual chats (middle right); and movable
furniture – for example, a wooden-capped low retaining chairs for bar-type seating on wooden decks (bottom).
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wall, seen welcoming a visitor to rest and take off their Landscape architects: Atelier Scale
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shoes (top left); a super-wide benchtop with storage
Illustration Credits
1 16–20 33 47
Image courtesy of G.N. © ASPECT Studios Photo © Tom Fox, n.d., © Shutterstock
Brandt Estate and courtesy SWA
Personal Archive 21 48
© Julie Bargmann 34 © NASA / GSFC /
2 Photo © Charles ERSDAC / ASTER
Image courtesy of SLA 22 Birnbaum, 2019, courtesy
Above: © Public domain, The Cultural Landscape 49
3 via Wikimedia Commons; Foundation © Richard Buckminster
© The Gundersen below: © CC3 via The Fuller; reproduced
Collection University of Edinburgh 35 with permission of the
via Wikimedia Above: Photo © Keri Buckminster Fuller
4 Pickett, 2008, courtesy Institute
© Wikicommons: 23 The Cultural Landscape
Apollo and Daphne Above: © Ildefons Cerdà, Foundation; 50
scanned by ca:user:am below: Photo © Barrett © Field Operations, 2010
5 adalvarez, Museu Doherty, courtesy The
Image courtesy of the d’Historia de la Ciutat, Cultural Landscape 51
Niels Bohr Archive Barcelona, public domain Foundation MDP Michel Desvigne
via Wikimedia Commons; Paysagiste
6 below: © Ildefons Cerdà 36
© Bjørn Christian i Sunyer, public domain © Inside Outside 52
Tørrissen via Wikimedia Commons Guillaume Leuregans
37
7 24 © Andrea Cherchi 53
© Georgia Forestry © The Museum of Taro Ernst
Commission Modern 38
Art – Licensed by SCALA / © Iwan Baan 54
8–10 Art Resource, NY MDP Michel Desvigne
© MASS Design Group 39 Paysagiste
25 © Wim van Egmond
11 © Omar Hoftun, via 55
© Yael Bar-Maor, Wikimedia Commons; 40 Guillaume Leuregans
based on NASA satellite below: © G. Bernetti / EU © Petra Blaisse
photographs FORGEN via Wikimedia 56–57
Commons 41 © Philip Winkelmeier
12–13 Courtesy Gustafson
© Yael Bar-Maor 26–29 Porter + Bowman 58
Landscape Architecture © Aarohi Bakeri © Sinai
Studio 42
30 © Gustafson Porter + 59
14 Hand drawing by Bowman © Photographer Klemens
Photo and vegetation Rutuja Badve Ortmeyer
sections: © Yael 43
Bar-Maor; 3D Rendering: 31 © lotoarchilab 60
© Arie Bruck for Yael © Charles Birnbaum, © Nikolai Benner
Bar-Maor Landscape 2006, courtesy The 44
Architecture Studio Cultural Landscape © Hélène Binet 61
Foundation © Matthew Arielly
15 45
© Yael Bar-Maor 32 © Gustafson Porter +
Landscape Architecture © The Cultural Bowman 62
Studio Landscape Foundation © Christian Phillips
Pioneer files 46
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© Field Operations, 2010
63 97 118 136–138
© Gina Ford Photo © City of Toronto Both: © Michael Latz Catherine Mosbach
Archives. Photo by F. Ellis
64 Wiley, 1964–74 119 139
© Hadley Fruits Above and below right: © Nina Bassoli
98 © Latz+Partner; below
65 © Metropolitan Toronto left: © Monika Nikolic 140
Drawings courtesy of Planning Department Catherine Mosbach
Agency Landscape + Library collection of 120
Planning; Photograph: Alexandra Studio Above: © Latz+Partner; 141
© Kessler Photography; photographs, City of below: © Monika Nikolic © Studio Céline Baumann
Chicago Waterfront: Toronto Archives
© Sasaki 121 142
99–100 Rasmus Hjortshøj © Francis Hallé,
66–68 © City of Toronto Archives L’association Francis Hallé
© EMF 122 pour la fôret primaire
101 Biblioteca Digital del Real
69 © Adam Mørk Jardin Botanico de Madrid, 143
Above: © Pau Ardévol; available under a Creative Courtesy of the
below: © EMF 102–103 Commons Attribution Bibliothèque nationale
© Christina Capetillo (NonCommercial-Share de France, département
70 Alike 4.0) Cartes et plans
© EMF 104
© Arkitekt Kristine 123 144
71–74 J ensens Tegnestue Cobe, Foto: Rasmus © Aisling O’Carroll
© West 8 Hjortshøj
105 145
75 © Tor Birk Trads 124 Courtesy of Cornell
© Jeroen Musch Cobe, Sleth, Polyform, University – PJ Mode
106–107 Rambøll Collection of Persuasive
76 100architects Cartography,
© J & L Gibbons 125 CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
108–109 Rasmus Hjortshøj
77 Amey Kandalgaonkar 146
Pentagram Design 126–127 © Laurie Olin
110 © Jala Makhzoumi
78 REX ZOU 147–150
© J & L Gibbons 128 © OLIN Studio
111 http://www.medcities.org/
79 Roselli photographer docments/22116/42242/ 151
© Landscape Learn 13.11.12.Saida+USUDS © The All We Can
112 +Strategic+Framework+ Save Project
80 LAND Report_finalGG+-+Copy.
© Larraine Worpole pdf/7efb5852-d4bb- 152
113 4740-8f42-8575b5b32bf7 © New York
81 © Ralph Richter Restoration Project
© GROSCH photographer 129
http://www.unit44.net/ 153
82–83 114 practice/ecological- © SCAPE
© LANOO Klaus Wingold planning/project-
587353faf00518- 154
84–85 115 62148024 © Ty Cole
© GROSCH LAND
130 155
86–90 116 © Jala Makhzoumi © SCAPE
© Walter Hood Above: © Latz+Partner;
below: © Michael Latz 131 156
91–95 Chloe Humphreys © Jiri Havran
© GROSS. MAX 117
Above: © Michael Latz; 132–135 157
96 below: © Latz+Partner Teresa Moller © Mikal Schlosser
Courtesy of Toronto @Arclib
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Public Library
158 181 208 225
© Michael Grimm © Rijkswaterstaat © VOGT Landschafts Above left: © PWP
architekten, Image Landscape Architecture;
159 182 credits: Diana Leone above right:
© Snøhetta SOS Loire Vivante/ERN © Gerry Campbell;
France 209–210 middle left: © PWP
160 © VOGT Landschafts Landscape Architecture;
© Orfeus 183–184 architekten below: © Tom Fox
© Dirk Sijmons
161–165 211 226–230
© Julian Raxworthy 185 © Panoramic Studio © Elliot Bullen and
© Ro Koster (2020) Richard Weller
166 212–213
© Xun Liu and Ziwei 186 © Landprocess and 231
Zhang © Eugène Emmanuel Panoramic Studio © Studio Vulkan
Viollet-le-Duc
167–168 214–15 232
© Stoss Inc. 187 © Landprocess © Robin Winogrond
© Bureau Bas Smets
169 216 233
© Robert Rauschenberg 188 Aga Khan Trust for © Daniela Valentini
Foundation © Alexander von Culture, New Delhi
Humboldt 234
170 217 © Robin Winogrond
© Mike Belleme 189 Anupam Mishra, and Felix Schregenberger
© Bureau Bas Smets Aaj bhi khare hain talab
171 235
© Hanns Joosten 190 218 © Robin Winogrond
© Eugène Hénard Pradip Krishen
172 236–239
© Iwan Baan 191–195 219 Kongjian Yu / Turenscape
Chip Sullivan LA, Journal of
173 Landscape Architecture 240
© Chip Sullivan 196 © Kongjian Yu
© NASA 220
174 LEAF Publications, 241
© Hanns Joosten 197 Ahmedabad © Sara Zewde
© Hiroshi Sugimoto,
175 courtesy of New Material 221 242–243
© Mary Evans Picture Research Laboratory Above: © James Taylor / © Studio Zewde
Library 2015 State Library of NSW;
https://copyrighthub.org/ 198 middle right: © PWP 244
s0/hub1/creation/ © Athanasius Kircher, Landscape Architecture; © Austin Wilson
maryevans/MaryEvans Ars Magna Lucis et below right:
PictureID/10350226 Umbrae, 1646 © Infrastructure New 245
South Wales; below left: © The New York Times
176–177 199 © Infrastructure New Archives
© PUBLIC WORK © bpk / Museum für South Wales
Asiatische Kunst, SMB / 246–250
178 Jürgen Liepe / distributed 222 © Atelier Scale
Photo © Nic Lehoux, by AMF Above: © Ballistic
courtesy of PUBLIC rchitecture Machine
A
WORK 200 (BAM); below:
Photo © eiko tomura © Dixi Carrillo
179 landscape architects
© PUBLIC WORK 223
201–205 © Chris Grubbs
180 © !melk
© Charles A. Birnbaum, 224
courtesy of the Cultural 206 –207 © PWP Landscape
Landscape Foundation © VOGT Landschafts Architecture
architekten @Arclib
@Arclib
About the Editor
Cannon Ivers is a chartered member of the Landscape
Institute and a Director at LDA Design in London. He
holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree with
distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School
of Design. Cannon is a teaching fellow at the Bartlett
School of Landscape Architecture, London and the author
of the book Staging Urban Landscapes: The Activation
and Curation of Flexible Public Spaces published by
Birkhäuser. His professional work includes the design
of urban parks and public spaces, and he frequently
contributes to design discourses through publications
examining 3D design and digital fabrication; spatial
programmability; intelligent water design; and high-
impact, low-maintenance planting design.
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@Arclib
Layout, cover design Bibliographic information published
and typesetting: by the German National Library
Lisa Petersen, The German National Library lists
Bureau Est, Leipzig / Paris this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed biblio
Editorial supervision graphic data are available on the
and project management: Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
Henriette Mueller-Stahl,
Berlin This work is subject to copyright.
All rights are reserved, whether the
Copy editing: whole or part of the material is
Ian McDonald, Solva concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, re-use of
Production: illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,
Heike Strempel, Berlin reproduction on microfilms or in
other ways, and storage in data-
Lithography: bases. For any kind of use, permis
bildpunkt Druckvorstufen GmbH, sion of the copyright owner must
Berlin be obtained.
Paper: ISBN 978-3-0356-2335-2

120 g/m² Salzer Touch white e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-0356-2336-9
Printing: © 2021 Birkhäuser Verlag

Eberl & Koesel GmbH & Co. KG, GmbH, Basel
Altusried P.O. Box 44, 4009 Basel,
Switzerland
Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH,
Library of Congress Berlin/Boston
Control Number:
2021940525
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
www.birkhauser.com
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250 Things

1 Czerniak, Julia (2001). CASE: Downsview Park

1 Stig L. Andersson (SLA)

2 Stig L. Andersson (SLA)

3 Stig L. Andersson (SLA)

4 Stig L. Andersson (SLA)

5 Stig L. Andersson (SLA)

6 Sierra Bainbridge (MASS)

7 Sierra Bainbridge (MASS)

8 Sierra Bainbridge (MASS)

9 Sierra Bainbridge (MASS)

14 Yael Bar-Maor @Arclib

It is extremely important to be aware of the subjective

16 Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT

17 Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT

18 Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT

19 Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT

20 Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT

26 Aniket Bhagwat @Arclib

27 Aniket Bhagwat @Arclib

28 Aniket Bhagwat @Arclib

29 Aniket Bhagwat @Arclib

30 Aniket Bhagwat @Arclib

36 Petra Blaisse (Inside

37 Petra Blaisse (Inside

38 Petra Blaisse (Inside

39 Petra Blaisse (Inside

40 Petra Blaisse (Inside

41 Mary Bowman (Gustafson

42 Mary Bowman (Gustafson

43 Mary Bowman (Gustafson

44 Mary Bowman (Gustafson

45 Mary Bowman (Gustafson

46 James Corner (Field Operations)

47 James Corner (Field Operations)

48 James Corner (Field Operations)

49 James Corner (Field Operations)

50 James Corner (Field Operations)

51 Michel Desvigne @Arclib

52 Michel Desvigne @Arclib

53 Michel Desvigne @Arclib

54 Michel Desvigne @Arclib

55 Michel Desvigne @Arclib

61 Gina Ford @Arclib

62 Gina Ford @Arclib

63 Gina Ford @Arclib

64 Gina Ford @Arclib

65 Gina Ford @Arclib

66 Martí Franch (Estudi Martí Franch – EMF)

67 Martí Franch (Estudi Martí Franch – EMF)

68 Martí Franch (Estudi Martí Franch – EMF)

69 Martí Franch (Estudi Martí Franch – EMF)

Drama, celebration, surprise and astonishment ought thus

70 Martí Franch (Estudi Martí Franch – EMF)

71 Adriaan Geuze (West

72 Adriaan Geuze (West

73 Adriaan Geuze (West

74 Adriaan Geuze (West

75 Adriaan Geuze (West

The city is a dynamic landscape,

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the un