Thinking the Contemporary Landscape

“Landscape architecture must be one of few disciplines capable of merging a deeply symbolic and cultural understanding of nature with the massive environmental transformations to come.” This quotation is from the introduction to Thinking the Contemporary Landscape, edited by Christophe Girot and Dora Imhof.

To expand on this concept, the editors have gathered 17 essays by leading landscape architects worldwide. The first step is recognizing that the ecological discussions of the last many decades have found expression in philosophical discussions and in the arts. Slowly, these are also becoming factors in landscape design.

The changing tools of design are a measure of this transformation, as explained by Seattle architect Kathryn Gustafson. While 3-D models are the standard for any sizeable project, she begins with a clay model to develop a sense of the space she finds difficult to recreate on a computer. Taking this approach to landscape design, she finds that “people use it the way that you imagined.”

The later essays seek to understand the power found in a local terrain. However, this power can be in conflict with design principles based on current global trends in ecology and economics, or even the basic concept of what is natural. While these discussions are at times challenging to understand, this book will broaden the reader’s understanding of the many aspects to any human designed landscape.

Published in the September 2017 Leaflet for Scholars, vol. 4, issue 9