Characteristics of modern landscape architecture a

LandscapeandUrbanPlanning60(2002)117–133CharacteristicsofmodernlandscapearchitectureanditseducationDavorinGazvoda∗DepartmentofLandscapeArchitecture,BiotechnicalFaculty,UniversityofLjubljana,Jamnikarjeva101,1000Ljubljana,SloveniaAbstractLandscapearchitecturemustkeeptheadvantageithasgainedbecauseofitswideuseoftheknowledgeoflandscapewhichnootherrelateddisciplineshave.Detailedlandscapedesign,creationofnewspaces—newlandscapes,anduseofcharacteristic,alivelandscapematerialaswellasnatureprotection,landscapeecologyandregionallandscapeplanningrequirebothacreativeandascientificapproach.Theessentialabilitythatlandscapearchitectshave,i.e.thecapabilityofswitchingbetweenconcretedetailsandevengloballandscapeinteractions—enablesthemtoachievedifferentandoftenbetterresultsthanmightbedevelopedbyarchitects,artists,urbanplanners,biologists,ecologistsandothercolleagueswhendealingwithsimilarlandscapeproblems.Examplesofourwork,derivingfrom“thelayer-cakemethod”andappliedtorecentstudioprojects,areusedtoillustratekeystatementsinthepaper.Alinktotheteachingprocessismadeinordertooffersmallbutimportantsolutionsonhowtoteachlandscapestudentsthemostcharacteristicandusefullandscapebasics.©2002ElsevierScienceB.V.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Landscapeplanningmethods;Landscapedesign;Designprocess;Education1.IntroductionThepeculiarcharacterofthelandscapearchitectureprofessionrequireslandscapearchitectstobefamiliarwithbothawiderangeofknowledgefromthefieldofnaturalsciencesandartisticcreativityatthesametime.Thedichotomybetweenartinthelandscapearchitec-tureononehandandscienceontheotherisoftenquiteclearlydemonstratedinabroadrangeofourworks.Landscapearchitectswhocallthemselveslandartistscreateartinstallations.Itisacreativeactofexpress-ingtheirunderstandingoftheworldandnotaprocessofsolvingspatialproblems.Ontheotherhand,therearemanyworksdoneeitherbycolleaguescomingfrom“relateddisciplines”orbylandscapearchitectswhodealwithspecificthemestosuchanextentthat∗Tel.:[phone];fax:[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail](D.Gazvoda).theycouldalsobecalledcivilengineers,ecologists,computerscientists,etc.Theycanfocusonnaturalprocesses,preservethenaturebutfailtocreateanewinterestingspacewhenneeded.Inbothextremes,theproductsareproblematic.Theyaretoopartial,addressingfewtasksandnottrytoincorporatethecoreoftheprofession:theessentialbasicknowledgeofnaturalsciencecombinedwithartist’screativity.Landscapearchitectureisacomplexandinterdis-ciplinaryprofession.Dealingwithspatialproblemsinsidecertainsocietalrequirements,howcanweac-tuallydefinethesubjectofourwork—thelandscapewithitscharacteristicsandrequirements?Whatisthespecificknowledgethatdefineslandscapearchi-tectureinrelationtootherdisciplines?Whatisthebasicknowledgeweneedtoteachstudentsinordertosuccessfullydealwiththelandscapeasprofessionals?Inordertofindtheanswertothesequestions,thepresentpaperisbasedonthefollowinghypothesis:0169-2046/02/$20.00©2002ElsevierScienceB.V.Allrightsreserved.PII:S0169-2046(02)00064-6118D.Gazvoda/LandscapeandUrbanPlanning60(2002)117–133therearespecificlandscapearchitecturalmethodsandtechniques,developedoverthelast30years,whichhaveupgradedmucholdergardenarchitectureapproachesanddistinguishedourprofessionfromotherrelateddisciplines.Atthesametime,landscapearchitecturehascombinedabroadrangeofknow-ledgederivingfromthecharacterofourobject—thelandscapeasitsentirecomplex,on-goingnatural-andhuman-causedprocessesrequire.Ourmethodsareexact,transparent,explanatoryandverycommu-nicableinordertocommunicatenotonlywithrelateddisciplinesbutalsowiththepublic.Acreationofnewlandscapesrequiresanintuitivecreativeabilitylandscapearchitectsneedtocombinewithanalyticalsystematicalapproach.2.Methods2.1.Whatislandscapearchitecture?Itissimplyimpossibletoofferasystematicandanalyticaloverviewoflandscapearchitecturewithdetailedandcorrectdefinitionsoflandscapearchitec-turaltermsbecausethereisnosuchthing.Inordertodothatthebestthingwouldbetocompareseverallandscapearchitecturaldictionariesindifferentlang-uagesfromdifferentcountriesandcomparedef-initions.However,becausewedonothavethemyetmaybeanegotiatedagreementbetweenEuro-peancountriesshouldofferasatisfactorydefinitionoflandscapearchitecture.AlthoughELCER(2000)includesmanypositiveandvaluabledemandsforbet-tercommonlandscapethelandscapearchitectureiscompletelyignored(notevenmentioned).Itdoesn’texistasaprofessionnoteveninchapterswhereeducationisdiscussed.Slightlybetterisdefinitionoflandscapeplanning:“landscapeplanning”istheformalprocessofstudy,designandconstructionbywhichnewlandscapesarecreatedtomeettheaspi-rationsofthepeopleconcerned.Itinvolvesframingproperplanningprojects,moreparticularlyinthosemostaffectedbychangeandbadlydamagedareas(forexamplesuburbs,peri-urban,industrialareasandcoastalareas).Thepurposeofsuchplanningprojectsistoradicallyre-shapethedamagedlandscapes.Hopefully,objectionsoftheECLAScommitteeandproposalsofnewdefinitionsandespeciallyintroduc-tionoflandscapearchitecturewouldinfutureenhanceandmodernizethementionedconvention.Tocontinuefromthetwoextremesmentionedinthe