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Landscape urbanism - an innovator of planning practice and theory?

Lindholm, Gunilla

Abstract

“Landscape urbanism” can be described as a concept functioning as condensation nuclei for the theoretical and professional development emerging from disciplines such as landscape architecture and urban planning the last decade. So far – landscape urbanism could best be described as a sample of projects working in a direction combining urban, ecological development with landscape design and urban planning in an interdisciplinary way, meaning that professional conventions are less leading the design than are the intentions to create flows and processes out from a situation within a special context and with specific intentions, with aid from theory and craftsmanship from several professions and disciplines. The historical traces are found in different environments, such as design competitions (Parc de la Vilette being an icon), landscape planning experiments (from all continents, e.g. Shannon, 2002 ) and professional/theoretical contributions such as McHarg’s “Design with nature” (1969), but also combinations from architecture and biological succession (such as Gustavsson in Dunnett & Hitchmough, 2004). The societal significance of the concept “Landscape Urbanism” lies in the potential contribution for changing the constraints of urban planning and design by bringing landscape issues in at all various scales included, also finding ways to link them between different planning scales. To make this possible the concept of landscape urbanism could be useful, if it is elaborated for this purpose. This means, among other things, to avoid superficial design patterns being accepted as “examples” of landscape urbanism, but rather develop the rhetoric and the work processes, understanding the links and the mutual significances between different situations as points on a time scale. As landscape architects one of the harder challenges in this respect is to understand the social dynamics, change and inertia, within a situation, while elaborating spatial and environmental issues. The suggestion in this paper is that meta-levels, bringing in modes of thinking with a broader relevance than actual assignments, are necessary for understanding the application and development of “landscape urbanism”. Such thinking modes could work as condensation nuclei for the development of landscape urbanism, small in space and substance, but great in value and driving force. Examples of thinking modes, as alternatives to examples of solutions, are suggested. REFERENCES: Gustavsson R.(2004) Exploring Woodland Design: Designing with Complexity and Dynamics. In The Dynamic Landscape. Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough, Spon Press. London. pp184-214 McHarg, I., (1969) Design with nature. John Wiley. New York Shannon, K., (2002) Vietnam's hybrid urban landscapes: the dream of western architects/urbanists, Journal of research in architecture and planning, Vol 1 , pp 1-13 Waldheim, C. (ed) 2006, The Landscape Urbanism Reader. Princeton Architectural Press. New York

Published in

Title: Abstracts for XX ECLAS conference 2008, Alnarp, September 10-13 2008
Publisher: Landskapsarkitektur