X-LArch IV
9th and 10th November 2012 LANDSCAPE 100 History of the profession – History of the site History comprises the narrative of the profession, the development of design approaches, crafts, styles and meanings. An insight in this process is essential to decode the relation between actor and object, nature and art, as well as landscape and society. Research in landscape history strives for an understanding of our predecessors, their professional attitudes as well as their designs within the historical, cultural and societal context. This allows for an appropriate interpretation of designed landscapes as statement of cultural knowledge and state of the art. History also is evident in every site: Traces of its evolution, its changes, its (re)creation and its use are legible in the landscape, be it within or outside built structures. The documentary on Georges Descombes’ revitalization of the Swiss canal Aire is entitled “La mémoire du territoire”. This title not only refers to the site’s history, but to Descombes’ approach to landscape design by using, showing, interpreting and breaking the continuity of the landscape’s development. Eyal Weizman, Director of Research Architecture at the Goldsmith College of the University of London, even claims that the site itself is telling a story. However, it needs an interpreter to be understood. In designing the landscape, the landscape architect becomes one of these interpreters. Thus we have to consider how we can interpret landscape appropriately to ensure a high quality. Marc Treib has been eager to broaden the discussion on the meaning of landscapes by taking into account the users’ vast differences in culture, experience and knowledge. Treib points out that “[M]eaning condenses at the intersection of people and place, and not alone in the form the designer’s idea takes.” Thus design can be perceived as a semi-permeable layer between “intended perception” and “perceived intention” in times of growing social differentiation. Following Weizman, landscape architects mostly intervene in sites which are already telling stories of manipulation. These stories inform us about the predominating iconography of every period, reflecting societal and political as well as artistic intentions. You might call the first point of New York landscape architect Diana Balmori’s Manifesto “Nostalgia for the past and utopian dreams for the future prevent us from looking at our present.” a truism. Yet contemporary changes add another chapter to the story line; they link the past to the future. The Dutch landscape architect Michael van Gessel refers to the English landscape architect Joseph Spence: "Respect for the past, combined with a curiosity for what is and a feeling for what could be. This is the dynamo that starts the engine of the design." Within this framework, today’s landscape architects are part of an ongoing process. History forms the basis for recent landscape interventions; in turn, these interventions provoke new tendencies for future development. Our predecessors’ efforts have positioned the profession within society as well as within cognate disciplines, or rather cultural assets on the whole. Research and documentation of biographies and designs offer a vast pool of references and examples from which to learn. Please find the abstracts of the lectures in the navigation bar to the left. References:
Balmori, Diana; Conan, Michel (2010). A Landscape Manifesto. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Betram, Christian; de Jong Erik; van Gessel, Michael (2008) Michael van Gessel, landscape architect. Rotterdam: NAi publishers.
Hauxner, Marlene (2006) „Entweder / oder, weniger und mehr – wie Formen und Ideen wandern“. In: Stiftung Landscape Architecture Europe (LAE) (Hg.): Fieldwork. Basel: Birkhäuser, S. 44 – 53.
Treib, Marc (1995): Must Landscapes Mean? Approaches to Significance in Recent Landscape Architecture. In: Treib, Marc (Ed.) (2011): Meaning in Landscape Architecture & Gardens. London and New York: Routledge.
Treib, Marc (2011): Must Landscapes Mean? Revisited. In: Treib, Marc (Ed.) (2011): Meaning in Landscape Architecture & Gardens. London and New York: Routledge.
Atelier Platane Mobile: La memoire du territoire, un film sur la renaturation du canal de l’Aire par Georges Descombes
http://www.lemilieudurhone.eu/?page_id=1307 23.3.2012
www.michaelvangessel.com 23.3.2012
Information and Registration
If you have further questions or want to register for our event, please e-mail our Conference Manager Eva Schwab at eva.schwab(at)boku.ac.at and refer to the main page for bank details.
