What Does Landscape Architecture Mean In Construction?
What Does Landscape Architecture Mean In Construction?
Landscape architecture refers to the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the planning, design, management, and nurturing of the built and natural environments, with landscape architects working to improve human and environmental health in all communities.
Site analysis and construction supervision are also part of a landscape architect’s job, as they design attractive and functional public parks, gardens, playgrounds, residential areas, college campuses, and other public spaces. Landscape architecture also includes the development and decorative planting of gardens, yards, grounds, parks, and other planned green outdoor spaces
The profession of landscape architecture includes a wide range of activities, from designing small gardens to large urban planning projects.
Landscape architects may be involved in site planning, stormwater management, erosion control, environmental restoration, parks and recreation planning, urban planning, visual resource management, green infrastructure planning, or private estate landscape master planning and design.
In some jurisdictions, only those who are licensed as landscape architects can use that title.
What Is Landscape Architecture Example?
The following innovative landscape architectural projects have helped to shape and define our cities and natural landscapes, in order of completion:
- Brooklyn Park Bridge by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, 2010
Brooklyn Bridge Park is a world-renowned 85-acre civic landscape designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.
The park has won several important awards, including the National Park Service’s 2010 Honor Award for Master Plans.
Brooklyn Bridge Park transforms this stretch of post-industrial waterfront into a thriving civic landscape.
The park mediates a system of new and refurbished connections between the city and the river, becoming a vital urban threshold that provides space for a wide variety of activities and programming, all with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline.
Careful attention to the site’s rich history and its extraordinary built and natural features ensures that this radical transformation creates an urban destination that is dynamic and engaging for generations to come.
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Landscape Architecture, 2011
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Campus was designed by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Landscape Architecture to be an ecologically and socially sustainable hub for global collaboration and local engagement.
The landscape architects designed the site to serve as the ground that connects employees and regenerates the surrounding community, meeting the Foundation’s principles of having a global mission with local roots.
The Foundation’s goal to “help all people lead healthy, productive lives” motivated the entire project team and drove the decision-making process.
From the outset, the client challenged the design team to envision a campus that would support the local and global agendas of the Foundation—being both a steward of the land and active member of the neighborhood as well as fostering a global resource and collaborative environment for its diverse staff and guests.
- The Australian Garden Stage 2 by Paul Thompson + Taylor Cullity Lethlean Landscape Architecture, 2012
The Australian Garden, the largest botanic garden devoted to the display of Australian flora, is now host to a vast collection of plants for scientific, educative, and conservation purposes.
By playing a vital role in helping scientists and the public understand the history, present day uses and what the future may hold for plants in natural and urban environments, it embraces the importance of biodiversity and our increased understanding of the need to protect species and ecosystems to safeguard the world’s biological heritage.
Why Is It Called Landscape Architecture?
The term “landscape architecture” was first used by the Olmsted-Vaux team when they were commissioned to design Central Park in New York City.
The term was chosen to reflect the combination of art, environment, architecture, engineering, and horticulture that is involved in designing outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures.
Landscape architecture has its roots in ancient Egypt where the austere outlines of monuments were softened by rows of trees and flowering shrubs.
Today, landscape architects use their unique skill set to plan, design, manage, and nurture the built and natural environments.
They are involved in conceptualizing spaces that create life between buildings and can be seen in streets, roads, parks, gardens, campuses, plazas and other public spaces.
Landscape architects also strive to improve human and environmental well-being through their designs.
Courses in landscape architecture are offered by more than 40 major colleges and universities which can lead to both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
What Are The Three Elements Of Landscape Architecture?
The three elements of landscape architecture are line, form, and texture.
- Line refers to the structures within a landscape such as the edges of a walkway or flower bed, or the perimeter of a patio or deck.
- Form refers to the shape of the plant or hardscape feature.
- Texture applies to both softscape and hardscape and refers to whether something is hard, soft, fine, course, heavy, light, rough, smooth etc..
Other elements of landscape design include color, scale and sound. Color brings a garden to life by adding dimension and interest.
Scale refers to the size relationship between elements within the garden and its surroundings.
Sound in design includes the sound of water in a fountain or waterfall, clear sound from outdoor speakers and the rustling of plants and grasses.
The principles of landscape design include unity, scale, balance, simplicity, variety, emphasis and sequence as they apply to line, form texture and color.
