LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE:
It’s the design of outdoor public areas,
landmarks and structures to achieve environmental, social,
behavioral or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic
investigation of existing ecological and geological conditions and
processes in the landscape and the design of interventions that will
produce the desired outcomes.

IMPORTANCE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE:

1. Preservation of nature were people are more aware nowadays
of preserving the environment and because of this, landscape
architecture is now viewed as more important than it used to be.

2. Regeneration of polluted areas nowadays all industrial places in

the world have factories there. Factories are needed to provide
a source of economic growth and jobs for people but are also
harmful to the environment. If a factory is particularly bad
 polluted it can leave the area unusable for a long time after the
factory is gone.

3. Providing outdoor recreation were landscape architecture

provides outdoor recreation areas. This increases the quality of
the physical increase heat and their density doesn’t allow for
open green space.

4. Air purifications were plants and trees as most people know

produce oxygen but less people know that they also absorb air
pollutants. This helps to filter the air and makes it cleaner.

DIFFERENT DESIGN ELEMENT USED IN LANDSCAPE

ARCHITECTURE

1. Simplicity
Simplicity is the essence of design. This is an objective that I
have always tried to achieve in all of my previous residential,
commercial, institutional and recreational projects. How a
designer creatively combines plant material and other design
components into a simple, unified scheme is always an exciting
challenge.
In the landscape palette, the designer is dealing with living plants
that are subject to a myriad of weather conditions, different soil
types, insect and disease problems, and a host of other
environmental and physical circumstances. The landscape artist
must deal with plants that celebrate the seasons with the
unfurling of leaves in spring, the aroma and visual delight of
ephemeral flowers, and the bareness of branches in winter.
Change in the landscape is never constant as the seasons come
and go. How the designer successfully combines plants and
other material components in the Landscape Planting Plan
involves paying careful attention to detail, a thorough knowledge
of practical horticulture, and a good understanding of the basic
principles and elements of design. The designer faces the
challenge of creating a plan that is pleasing to the senses and
that visually, functionally and aesthetically improves the
appearance of the landscape at an affordable cost.

Focal Point or Emphasis

Through the use of emphasis, eye movement is directed towards
a centre of interest that takes a position of prominence in the
landscape. This could be a single tree, a beautifully designed
water feature, a piece of sculpture, or a collection of ericaceous
plants that automatically draw the eye to this point of interest.
Open lawn areas, paths and strategically placed plants can lead
the eye to the principal feature without distraction. Plantings
should be placed to easily lead the eye to this centre of
heightened interest.
Secondary features of landscape interest can also be created. In
this case, while these components are beneficial in contributing
to the unity of the site and tying the total composition of the site
together, they have considerably less overall impact than the
focal point.

Form
Form relates to the natural shape of the plant. For example, a
plant that is very fastigiate or upright in its habit of growth is said
to have a vertical or aspiring form. Ginkgo biloba "Princeton
Sentry"- Princeton Sentry Ginkgo- is a good example of this
form.

Other plants that are spreading in their habit of growth are said
to have a horizontal or spreading form. A shrub example of this
form is Taxus x media "Hillis"-Hill’s Yew- and a tree example is
Quercus palustric- Pin Oak. The Hill’s Yew could be effectively
used as a hedge to provide special definition between two
properties. When horizontal forms are placed together as is the
case in the hedge, the individual vertical forms take on a
horizontal profile.

Weeping, drooping of pendulous forms can also be used to

create softer lines or as interesting accents in the garden. Fagus
sylvatica "Purple Fountain" – Purple fountain Beech- is an
excellent example of this form.

There are also rounded or globular forms that are useful in

creating large masses. The majority of shrubs fall into this
category.

FAMOUS LANDSCAPE PROJECTS IN THE WORLD.

1. Beiqijia Technology Business District, Beijing,

China, by Martha Schwartz Partners, completed in
2016

As a LEED Gold Project candidate, the mixed-used development of

Beiqijia Technology Business District comprises a strip landscape with
clear distinctions between the different types of development. The
strips then become the beginnings for bespoke site furniture, paving,
plantings, and bold gateways.
Aside from its aesthetical features, the functional processes of the
landscape include harvesting and re-use of stormwater run-off,
mitigating the urban heat island effect and managing microclimates,
making it one of the best functioning projects of 2016.

2. THE WINTON BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS GARDEN, RHS

CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW 2016, UNITED KINGDOM, BY
NICK BAILEY, COMPLETED MAY 2016

This show garden really pushes the boundaries of creative thinking.

The whole design is based on the mathematical patterns that appear
in nature — for example, the Golden Ratio — which are then
communicated through the garden’s structure and layout. The garden
designer Nick Bailey has implemented bands of copper elements and
a staggering amount of mathematical algorithm-driven plantings from
around the world to create a special kind of place one would only dare
to dream of in animated movies.

3. Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, Athens,

Greece, by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, completed in
2016

Designed by one of the green architects of our time, this project is a

testament to designing in a strikingly harmonious nature with
buildings. A leftover car parking area of the 2004 Olympic Games will
now be a focal attraction point in Athens.
The site contains the National Library of Greece and Greek National
Opera, nestled in a 170,000-square-meter landscape park, which
slowly rises to take visitors 30 meters above ground level. The public
plaza, named Agora in reference to the central gathering spaces in
Ancient Greece, brings out the lost elegance of the site.

FAMOUS LANSCAPE ARCHITECT:

PAMELA BURTON
Pamela Grace Burton (born September 16, 1948) is
a landscape architect known for her interdisciplinary approach to
private and public projects, bringing together plant materials, art,
and architecture. In 2006 she became a fellow of the American
Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Pamela Burton's projects include private residences and public

landscapes in California, Idaho, New Mexico, New York, Australia,
Brazil, and Japan. They include campus master plans, institutional
buildings and plazas, commercial developments, high-rise office
towers, high-rise residential condominiums, reservoirs for the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power, United States courthouses,
embassies, hospitals, libraries, and parks. “If we act responsibly and
come to our senses, we can contribute to the balance and well-being
of nature. Plants provide beauty and satisfaction. By giving back to the
earth, we’re making our own lives richer. The way we treat our
landscapes is the way we treat ourselves.”
Early projects like The Bonhill Residence show the importance of
adopting a strong design that accommodates change over time. The
Colton Avenue Streetscape for the University of Redlands was
important for the way it helped to assimilate the campus with the
surrounding community. The Cantitoe Farm project relied on ideas
related to creating in-between, terraced garden rooms that could be
inhabited. For the Calabasas Civic Center, the concentration was on
building attractive, sustainable spaces for the community. Asked by
Dwell to critique outdoor furniture, “Burton visited several Los
Angeles retailers. Her distinctive approach to analysing each piece was
both insightful and playful (she often lingers on the sound of things,
particularly names, and whimsically forgoes English for Spanish.”

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

As a landscape architecture, Pamela Grace Burton has been instilled

with respect for the workings of its nature forces and environment. In
her point of view, “To begin to understand where you live and how to
cultivate your surroundings, it is important to internalize these forces
of nature and its environment -the cycle of the earth, air, fire, and
water.” Which means the better understand the environment such as
the topographical features, the better the design of the building and
garden can merge with the nearby natural environment. Pamela
Burton regrades a garden or landscape as a big idea- “one that is
simple. Harmonious, and perceptible.”
AWARDS

2015

Providence Saint John's Phase 2 Master Plan, Santa Monica, California:

AIA California Council Award in the Urban Design Category. Perkins
Eastman + Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
The Row Flagship Store, Los Angeles, California: AIA California Council
Merit Award. Montalba Architects
Edison Language Academy, Santa Monica, California: AIA California
Council Honor Award, Kevin Daly Architects