Landscape urbanism

Landscape Urbanism is a theory of planning and design for urbanism arguing that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience. Landscape Urbanism has emerged as a theory in the late 1990s. Landscape Urbanism describes "the ability to produce urban effects traditionally achieved through the construction of buildings simply through the organization of horizontal surfaces.". The term, "Landscape Urbanism" was initially coined by Peter Connolly, but later was made more popular by architect and current Landscape Architecture chair of the GSD at Harvard, Charles Waldheim, as a means of describing the recent emergence of landscape as a medium of urban order for the contemporary city. In 1994, Peter Connolly used the term 'landscape urbanism' as the title for his Masters of Urban Design proposal at RMIT Melbourne.. Here he suggested that 'a language of "landscape urbanism" barely exists and needs articulating', and that 'existing urbanisms[...]are limited in the exploration of the landscape'. He also used the term 'landscape as urbanism' in his 1994 essay, '101 Ideas About Big Parks', "The origins of Landscape Urbanism can be traced to postmodern critiques of modernist architecture and planning." Therefore it is clear that landscape urbanism can be considered a response to changes in our planet.

History

The first majors event to do with 'landscape urbanism' was the Landscape Urbanism conference sponsored by the Graham Foundation in Chicago in April 1997. Speakers included Charles Waldheim, Mohsen Mostafavi, James Corner of James Corner/Field Operations, Alex Wall, and Adriaan Geuze of the firm West 8, among others. The formative period of Landscape Urbanism can be traced back to University of Pennsylvania in the late 1980s, at a time when James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, and others were exploring the artificial boundaries of Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Architecture, searching for better ways to deal with complex urban projects. Charles Waldheim, Anu Mathur, Alan Berger, Chris Reed, amongst others, were students at the University of Pennsylvania during this formative period for Landscape Urbanism. After the Chicago conference, European design schools and North American design institutions formed academic programs and began to formalize a field of Landscape Urbanism studies, including Oslo School of Architecture [4], Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium [5], the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Toronto, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology [6]. In 2000 the London's Architectural Association developed its own Landscape Urbanism program under the direction of Ciro Najle and chairman at the time Mohsen Mostafavi. This was marked by the 2003 publication of the book "Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape" a year before chairman Mostafavi left the AA.

Themes

James Corner is the author of an essay entitled "Terra Fluxus." He has identified five general ideas that are important for use in Landscape Urbanism. They are as follows:

1. Horizontality - The use of horizontal alignment in landscaping, rather than relying on vertical structuring.
2. Infrastructures - placing less of an emphasis on urban infrastructures that have been traditionally used, such as roads and airports, and instead relying on a more organic use of infrastructure.
3. Forms of Process - the idea that structures should come from more than just their physical shape and form.
4. Techniques - those who practice the idea of landscape urbanism should be able to adapt their techniques to the environment that they are in.
5. Ecology - the idea that our lives intertwine with the environment around us, and we should therefore respect this when creating an urban environment.

Projects

The following are Landscape Urbanism projects that are available that can provide more information about the theory in practice:

• Madrid Rio, Ginés Garrido [Director] Burgos & Garrido / Porras La Casta / Rubio A.Sala / West8
• Fresh Kills Landfill Competition, Field Operations/James Corner [7]
• The High Line, Field Operations/James Corner
• Downsview Park Competition, all finalist entries [8]
• Schouwburgplein, Rotterdam, West 8/Adriaan Geuze
• Also see projects by Stoss/Chris Reed [9]

Criticism

One opponent to Landscape Urbanism is New Urbanism, led by Andres Duany, which promotes walkable communities and smart growth with its Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND). In response to landscape urbanism’s focus on expansive green space in urban development, Duany stated that “density and urbanism are not the same.” Further, “unless there is tremendous density, human beings will not walk.” The result is patches of green sprawl that lose connectivity to the greater nework.

Emo Urbanism is another philosophy critical of Landscape Urbanism. The movement contends that Landscape Urbanism views ecology as an aesthetic element of style and not infrastructure. The artificial ecology replaces the entropic state to re-create a "natural" landscape that fits a particular brand or aesthetic. The loss is a dynamic, adaptive, and certainly essential urban system. Emo urbanism differs by making evolving "nature" a key component of the design process. The realization of this process is called “urbanature." As an evolving urban ecology, Charles Morris Anderson has described this connection as the “thinness.” It is the simultaneous perception and implicit understanding of the past, present, and future. Emo Urbanist projects include the built work of Charles Anderson at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, WA; The Anchorage Museum Common in Anchorage, AK; and the yet to be constructed Project Phoenix in Haiti.

See also

• Landscape architecture
• Ecological Urbanism
• Urban design
• Urban planning
• Landscape
• Landscape design

References

• Almy, Dean, "Center 14: On Landscape Urbanism", The Center for American Architecture and Design, The University of Texas at Austin, 2007

• Allen, Stan. "Mat Urbanism: The Thick 2-D." Case: Le Corbusier's Venice Hospital and the Mat Building Revival. Ed. Hashim Sarkis. Munich ; New York: Prestel, 2001.

• Connolly, Peter, "Embracing Openness: Making Landscape Urbanism Landscape Architectural: Part 2", in "The Mesh Book: Landscape/Infrastructure", Edited by Julian Raxworthy and Jessica Blood, RMIT University Press, Melbourne, 2004, 200-219.

• Corner, James. Recovering Landscape : Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.

• Czerniak, Julia. CASE--Downsview Park Toronto. Munich ; New York; Cambridge, Mass.: Prestel; Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, 2001.

• Duany, Andres. The New Civic Art: Elements Of Town Planning. New York: Rizzoli 2003. Print.

• Kapelos, G. (1994). Interpretations of Nature : Contemporary Canadian Architecture, Landscape and Urbanism. Kleinburg, Canada: McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

• Kerb 15 - Landscape Urbanism]. This issue includes contributions from Charles Waldheim, Mohsen Mostafavi, FOA, Karres en Brands, Kongjian Yu, Kyong Park, Kathryn Gustafson, Stephen Read, Kelly Shannon, Richard Weller, Sue Anne Ware, Cesar Torres, Peter Connolly and Adrian Napoleone, Melbourne, RMIT Press, 2007.

• Duncan, Allison & Seltzer, Ethan, "Landscape Urbanism: An Annotated Bibliography" http://www.terrafluxus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/final-format-LU-bib-2.pdf. Accessed June 24. 2010

• Koolhaas, Rem. "Atlanta." S,M,L,XL. New York: Monacelli Press, 1999.

• (2012). In Landscape Urbanism. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://landscapeurbanism.com/

• Moran, E. F. (2011). People And Nature: An Introduction To Human Ecological Relations. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

• Mostafavi, Mohsen, Ciro Najle, and Architectural Association. Landscape Urbanism : A Manual for the Machinic Landscape. London: Architectural Association, 2003.

• Tanzer, K. (2007). The Green Braid : Towards An Architecture Of Ecology, Economy And Equity. New York, NY: Routledge.

• Topos 71 -Landscape Urbanism. This issue includes contributions from Charles Waldheim, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adriaan Geuze, Susannah Drake, Kongjian Yu, Frederick Steiner, and Dean Almy.

• Wilson, Matthew. 'Vertical Landscraping, a Big Regionalism for Dubai', International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 34, 925-40. 2010.

External links

• Sustainable Urban Development Resource Guide