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Form and Fabric inLandscape Architecture

Form and Fabric in Landscape Architecture provides an original,visual approach to the study of landscape architecture bycreating a spatial morphology based on use and experience oflandscapes. It explores aesthetic, spatial and experientialconcepts by providing a structure through which landscapescan be understood and conceived in design. Fabric is the inte-grated structure of whole landscapes, while form refers to thecomponents that make up this fabric. Together form and fabriccreate a morphology of landscape useful for the developmentof visualspatial design thinking and awareness.

This book is intended as both an introduction to the disci-pline for students of landscape architecture, architecture andplanning, and a source of continuing interest for more experi-enced environmental designers.

Catherine Dee is Senior Lecturer in Landscape Design,Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield, UK.

Form andFabric inLandscapeArchitectureA visual introduction

Catherine Dee

London and New York

First published 2001by Spon Press11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canadaby Spon Press29 West 35th Street, NewYork, NY 10001

Spon Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

2001 Catherine Dee

The right of Catherine Dee to be identified as the author of this work hasbeen asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and PatentsAct 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced orutilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, nowknown or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or inany information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writingfrom the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataDee, Catherine, 1958

Form and fabric in landscape architecture: a visual introduction/Catherine Dee

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. )1 Landscape architecture 2 Landscape design I Title

SB472.D44 2001712dc21 2001020788

ISBN 0415246385 (pbk)ISBN 0415246377 (hbk)

I would like to thank past and present students of the Department ofLandscape, University of Sheffield from whom I have learned ways ofunderstanding landscape architecture.

For their critical observations I thank Prue Chiles, AndyClayden, Ralph Johns, Anna Jorgensen, Ruth Lockley and ClaireRishbeth.

Particular thanks go to past teachers and colleagues Anne Beerand Owen Manning who inspired me to make this book and whoprovided detailed critical advice and the seeds of ideas.

For John and Will

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledgescollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

ISBN 0-203-63907-3 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-63931-6 (Adobe eReader Format)

ContentsIntroduction 1

About this book 1Using this book 2

1 Landscape fabric 5Contexts for the design of landscapes 6

Global landscape 7Landscape processes and systems 8Landscapes and people 9Regional landscapes 10Towns and cities 11City districts 11Urban greenspace and communications 12

Models of design and qualities of place 13Responsiveness 14Originality 14Recycling versus tabula rasa 15Robustness and inclusiveness 16Mystery, legibility, complexity and coherence 17Unity with diversity 18Prospect and refuge theory 19Wholeness and integration 20

The integrated design of places 21Integrated design an example 22Integration of spaces and paths 26Integration of spaces, paths, edges, thresholdsand foci 28Integration of topography, vegetation,structures and water 30

2 Spaces 32Definitions 33Ground, wall and sky planes 34Design planes and landscape elements 35Peoples use and experience of spaces 36Form of spaces 37

Interpretation of existing site forms 38Geometry 38Metaphor 39Symbolism 39Abstraction and use of natural forms 40Archetypes 41Vernacular 41Historic paradigms 41

Space enclosure 42Degrees and permeability of enclosure 42Enclosure and character of spaces 43Enclosure and microclimate 44

Spaces and edges 45Scale of spaces 46

Human scale 47Scale and context 47Vastness to intimacy 48

Proportion of spaces 49Satisfying proportions 49Over-vertical and under-vertical enclosure 50

Space relationships 51Sequence of spaces 51Topographic space relationships 51Contrast and similarity of spaces 52Space relationships an example 53

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Topographic spaces 54Topographic design 54Flatness and degrees of intervention 55Cut and fill 56Bowls and hollows 57Mounds and mounts 58Plateaus 59Terraces 60Subterranean spaces 61

Vegetation spaces 62Ecological and environmental roles of vegetation 63Glades 64Forest space and the formalised forest 65Parkland 66Hedged and herb enclosures 67Vegetated carpets 68Leaf ceilings 68

Built spaces 69Public squares 70Courtyards 71Walls and walled gardens 72Permeable enclosing structures 73Canopies 74Floors 75

Water spaces 76Lakes and waterscapes 77Pools and ponds 78Water walls and moving water 79Moats water as enclosing element 80

3 Paths 81Definitions 82Peoples use and experience of paths 83

Movement kinetic experience of landscape 83Different users, uses and modes of transport 84Official and unofficial paths 84Sequence and incident 85Arriving and leaving 85

Ecological corridors 86Path systems and hierarchies 87

Networks, nodes and foci 87Paths, spaces and edges 88Paths as spaces 89Form 90

Form generators 90Axis and meander 91

Degrees of enclosure 92

Topographic paths 93Degrees of intervention 93Ledge paths 94Cuttings 95Ridge paths 96Spiral and zig-zag paths 97Stepped paths, staircases and ramps 98

Vegetation paths 99Avenues 100Forest paths 101Green tunnels 102Hedged walks 103Grass, vegetated floors and meadow paths 104

Built paths 105Streets 106Backs 107Path floors 108Raised walks 109Covered walks 110

Water paths 111The design of paths adjacent to water 112Rivers and canals in urban environments 113Designed linear waterbodies 114

4 Edges 115Definitions 116Peoples use and experience of edges 117

Edges as social places 118Architecturelandscape interface 119Public, private and semi-private interfaces 120

Ecotones 121Edge meanings 122Horizons 122

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Contents

Edges and spaces, paths, thresholds and foci 123Forms 124

Rugged and smooth edges and theirjuxtaposition 124Interlock 125Barriers intentional and unintentional 125Gradients 126Rhythm, sequence, repetition 126Edge sub-spaces niches 127

Topographic edges 128Spurred edges 129Stacked edges 129Banks 130Ridges 130Ditches 130Steps as edges 131Cliffs and chasms 131

Vegetation edges 132Soft and colonising edges 133Forest edge 134Avenue as place to be 134Hedges and shrubby edges 135Meadowed edges 135

Built edges 136Buildinglandscape interface 137Colonnades and columns 137Walls buttressed and indented 138Permeable structures 138

Waters edge 139Beaches 140Platforms, boardwalks and piers 141Promenades 142Wetlands and marginal water places 143

5 Foci 144Definitions 145Peoples use and experience of foci 146

Foci, destination places and paths 147Places to gather 148

Foci and spaces 149

Focal spaces 149Foci and edges 149Public sculpture 150Buildings as foci 150Landmarks for orientation 150Scale of foci 151Hidden foci 151Contrast 152Verticality of form 152Centrality and isolation of form 153Singularity of form 153

Topographic foci 154Mounts, tors and mountains 155Bowls and craters 156Points and spurs 157

Vegetation foci 158Single trees 159Group of trees 159Topiary forms 160

Built foci 161Buildings 162Follies, theatrical structures and remnants 163Rocks and standing stones 164Sculpture 165

Water foci 166Fountains 167Waterfalls 168Springs, fonts and wells 168

6 Thresholds 169Definitions 170Peoples use and experience of thresholds 171Entry spaces outdoor anterooms 172Gateways 172Building entrance places 173Places of arrival, setting out and rest 173In between 174Unofficial places 174A small space linking larger spaces across

an edge 174

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Windows and frames 175Places between earth and sky 175

Topographic thresholds 176Topographic gateways 177Landings and staircases 178Hollows 178

Vegetation thresholds 179Green threshold rooms 180Green gateways 180Windows and frames 181Tree canopies 181

Built thresholds 182Built gateways 183Built outdoor rooms 183Pavement 183Terraces 184

Water thresholds 185Inlets and harbours 186Decks and platforms 186Water in rest and entrance places 187

7 Detail 188Definitions 189Peoples use and experience of landscape detail 190Detailed design and the senses 191Surface texture, pattern, colour and light 192Pattern 192Texture 193Colour 194

Light 195Furniture 196Seating 196

Earth and rock detail 197Sight 198Touch 199Sound 199Smell 199

Vegetation detail 200Change and time 201Sight 201Touch 202Sound 202Smell 203Taste 203

Built detail 204Sight 205Touch 206Sound 206Smell 206

Water detail 207Sight 208Sound 208Touch 209Taste and smell 210

Bibliography 211Further reading 211Sources for illustrations 212

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Contents

Introduction

About this book

Landscape architecture involves the spatial organisationof outdoor places to meet human needs and desireswhile protecting or enhancing natural environments andprocesses. Landscapes usually need to function in diverseways for different people. The designer aims to createplaces that meet social, environmental, cultural, aestheticand practical requirements.

This book is intended both as an introduction tothe discipline of landscape architecture and also a sourceof continuing interest for more experienced environ-mental designers.

While landscapes are living, dynamic, bio-culturalsystems, they can also be thought of as complex, spatialstructures. The aim of this book is to promote thedevelopment of a three-dimensional design sensibility byexploring and defining the physical form of landscape asmaterial for design. Fabric refers to the integratedspatial structure of whole landscapes (as well as thecontext for design), while form refers to the compo-nents or parts that make up this fabric. Together form

and fabric create a morphology of landscape that is usefulfor visualspatial design thinking and awareness.

The morphology is organised into seven parts. Thefirst of these parts, landscape fabric, considers landscapesas integrated wholes and defines qualities considereddesirable in design. The next five parts illustrate spaces,paths, edges, foci and thresholds. These five parts havebeen conceived by identifying forms in landscapes that areused and experienced by people in distinct ways and forparticular purposes and therefore require specific consid-eration by designers. The final part, detail, refers to closeup, sensory and tactile landscape components. Althoughdivided into these sections, this is essentially a book aboutrelationships, wholes and the integration of these parts.

The book proposes an experiential approach to design.This means that human experience of landscape helps toshape both the concepts in the book and an under-standing of design. It also means that annotated imagescommunicate not only landscape morphology but alsothe experience of this morphology. The intention is to

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encourage designers to make connections betweenexperience and design. The spatial and physical ideas inthe book are based on my experience of teaching land-scape architecture and my own experiences of land-scape: moving through it, stopping, looking, feeling,touching, talking, eating, sheltering, remembering. Theyare also strongly informed by a wide range of designtheorists and writers concerned with human experienceand the use of places. The bibliography and furtherreading sections at the end of the book identify someprimary influences.

Landscape architects learn to design primarily throughvisualspatial information. This is therefore a visualmanual. It explores conceptual and physical dimensionsof landscapes and design through drawings. It does notdescribe or define a design process. Instead it provides anannotated visual narrative and structure through whichlandscapes can be interpreted, understood andconceived in design. The value of the drawings comesalso from their ability to describe image making which is(still) useful in landscape architectural practice (in addi-tion to other visual media, including digital images).Handwritten annotations add layers of meaning to thedrawings, frequently articulating activities and feelingsassociated with the landscape forms illustrated. This isintended to reinforce the concept of experiential land-scape architecture.

The landscape elements of landform or topography,vegetation, water and structures are conceived andillustrated as being the primary physical material withwhich designers create landscape form and fabric. Eachof the morphological sections incorporates examples ofhow these elements create landscape forms. While indesign the subtle integration of topography, vegetation,water and structures is paramount, they have been artifi-cially separated to enable exploration of their designpotential.

Using this book

The book can be used in several different ways. Its mainuses are:

to provide a conceptual framework (the seven-partmorphology) for understanding the experience, useand structure of landscapes for design

as a reference book for design considerations relevantto the creation and integration of spaces, paths, edges,thresholds, foci and detail

to provide examples and sources of inspiration forways in which the elements of topography, vegeta-tion, structures and water may be used in design.

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Introduction

The purpose, content and structure of the sevenmorphological parts are briefly summarised here. Eachsection in the book begins with an introduction and aseries of definitions of the landscape form explored inthat part.

Landscape fabric

This part of the book provides an overview of thebroader landscape and landscape processes as a contextfor design. It defines and describes a range of qualitiesthat are considered desirable in landscapes such asrobustness, mystery and diversity. It then illustrates through a range of different kinds of designed landscapes the holistic integration of spaces, paths, edges, foci andthresholds and the integration of landform, vegetation,structures and water to make places.

Spaces

The section on spaces explores the enclosure and defini-tion of distinct areas of land for human activities. Spacesare considered the primary means by which landscapesare organised, understood, used and experienced.Design considerations in the creation of spaces aredescribed. This section then illustrates diverse examplesof how the landscape elements may be used to createspaces in landscapes.

Paths

The paths section explores the design of linear places ofmovement in the landscape. The emphasis here is onpedestrian environments. Like spaces, paths are alsoconsidered primary design forms that influence the useand experience of landscapes. Design considerations for

paths are defined, followed by a more detailed explora-tion of the design potential of landscape elements in thecreation of paths.

Edges

This section explores transitional linear places where onespace or landscape part becomes another. Oftenneglected in design, edges are considered primary struc-tural components of landscapes because of their integra-tive and social functions. Design considerations are againidentified, together with examples of the use of land-scape elements in the design of edges.

Foci

Foci refers to differentiated, contrasting or isolatedforms or places in the landscape that possess cultural,social, practical and orientation functions because of theirvisual distinction. Design functions and qualities of fociare considered and examples are given of the use oflandscape elements as foci.

Thresholds

Thresholds are identified as distinct small spaces or formsin the landscape that, like edges, have transitional andintegrative functions. Unlike edges, thresholds havefocused rather than linear spatial form and supportdistinct and wide-ranging social and cultural uses andexperiences. Design considerations related to these usesare identified, followed by examples of thresholdscreated by landscape elements.

Detail

Detail explores the close-up tactile or immediate scaleof landscape, its experience and the design consider-ations for this scale. The section briefly explores the

3

Introduction

sensory potential of earth and rock, vegetation, struc-tures and water as design elements.

Annotated drawings have equal status with the textthroughout the book and should not be consideredpurely as supporting illustrations. The drawings illustrateactual and imaginary places, together with illustrations ofthe work of artists. Some have been drawn to illustratean idea formed during the process of writing, while atother times the need to write has emerged from themaking of drawings. The important factor in interpretingthe drawings is that they are intended to be used indiverse ways and should enable the designer to learnwhat they wish from the images. The drawings mainly(although not exclusively) illustrate western, temperateand urban landscapes. They show places of personalvalue and significance, but the reader is invited toquestion assumptions and values that are inevitablyimplicit in the imagery and to develop their ownunderstandings.

The book structure can be used in a linear or non-linearway. It can be dipped into to refer to specific aspects, orstudied in its entirety as a conceptual framework.

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Introduction

1 LandscapefabricLandscape fabric has been chosen as a term to repre-sent whole and integrated landscapes at various scales.Fabric is used because it suggests interconnectedwholes made of parts which are created throughprocess. It also suggests cohesion and robustness, whichare considered to be positive qualities of designed land-scapes.

The fabric section of this book has two mainpurposes. First, it aims to introduce some of the broaderphysical, environmental and social contexts in which thedesign of places by professional landscape architectstakes place.

In the second part, the fabric of individual places atdesign scales is explored. The purpose is to identify qual-ities considered desirable in designed places and also toillustrate how spaces, paths, edges, foci and thresholdsmake up the fabric of landscapes. In addition, the illustra-tion of whole places aims to reinforce the concept thatintegration of landform, vegetation, structures and wateris paramount in design.

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The following pages summarise some importantcontexts for landscape architecture. These includephysical contexts such as the natural environmentalcontext for design, as well as social and cultural contexts.

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The design of local landscapes should always be consid-ered in the context of the global environment. This is ofparticular importance in relation to sustainability and theneed to protect natural places, systems and resources.Landscapes are part of natural systems which support life.Design can contribute to or detract from these systems.

Choices in design affect the global landscape. For exam-ple, energy can be conserved by improving microclimatesthrough design or by using local building materials toavoid transportation. Biodiversity can be increased orreduced.

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Global landscape o Contexts for the design of landscapes o Landscape fabric

It is essential for designers to have an understanding ofthe natural processes that make and influence the land-scape. It is also important to understand how peoplehave changed and continue to alter landscapes throughagriculture, industry and settlement. Landscape architec-ture modifies or harnesses natural processes (for exam-ple, the growth of plants, rainfall) for human purposesthrough construction and management. The aims ofdesign are often to conserve, protect or enhance naturalenvironments or to regenerate natural systems in placeswhich have been contaminated or laid waste. The pri-mary natural systems and elements that form the contextfor, and may be altered in, landscape design are briefly:

local climate local hydrology local geology and geomorphology local soils local vegetation local air local fauna local ecosystems (the interaction of all of the above).

All of these aspects need to be surveyed and evaluatedbefore landscapes can be changed in design. The naturalelements of water, topography and vegetation are thematerial of design along with processed substances.

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Landscape fabric o Contexts for the design of landscapes o Landscape processes and systems

Landscapes are for people. The design of landscape takesplace in the context of peoples cultural, social, political,economic and environmental needs. Landscape design isconsidered to be a holistic activity which attempts tointegrate concerns for all of these human aspects. Thisbook seeks to link morphology of landscape to humanexperience and use, but it does this within particular

social, cultural and environmental contexts. The physicaland social contexts illustrated are primarily relativelyaffluent (in global terms), northern, temperate urbanlandscapes. Some ideas, principles and assertions havebroader relevance to the design of landscapes beyondthis context. Others are specific to this context.

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Landscapes and people o Contexts for the design of landscapes o Landscape fabric

Natural and semi-natural systems, agriculture, settlement,transport, climate and culture affect the form and fabricof regional landscapes. Landscape and environmentalplanning of regions is beyond the scope of this book butdesigned landscapes should always be considered in aregional context. Many regions have positive economic,social, cultural and environmental functions into which

new designed landscape should fit or enhance andcontribute to. Other regional landscapes may bedegraded economically, socially, environmentally oraesthetically. In these contexts, landscape design contrib-utes to and is carried out within the context of a broadereconomic, social and environmental strategy for aregions regeneration.

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Landscape fabric o Contexts for the design of landscapes o Regional landscapes

Cities and towns continue to be dominant landscapesfor human dwelling. Cities in particular can take manydifferent forms and are dynamic systems rather thanfixed structures. Most landscape design takes place withincities and towns and potentially contributes to theirsuccess as liveable places by influencing forms and func-tions. The landscapes considered and illustrated in thisbook are primarily urban landscapes.

Cities often have distinct (though changing) districts influ-enced by history, landuses communications and architec-ture as well as climate, topography, water and vegetation.Landscape design takes place within these district settingsas well as the city-wide context.

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Towns and cities/City districts o Contexts for the design of landscapes o Landscape fabric

Landscape design takes place within the context of urbangreenspace planning and transport networks. In this bookthe term greenspace is to a certain degree interchange-able with landscape at design scales and is used todescribe all (not just green) outdoor places that offerrecreational, social, cultural and environmental benefitsto city dwellers. Landscape architecture involves thedesign of all types of outdoor places to provide thesebenefits. The planning and design of greenspace and

transport networks and routes (paths) are also the con-cern of landscape architects as well as urban designers,transport planners and engineers. The designed land-scapes that this book deals with are typically urbangreenspaces. They include public parks of different scalesand types, and public gardens, squares and streets.

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Landscape fabric o Contexts for the design of landscapes o Urban greenspace and communications

In designing new places or regenerating old places, land-scape architects follow philosophical, aesthetic, social,ecological and ethical models. The following pagesdefine and describe a series of qualities which contributeto my own model of design. These qualities are derivedfrom diverse sources including personal experience, butin particular they are strongly influenced by social andenvironmental psychological research as well as aes-thetic theories of design. Some of this work is referred toin this section and in the introduction, and is listed in thefurther reading section at the end of this book. Thesequalities are further illustrated throughout the book.

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Responsiveness can be regarded as one of the mostdesirable qualities of a designed place. This meansresponsiveness to people, to nature and to place.Designers need to be informed about peoples uses andexperience of landscape and then respond to this indesign. At the same time they need to understand natu-ral processes and systems and respond by protecting,enhancing, adapting or restoring these. Being responsiveto place means developing a sensitivity to landscapes andtheir specific character or distinctiveness before changingthem. Change is inherent in design but landscape archi-tects need to respect existing qualities and context.

While responsiveness is paramount in design, simplybeing responsive does not amount to design. Landscapearchitects need to develop ideas about what placesmight be as well as understand what they are or havebeen. Designers need to be original. What originalitymeans in any given context can vary, and newness inlandscapes has always been contentious. Avant-gardeapproaches to landscape (newness or difference for itsown sake) are limited because they often fail to addresssufficiently peoples use of places (and natural processes).At the other extreme, designing purely on the basis ofsocial functions or seeing design as the result simply ofanalytical and scientific activity, or fearing newness indesign, are also inadequate. The challenge and attractionof landscape architecture is the need for integrated, orig-inal ideas for people, place and nature. This is especiallyimportant in the context of sustainability.

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Landscape fabric o Models of design and qualities of place o Responsiveness/Originality

Sweeping away old landscape for new is sometimesconfused with creativity and originality in design. A tabularasa approach to landscape architecture, where existingsite conditions and landscape elements are cleared orignored, is inappropriate in nearly all contexts for severalreasons. First, recycling and conservation of materials,structures and vegetation is desirable for sustainabilityreasons. Second, landscapes accrue meanings anddistinctive qualities over time and through use. Land-scape design can be seen as a process of adding other

layers of form and meaning that integrate or juxtapose toolder layers and meanings. Third, vegetation (particularlytrees) takes many years to mature and to offer environ-mental and aesthetic benefits so, wherever possible,trees and vegetation of ecological value should beconserved. Fourth, landscapes however degraded often have uses and meanings for local people. The land-scape architect must always seek to find out about andunderstand site uses before developing proposals for asite.

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Recycling versus tabula rasa o Models of design and qualities of place o Landscape fabric

The very public nature of landscapes means that they areused by and must therefore be designed for a very widerange of people and activities. The quality that a land-scape has when it provides simultaneously for diversity ofuse and experience can be defined as robustness (Bentley

et al. 1984). Robust landscapes are accommodating, flex-ible and inclusive. They stand up to and supportdifferent interpretations and use. A frequent aim ofdesign is to achieve robustness by creatively accommo-dating and reconciling different uses.

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Landscape fabric o Models of design and qualities of place o Robustness and inclusiveness

Through their environmental behaviour research, Racheland Stephen Kaplan (1989) developed four complemen-tary qualities that influence peoples experience of andpreference for landscapes. Legibility refers to how easilyan environment can be read or made sense of toenable people to predict in landscapes. Mysterydescribes the quality of an environment that encouragesus to discover more about a place; to engage with it.Coherence refers to the order of a place; how well it fits

together. Complexity refers to the diversity and richnessof elements within a place. The work of the Kaplanssuggests that all of these qualities are simultaneouslyrequired in order for people to enjoy and respond fullyto places. Landscape architecture should aim to achievethese qualities in designed places as a dominance orexclusion of one or more can lead to places that aredisliked and unused by people.

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Mystery, legibility, complexity, coherence o Models of design and qualities of place o Landscape fabric

The principle of unity with diversity in the form and detailof landscape is similar to the Kaplans complexity andcoherence, but is worth considering separately as a visualcharacteristic of designed places. The need for people tomake sense of the order of places requires a certaindegree of unity of form, elements and detail. Unity can beachieved for example through repetition or use ofspecific geometry, or through a limited palette of mate-rials. A landscape that is unified but lacks diversity can be

considered monotonous. Diversity in landscape architec-ture refers to difference in form, elements and detail. Adiverse landscape that lacks any unifying characteristicsmay be perceived as chaotic and therefore disorientingand alienating. Depending on the context, landscapearchitecture will seek to balance unity and diversity withina place or emphasise either characteristic which may belacking in surrounding landscapes.

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Landscape fabric o Models of design and qualities of place o Unity with diversity

Appletons (1996) prospectrefuge theory has been veryinfluential in the development of understanding land-scape experience. It informs many aspects of this book,including concepts about edges, foci and thresholds.Landscapes that enable prospect while providing refugeare considered so important in providing pleasurablelandscapes that prospectrefuge is included here as adesirable quality of design landscapes in a wide range ofcontexts.

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Prospect and refuge theory o Models of design and qualities of place o Landscape fabric

Wholeness refers to qualities of integration andcompleteness in a designed place. Integration is abso-lutely fundamental to successful design and an overridingprinciple. The designer has to consider how to bringtogether the forms of vegetation, topography, structuresand water in integrated ways and how to integrate

spaces, paths, edges, thresholds and foci. A whole designhas all parts of the design working to enhance bycomplementing or juxtaposing all other parts. In whole-ness, the sum of the landscape forms and elements isgreater than the parts.

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Landscape fabric o Models of design and qualities of place o Wholeness and integration

In the following pages that complete this section, exam-ples of integrated design are illustrated and explored withthe aim of demonstrating how spaces, paths, edges,thresholds and foci form whole places and how designelements may be combined. Examples of integratedlandscapes occur throughout the book, but this sectionaims to emphasise integration and to counteract thenotion that the elements and forms in design as organ-ised in the remaining parts of this book can be consid-ered separately when designing.

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Gasworks Park, Seattle, Richard Haag Associates

The landscape illustrated on this and the following pagesis Gasworks Park in Seattle. It was designed by RichardHaag Associates with the first phase completed in 1975.It has been chosen as an example of an urban park thatdisplays many of the qualities considered important in

design which are identified on previous pages in thissection. The images aim to deconstruct the layers, char-acteristics and forms of the park to illustrate their integra-tion. The drawings and information are based on HaagAssociates own drawings and other published sources.

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Landscape fabric o The integrated design of places o Integrated design an example

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Integrated design an example o The integrated design of places o Landscape fabric

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Landscape fabric o The integrated design of places o Integrated design an example

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Integrated design an example o The integrated design of places o Landscape fabric

Examples on these pages illustrate inventive integrationof spaces and paths.

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Landscape fabric o The integrated design of places o Integration of spaces and paths

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Integration of spaces and paths o The integrated design of places o Landscape fabric

Examples on these pages illustrate inventive integrationof landscape forms.

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Landscape fabric o The integrated design of places o Integration of spaces, paths, edges, thresholds, foci

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Integration of spaces, paths, edges, thresholds, foci o The integrated design of places o Landscape fabric

Examples on these pages illustrate inventive approachesto the integration of landscape elements.

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Landscape fabric o The integrated design of places o Topography, vegetation, structures, water

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Topography, vegetation, structures, water o The integrated design of places o Landscape fabric

2 SpacesLandscape architecture essentially involves organisingand dividing land. Spaces are the result of this division andthus the primary medium of design. Spaces provide fordifferent human uses and enjoyment of the landscape.

In this chapter, a series of conceptual frameworksfor designing space are defined. The organisation ofspace is described as a process of manipulating ground,wall and sky planes. Types of enclosure and their char-acteristics and issues affecting the design of spacesincluding social, aesthetic and environmental aspects areexplored and illustrated.

Examples of the use of topography, vegetation,structures and water in the formation of spaces areillustrated.

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Space can be defined as

an area of land enclosed, defined or adopted bypeople for human purposes

a medium and concept of landscape architecture a place for outdoor activities an enclosure the opposite of form or mass.

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Definitions o Spaces

For design purposes a space can be thought of as an areadefined in three dimensions by:

the ground plane, wall or vertical planes, the sky plane.The design of outdoor spaces can be conceived of as aprocess of manipulating mainly the first two planes andoccasionally the third. To think of places as beingcomposed of abstract planes which make three dimen-sional forms helps the designer to develop spatial aware-ness and the ability to create with space. Differingsomewhat from the planes of most buildings, landscape

planes are often relatively complex, rugged and variedwith a great deal of variation in horizontal and verticalsurfaces. In topographic design, the ground plane mayunobtrusively and subtly merge with a wall plane. Wallplanes may consist of vegetation that is coarsely texturedand merges from the ground to an overhead sky plane.Consequently, landscape design planes are often fluid,translucent, rich, complex, ambiguous and thick. It issome of these qualities that can make wall planes placesin their own right. These are referred to as edges andhave a separate section later in this book devoted toexploring their potential in design.

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Spaces o Ground, wall and sky planes

Within each plane the landscape architect inventivelyuses and integrates the elements of landform, vegetation,structures, and water singly or in any combination.These elements can be thought of as a basic palette of

spatial design. The design of spaces is not simply aprocess of organising planes and elements in abstractways, but to enable places to function for people andnature.

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Design planes and landscape elements o Spaces

A wide range of factors influence peoples use and experi-ence of spaces and therefore determine how they mightbe designed. Children, adults, elderly people, differentethnic groups and cultures, men and women all experi-ence and use places in different and distinct ways, as wellas in similar ways. The design of spaces should always beinformed and underpinned by an understanding of differentpeoples needs and activities and experiences of landscapes.

Public spaces need to function for an extremelywide range of uses including:

social and recreational purposes, for example, gath-ering, eating, dancing

work, for example, buying, selling, mending, studying health and fitness aesthetic and cultural purposes (linked to social and

recreational)

ecological and environmental purposes.

A frequent aim in the design of spaces is thus to achieverobustness (see p. 16) in spaces by accommodating andreconciling different landuses.

The form, character, proportion, scale and microcli-mate of spaces, and their relationship to other spaces allaffect human use and experience, and are considered inthe following pages.

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Spaces o Peoples use and experience of spaces

Space design involves the generation of specific forms orshapes for places. There are many ways of doing this, butsome common methods by which designers create andarticulate form are through the use of:

interpretation of existing site forms geometry metaphor symbolism abstraction and use of natural forms archetypes vernacular historic paradigms.

Experienced and effective designers combine several ofthese ways of thinking about a design. Forms developedfor spaces may be limited if only one approach is used togenerate a design. Layered concepts are often what isrequired.

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Form of spaces o Spaces

Interpretation of existing site forms

Design frequently involves the creation of spaces toprovide for changed landuse such as former industrialsites to new recreational facilities. Design of these spacesmay involve modification and recycling of existing siteforms rather than developing completely new ones.Existing site characteristics are often a source of designinspiration. See Recycling versus tabula rasa (p. 15) formore about this.

Geometry

The use of geometry by designers includes both simplegeometries (for example, circular forms, rectangularforms) and more complex geometries such as fractalgeometry (where forms and proportions of a macrostructure are repeated in the micro structure of thatform). Geometry and the science of mathematics haveexerted and continue to exert a powerful influence onthe forms created by landscape architects.

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Spaces o Form of spaces

Metaphor

The use of metaphor to generate form involves conceiv-ing of or describing the landscape as another (normally)unrelated thing or action in a non-literal way. Deadspace, or Space is flowing are examples of landscapemetaphor. Designers challenge and create metaphors aswell as exploit existing ones. Popular metaphors mayinclude, for example, mother nature, whispering wind,lazy river. Using popular metaphors can result in clichddesign. The benefit of using a new metaphor is that it canenable fresh ways of thinking about landscape, therebyallowing original forms and meanings to emerge.

Symbolism

Symbolism possesses similarities to the use of metaphorfor generating form but with a fundamental difference.Unlike metaphor, symbolism involves the conscious andcareful abstraction of a form which is directly and literallyrelevant to a place and its function or history. Symbolismis used in design with the intention that users of the land-scape should understand and respond to the meaning(s)of the symbol(s). Problems with the use of symbolism bydesigners include a tendency towards literalness, obvi-ousness and clich which leave no room for viewers(users) interpretations.

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Form of spaces o Spaces

Abstraction and use of natural forms

Related to geometry, metaphor and symbolism, theabstraction and use of natural forms is a rich source forgenerating design. Spaces can be given form through theabstraction of naturally occurring forms and patterns ofvegetation, rock, waterbodies and landscape processesat both macro and micro scales. Alternatively, naturalprocesses such as plant colonisation can be allowed toshape space or natural features can be retained tostructure places.

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Spaces o Form of spaces

Archetypes

Archetypes can be described as similar forms or physicalarrangements of human environments which have beenrepeated or copied over long periods of time and con-tinue to perform the same types of functions. They areconsidered to be universal. For example, the amphi-theatre may be described as an archetypal form becauseit has been consistently used for similar purposes overtime in different contexts.

Vernacular

Vernacular refers to regionally distinct landscapes andlandscape forms created by people who were not usually

professional designers. Understanding and using vernacu-lar can help landscape architects to interpret existinglandscapes and to relate new spaces to site history forcontinuity and unity in regional landscapes.

Historic paradigms

Precedent and paradigms from historic landscapes canalso be a source of or influence on generation of form indesign. Studying past landscapes is a primary way to learnabout the discipline of landscape architecture and thecontext of contemporary concepts and approaches todesign.

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Form of spaces o Spaces

In design, enclosure by vegetation, landform, structuresor water in wall planes enables the definition and separa-tion of spaces and their related human activities.

The type and degree of enclosure affects humanexperience and use, microclimate and character.

Degrees and permeability of enclosure

The landscape architect must decide how enclosed oropen a space should be ranging from entirely openwith space defined only on the ground plane, to fullyenclosed in wall planes.

Full enclosure suggests and provides security andprivacy, but can be experienced as threatening andunsafe in a public urban environment. Enclosure on twoor three sides provides refuge but allows prospect.

The height of an enclosure affects scale. There isa tendency among inexperienced designers to makeenclosing planes too high and dense, thereby creatingclaustrophobic and intimidating places. Conversely, toolittle structure or enclosure can result in a monotonousand bleak landscape. Visual and physical permeability ofenclosing planes is an extremely important concept inlandscape architecture and is one that the designer canuse with subtle variation.

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Spaces o Space enclosure

Enclosure and character of spaces

The nature of enclosing elements contributes largely todefining the character of a space. A solid smoothconcrete wall, roughly textured hedge, billowing trees,dry-stone wall, translucent glass, or meadowed bank allhave very different character, texture, qualities andassociations which influence how a place is experienced.

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Space enclosure o Spaces

Enclosure and microclimate

Enclosure substantially affects microclimate and there-fore human comfort and use. In temperate climates,warm south-facing walls ripen fruit and enable tenderplants to be grown. A south-facing bank is good forbasking in the sun. Broad trees provide dappled shade,

cooling the air and making sitting spaces. Pines and dunesprotect places from coastal winds. Open valleys channelcooling winds into hot cities. Climate is fundamental tolandscape architecture and the designer always considersand works with it.

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Spaces o Space enclosure

An edge occurs at the place where openness (space)transforms into the solidity of enclosing elements. In land-scape architecture, harsh and immediate transitions fromspace to solid are often neither desirable nor feasible.This is due, in part, to the nature of landscape elementsparticularly vegetation. Plants mesh space within theirform. Sudden transitions in designed space ignore the

potential of spatial subtleties and the social and ecologicalopportunities that transitional places offer. The enclosingedge of a space is often a well-used place. This is consid-ered so important to spatial thinking in landscape archi-tecture that a part of this book is devoted to the designand consideration of edges both as enclosing elements ofspace and as places in their own right (see p. 115).

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Spaces and edges o Spaces

Scale refers to the perceived relative size of parts of thelandscape to each other, to human size and to theemotional effect of this relative size. Hence, judgementscan be made about scale. Too large or small in scale canrefer to relationships of parts of a landscape or to the sizea person feels in relation to a landscape. Scale can alsorefer to size in relation to human activity, for example:this space is too small in scale for public events.

46

Spaces o Scale of spaces

Human scale

Human scale has a range of meanings but generally refersto the size of an environment or parts of an environmentthat engender positive feelings by being close in size tothe human body. These feelings may include comfort,security, reassurance, orientation, friendliness and a feelingof being able to relate to ones surroundings. Human-scalespaces do not intimidate or alienate by the largeness of theirsize. However, human scale is, like scale in general, a relativeterm. For example, a child will experience space as differentin scale to an adult (hence the term child-scale).

Scale and context

Scale is also a relative concept depending on the contextof a landscape space. Public and domestic landscapesrequire and are experienced at different scales. Indoorand outdoor scales differ. The size of natural or ruralspaces engenders different human responses to similarly-sized urban places.

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Scale of spaces o Spaces

Vastness to intimacy

The designer can manipulate scale to engenderemotional responses, from the comfort and the intimacyof small-scale places to the exhilaration of opennesswhere sky and wind dominate. As scale is relative,

effects of scale are achieved by juxtaposition and anunderstanding of the relationship of parts to whole. Thelandscape architect can deliberately contrast scales fordramatic impact or unify spaces by using similar scales.

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Spaces o Scale of spaces

Proportion refers to the relative dimensions of parts of athree-dimensional form or space. The designer adaptsand composes the relative length, width and height of aspace or series of spaces and so decides on proportions.

Satisfying proportions

It is claimed that certain length, width and height ratiosprovide greater aesthetic satisfaction than others. For

example, the golden section is said to provide rectan-gular forms and relationships which are more pleasingthan other rectangular forms and organisations. Otherssuggest that building heights and street or square widthshave optimum ratios for pleasing proportions (Greenbie1981). A good way to understand proportion and itseffects is to experience, study and measure in the landscape.

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Proportion of spaces o Spaces

Over-vertical and under-vertical enclosure

As previously suggested, if the height of enclosing verticalplanes appears too great in proportion to the width andlength of the ground plane, a space can be experiencedas claustrophobic and threatening. Equally, a lack ofvertical height in enclosure can also be intimidating andexposing.

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Spaces o Proportion of spaces

The design of landscapes involves not only the design ofsingle spaces but deciding how different spaces should berelated to each other. The designer can organise spacerelationships by thinking about how places might beexperienced and used.

Sequence of spaces

Landscapes are places of movement. Therefore, a centralconsideration for landscape architects is to consider thesequential experience of moving from one space to

another. Sequential experience and space relationshipsare also explored in the sections on Paths (see pp. 83 and85) and Thresholds (p. 171).

Topographic space relationships

Landscapes are rarely flat, and the design of topographicspace relationships is one of the biggest challenges inlandscape architecture in addition to providing creativeopportunity. The topographic spaces section exploressome of this potential.

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Space relationships o Spaces

Contrast and similarity of spaces

A landscape can be unified by repeating spaces of similarshape or size. Likewise, diversity in landscapes can beachieved through varying size or shape of spaces. The

designer must make judgements about how much diver-sity and unity are required and may seek to balance thetwo to avoid monotony or chaos.

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Spaces o Space relationships

Space relationships an example

Hidcote Manor gardens provide a good example ofeffective spatial sequences using contrast and similarity ofscale and proportion, axiality and perpendicular spatialarrangements. The garden is often described as a seriesof outdoor rooms. Each room has distinct characteristics,colours and purpose but each forms part of a whole

sequence. Pleasure is derived from sequential movementthrough the spaces. The high hedges enclose spaces andframe views and vistas of spaces within the garden andthe landscape beyond simultaneously providing a senseof unity, continuity, mystery, anticipation and containment.

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Space relationships o Spaces

The following pages explore the use of topography tocreate spaces.

Landform is perhaps the most fundamental elementin landscape architectural design. Natural and artifi-cial topography can be manipulated, modified, orconserved to fully or partially enclose space. Learningto do this with subtlety, sensitivity and originality is anessential design skill.

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The effect of gravity means that human beings consis-tently seek to create flat or horizontal spaces for manyactivities, including building, dwelling and a wide range ofsocial, cultural and recreational activities. The designer

must often decide how much intervention there shouldbe to alter the natural or existing topography. Thusexisting topography exerts a powerful influence ondesign forms and solutions.

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Flatness and degrees of intervention o Topographic spaces o Spaces

The process of taking away and adding earth to changelandform is known as cut and fill. Frequently the land-scape architect may seek to balance the cut (landremoved) and fill (land added) within their topographicdesign to reduce the need for transporting material else-where. Balancing cut and fill is desirable for financial andenergy-saving reasons.

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Spaces o Topographic spaces o Cut and fill

Digging into the ground or raising banks around an area isan immediate and fundamental way of creating spacewithin a landscape. Regular and irregular bowls andhollows in the ground plane attract people and events.The designer can modify existing depressions or artifi-cially excavate them. Bowls form natural theatres, andendless variations on the theatre form (including the

amphitheatre) provide rich themes for the design ofpublic and collective space. As natural gathering places,bowls are focal spaces that bring people together,providing shelter and microclimatic diversity. They areplay-inspiring. Hollows are smaller, more intimate spacesfor secluded sitting or play, for example.

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Bowls and hollows o Topographic spaces o Spaces

Mound and mount spaces are created by raising groundin contrast to surrounding flatter land. Natural and artifi-cial mounds and mounts attract people to climb, view,roll, chase and sit or fly kites. There is pleasure and secu-rity in occupying a raised position. The designer can use

mounds and mounts to create distinct and focal places(see also Topographic foci), especially where views areto be had. Mounds is a term used to describe relativelygentle sloping naturalistic or natural forms, while mountsare steeper or more geometric and artificial forms.

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Spaces o Topographic spaces o Mounds and mounts

Like mounds and mounts the plateau is an attractive formfor landscape spaces. The plateau suggests both casualand ceremonial activity. It is a plinth for events because ofits raised, sliced top. Plateaus can be grouped like raftsafloat amid a sea of flatness. A high plateau enables ajourney of anticipation and mystery towards the unseen

top. Plateaus can be places that are slightly removed fromurban bustle and many small plateaus in an urban squareallow groups and individuals to take possession of defen-sible space. Built plateaus provide small banks for skate-boards or clambering children.

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Plateaus o Topographic spaces o Spaces

A terrace is the flat space created by digging into orbuilding out from a hillside. Terrace spaces can respondsubtly and or distinctively through juxtaposition to orsubordination of the contouring and scale of the existing(natural) topography. Geometric interventions can beexciting when they reveal or balance natural topogra-

phies but are bleak when over-scaled or ineffectivelyjuxtaposed. Terraces are commonly used to link archi-tecture with landscape, especially in gardens, andfrequently become extensions of living space. Terracescan affect microclimate positively and negatively bycreating both shady and sunny retaining walls.

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Spaces o Topographic spaces o Terraces

Secret, hidden, damp, glittering or dark, subterraneanspaces in landscapes are places of both fear and attrac-tion. Among other factors, context and gender affectresponse to places below ground. They can be places ofurban threat or of spiritual significance. In the right

context there are many design opportunities to exploit,for example, the play of light, echo sounds, closeness towater or symbolic journeys. Subterranean spacesprovide the potential for architectural and landscapedesign to merge.

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Subterranean spaces o Topographic spaces o Spaces

Vegetation is a primary medium for defining space withinlandscapes. Planting design is a specialised and centraldiscipline of landscape architecture. Plants can be used andconserved as structural elements to create spaces. In thesesituations the ornamental properties of plants often playsubsidiary roles. Plants can provide enclosure in ground,wall or sky planes and can be combined in an infinitevariety of ways.

Trees and shrubs play major vertical spatial roleswith herbaceous plants, grasses and bulbs often (but notalways, as in the case of tall grasses) used in groundplanes and for lower enclosure. Learning to mass andgroup plants for spatial effects is an important design skill.Treating plants as individual forms is only important whenused as foci (see Vegetation foci, p. 158) or as accents. Asdesign material, plants provide opportunities for a greatdeal of diversity in enclosure permeability and form. Timeand vegetation management must be considered integralconcepts in planting design.

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Vegetation is a primary medium of landscape architec-ture not only for its aesthetic and structural propertiesand meanings (the focus here), but also for a wide rangeof environmental reasons. As part of ecosystems, plantsform habitats for wildlife and people and contribute tobiodiversity, particularly in urban areas. They clean the airand positively influence the climate for human comfort

and health. Being renewable, plants are major compo-nents of sustainable living; providing food, building mate-rials, fuel, medicines and chemicals. While this sectionprimarily explores spatial, aesthetic and cultural aspects ofplants, it is important to emphasise that their use in designalways has environmental implications and potential.

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Ecological and environmental roles of vegetation o Vegetation spaces o Spaces

The glade (or forest clearing) is a dramatic and primevalspace type. Glades provide contrasting landscape experi-ences, moving from dark to light, from enclosure toopenness, from shade to sun. They are natural meetingplaces, dwelling places, and stopping and picnic places withviews of the sky and different flora thriving in the increasedlight. Glades have symbolic and mythic significance in

many European cultures. Creating glade spaces can beconceived as carving space out of a mass of trees, theforest canopy a solid out of which voids are created. As aspatial form the glade has diverse guises, from naturalisticto formal, and from vast to intimate. The designer aims tointegrate glade and path sequences.

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Spaces o Vegetation spaces o Glades

Forest space is complex and hidden under the densecanopy of trees. Designers can underestimate the useand value of forest places because they are obscured inplan drawings. Forest space simultaneously incorporatesvoid and mass. Space punctuated by columns of trunks isrich and structurally complex, especially when viewedwhile moving (see the section on Forest paths for furtherillustration, p. 101). Trunks are like human figures.Echoes, stillness, fear and delight, hunting, exploring,hiding, people often have ambiguous feelings in forest

space. It can be a place of menace or of longing or both.Context, gender and culture all affect the experience offorest space.

The use of formalised forest in design and agricul-ture has a long history. The geometric organisation oftrees in space in grids, quincunx and other formalarrangements can have similar spatial and experientialproperties to forest space, although tamed and ordered.The formalised forests of urban places can play importantmicroclimatic roles particularly in hot climates.

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Forest space and the formalised forest o Vegetation spaces o Spaces

Parkland refers to large open grassy spaces scatteredwith individual trees or clusters of trees, usually natural-istic in form and with rolling topography. Parkland is anenduring spatial type in landscape architecture. Its combi-nation of openness punctuated by occasional treesappeals through simultaneous suggestions of naturalness

and control or order, and through its similarity to thesavannah landscapes that early humans came to dwelland hunt in. As a space type it can be criticised for itsblandness as an ecological, walking and visual environment.Parkland cannot be successfully created in small spaces.

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Spaces o Vegetation spaces o Parkland

Hedges are relatively dense enclosers of space. Rough,thorny and billowing, or smooth, dark, and crisp hedgesvary in character and maintenance depending on contextand intended design character. Hedges have historic andcultural roots in both garden and agriculture. They can beconceived in spatial design as green, living walls. They arelong-lived. Human in scale and occupying relatively littlespace, hedges can be popular enclosers in urban and

suburban environments, defining ownership and sepa-rating uses of land in domestic and public contexts.

Herbs and grasses can form seasonal space enclo-sures in temperate climates. The soft, coarse and opentextures of plants can enclose space at knee height(particularly for children) and above. Scent, texture andplant movement combine to provide distinct sensoryand dynamic enclosure experiences.

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Hedged and herb enclosures o Vegetation spaces o Spaces

Vegetation occurs naturally and is often used in theground plane in design. Landscape architects selectspecies and management approaches appropriate tocontext, visual function and use. Floor vegetation canunify a space through the simplicity of a few dominantspecies (for example, lawn or moss) or through patternand species repetition (for example, meadow or wood-land floor). Vegetation provides a soft carpet-like foil tobuilt and rock structures and surfaces. Walking on vege-tated floors is a distinct part of the pleasure of landscape(see also Detail Vegetation, pp. 2013).

By incorporating vegetation in the sky plane, designerscan provide memorable landscape experiences. There ispleasure in the experience of looking up through leaf andblossom to sky above, or sheltering in shade patternedwith green-brightened light. Leaf canopies create adistinct character of space which attracts people toshelter and stay especially in sunny weather.

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Spaces o Vegetation spaces o Vegetated carpets/Leaf ceilings

Structures, like vegetation and landform, play an impor-tant role in defining and enclosing spaces, particularly inurban contexts. Urban space is often partially or fullyenclosed by buildings. Landscape architects work withstructures in two main ways. They respond to or workwith architects and urban designers to create positivebuildinglandscape relationships and they also independ-ently design free standing structures to enclose space.The designer considers materials and form in relation tocontext, function and visual intent when creating struc-tures to define space.

Urban design, which may involve the work of land-scape architects, is only briefly explored here by consid-ering some characteristics and functions of two importanturban space types: squares and courtyards. Streets arebriefly considered in the section on Paths (see p. 106).

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Public squares play an important role in the cultural,social and commercial life of cities. Squares should bedesigned or modified for diverse and flexible public uses.The function and design of buildings that form theenclosing edge of these spaces have a great impact onthe success and popularity of an urban square (see thesection on Built edges, p. 137). Frequently used or

symbolic public buildings, together with eating anddrinking establishments, are often essential as enclosingstructures for a square to be well used. The landscapedesign of public squares takes building form into consid-eration, but may also involve the creation of new formsand identity for an urban space.

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Spaces o Built spaces o Public squares

Courtyards provide a private and domestic spatial coun-terpart to public squares and streets in urban environ-ments. As an urban form, the landscape of courtyardsprovides space, light and greenery for social and private

activities. Courtyards potentially enable close interactionbetween indoor and outdoor life because the architec-tural and landscape spaces are interwoven.

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Courtyards o Built spaces o Spaces

As impermeable space dividers, walls play importantroles in providing privacy and seclusion. As landscapestructures they can be used in design to link architectureand landscape or to connect a site to its underlyinggeology, thereby creating regionally distinct space. Wallsprovide sculptural and textural design opportunities.They strongly affect microclimate by absorbing sun andradiating warmth or providing shade and dampness.Walls can be homes for vegetation. They have diversesocial and cultural uses in cities, in particular as surfacesfor communication. Walls can be conceived of as

backdrops onto which images may be projected, wordswritten or dramas and games played out. Walls can alsoobscure, intimidate, obstruct and threaten, especially iftoo high or used unnecessarily in design.

The walled garden is an enduring landscapearchetype with many manifestations in history. Thepopularity of this form lies in its potential for foodproduction and horticulture, and in its associatedaesthetic and recreational uses, including ornamentwith vegetation, seclusion and privacy and warmth orshade.

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Spaces o Built spaces o Walls and walled gardens

Permeable built boundaries such as fences, trellis andrailings enable the visually linking of one space to another.Their use in design is often desirable where physical divi-sion of space is desired but complete visual separation isnot. Permeable structures play important roles asdomesticpublic dividers such as streetgarden or yard

edges. Permeable structures are often associated withplants as supports for climbers or as forms whose textureor colour is juxtaposed to vegetation. The materials usedin permeable structures strongly influence their form,character and pattern.

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Permeable enclosing structures o Built spaces o Spaces

The design of canopies or roof-like structures forenclosing the sky plane within landscape may be consid-ered part of landscape architecture or of architecturedepending on the size, complexity and context of the

structure. Landscape architects should be aware of thepotential for their use in landscapes for protection fromthe weather, linking to buildings or to create secludedoutdoor space.

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Spaces o Built spaces o Canopies

In urban contexts the ground plane often needs a builtsurface. Floors and the quality of pavements have astrong influence on the daily experience of city dwellers.The importance of surfaces in contributing to good land-scapes is often underestimated. Materials used for floorsand their composition in design are extremely diverse

and the design of floors is a specialised area of landscapearchitecture that goes beyond the scope of this intro-duction. A summary of design considerations includespattern, movement, uses, texture, drainage systems,safety, durability, maintenance, context, character,permeability and flexibility.

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Floors o Built spaces o Spaces

Water is a primary element of landscape architecture.Water spaces refers to places in which water is a domi-nant element or simply to a waterbody along with itsenclosing topography. The complex relationshipbetween topography and water is not fully explored inthis section. Large water spaces are very commonly nat-ural or modified natural environments. Water spacesattract people because of their diverse recreationalpotential, and they are often important habitats for wild-life. As a source of life, water has fundamental andenduring cultural meanings. The purpose of this section isto illustrate some of the spatial and experiential potentialof water in recreational landscapes.

Linear waterbodies are explored in the section onPaths (see p. 111).

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Large inland waterbodies such as lakes are valued fortheir breadth, their openness and characteristics thatprovide contrast to land. They have important environ-mental roles in water conservation and providing wildlifehabitats. Water environments are visually and sensorilydynamic because they reflect the sky and weather.Waterbodies change their appearance dramatically insun, rain or cloud, wind or calm. For all these reasonsthey are attractive places for recreation. Design provides

for diverse recreation on and around a waterbody, andfor creating or protecting wildlife habitats. Visual andexperiential considerations include, among others:waterbody form and topographicwater relationships,vistas, scale, diversity and complexity of edge and pathrelationship to water (see Water paths, p. 112), stoppingplaces and thresholds (see Water thresholds, p. 186),refuge and prospect, and exposure and shelter, as well asfunctional requirements associated with water sports.

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Lakes and waterscapes o Water spaces o Spaces

In contrast to lakes, ponds and pools are defined as rela-tively small (human) scale waterbodies that provide bothrecreational potential and wildlife habitats. Pool is usedto describe a waterbody that has bathing and/or merelyvisual and cooling functions. Alternatively ponddescribes a waterbody that provides a habitat for plantsand associated wildlife and is predominantly green incharacter. As water spaces, both pools and ponds havethe potential to provide distinct and contrasting (to land)landscape experiences. A summary of some importantdesign considerations to maximise experiential qualitiesof pools and ponds includes:

enabling people to have contact with water as oftenas possible for bathing or touching

manipulating light and darkness manipulating stillness and movement; silence and

splash

juxtaposition of texture, colour and forms of landform,vegetation and structures with water

exploiting reflection providing for wildlife and plants.

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Spaces o Water spaces o Pools and ponds

In urban contexts, water can be used in wall planes toenclose space. Water walls and other types of movingwater cool, visually animate and create sound in spaces.They have a very strong physical presence and createexhilarating or peaceful experiences in a similar way towaterfalls in natural environments (see Water foci, p. 168).There are many different design considerations affecting

experience of water walls. In particular, the dramatic orcalming nature of such an experience is affected by thespeed and quantity of water, together with the texture ofthe structure over which water passes. In places withmoving water the air becomes full of fine mist whichchanges the atmosphere through sound, light, touch andtaste.

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Water walls and moving water o Water spaces o Spaces

Water can be used to enclose space in the horizontal planeby separating land mass or building from surrounding land-scape. Differing from their previous defensive function,moats can today play a wide range of aesthetic and

recreational roles. When people are isolated by a moatwith prospects over the reflective surface, or are enteringa place by boat or bridge, feelings of security andseparateness are promoted.

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Spaces o Water spaces o Moats water as enclosing element

3 PathsThis section explores the roles, potential and design ofpaths in the landscape. Together with spaces, paths areconsidered to be principal structural components ofdesigned landscapes because they play a crucial role inmediating or facilitating the experience and use of land-scapes.

This section provides a conceptual framework forconsidering path design informed by social, aesthetic andenvironmental aspects. The potential use of topography,vegetation, structures and water in creating path forms isillustrated. The focus is primarily on pedestrian environ-ments and their experience.

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Paths can be defined as:

linear landscape spaces for travel linking forms that create networks of circulation

in the landscape

linear surfaced areas.82

Paths o Definitions

Paths are adopted and made to enable people and wild-life to travel easily between and within places. Paths arenot only places of movement but, for example in cities,streets become social and recreational places. Paths arealso places of recreation when they are travelled for plea-sure. In design, the landscape architect considers bothmovement for pleasure and necessity alongside the staticsocial activities that may occur and can be facilitated onpaths. Good path design is thus a primary method ofenabling and encouraging access and enjoyment of thelandscape. As paths play this key role, they are consid-ered together with spaces part of the fundamentalstructure of landscapes.

Movement kinetic experience of landscape

The kinetic experience of moving requires differentdesign considerations and strategies to those necessaryfor a more static experience of landscape. Movingthrough the landscape makes us acutely aware of spacetime relationships. The designer must be aware thatwhat is sensed during movement in landscapes isconstantly changing, with different views, sounds, scents,warmth, coolness, brightness and shade layered into theexperience of a journey.

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Peoples use and experience of paths o Paths

Different users, uses and modes of transport

Different users, uses and modes of transport havediverse design requirements. Landscape architectureinvolves the consideration of different modes of traveland also of different users and means of accommodatingthese and reducing conflict between them. In manyurban landscapes the designer must resolve conflictsbetween motor vehicles and pedestrians.

Intensity and frequency of use of a path influence adesigners choice of width, form and surface. Perceivedand actual safety and security are also important factorsin path design.

Official and unofficial paths

A vital consideration in design is to facilitate peoplesmovement with appropriate surfacing. Grass, otherplanted surfaces and earth are not resistant to heavy foottraffic. Desire lines are tracks worn across unsurfacedground that indicate frequent pedestrian use. If a surfacedroute has been made but does provide (or appear toprovide) the easiest way, desire lines occur. Desire linescan also indicate where paths are needed. The landscapearchitect must, in these situations, be sensitive to theeffects of topography on peoples choice of route. Peopleoften prefer to walk on steeply-sloping ground rather thanuse steps with high risers, and will also make short cuts if apath on sloping ground appears to be too indirect.

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Paths o Peoples use and experience of paths

Sequence and incident

Long periods of travel though similar terrain can betedious. In design, the variety, incident and sequence of ajourney must be considered. Path form, space and edgerelationships can be organised to avoid monotony or fordramatic or symbolic effects.

Arriving and leaving

Places of arrival and departure are also experientiallyimportant and thus of prime concern to designers.Arriving in and departing from places can be emotionaland symbolic experiences for social and cultural reasons.The landscape architect can enhance the aesthetic andsocial experience of arrival and departure by creatingappropriate forms and sequences at the beginning andend of paths.

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Peoples use and experience of paths o Paths

Ecological corridors are important path concepts forurban landscape planning. Linear linking spaces of vegeta-tion and water between built environments allow floraand fauna species to move, reproduce and colonisefreely. Ecological corridors can form networks acrosscities, link to countryside and, if large enough, alsoprovide recreational paths and resources.

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Paths o Ecological corridors

Path design not only involves the creation of individualpaths but path systems or networks. Considerationmust often be given to hierarchical arrangements inwhich intensively-used paths are designed and linked indifferent ways to those used occasionally. Differentpaths will have different functional purposes; some fordirect access, others for slower meandering explorationof the landscape. The design of path systems involvesthe organisation of relationships of these different typesof paths.

When paths are formed into networks, junctions becomeimportant stopping, meeting and waiting locations. Thesenodes (Lynch 1960) therefore need design considerationto accommodate the activities that naturally occur wherepaths meet. Nodes often need to be designed as smallspaces in their own right

Path network designs also respond to and inte-grate with foci (which are often located at nodes). Asvisual and symbolic attractors in the landscape, foci(see the section on Foci, p. 147) have a very importantrelationship with paths as endpoints to journeys or asincidents in a sequence.

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Path systems and hierarchies/Networks, nodes and foci o Paths

A complex and vital aspect of landscape architecture isthe spatial integration of paths and spaces. In surfacedspaces such as urban squares it is unnecessary toconsider paths as separate landscape forms. However, inmany vegetated and grassy landscapes, decisions must bemade on how to locate paths in relation to spaces. Pathsmay often hug the edge of places to preserve the

openness of spaces for activities. Paths are commonlyexperienced as edges and boundaries which definespace. For example, a centrally located path splits aspace in two. The landscape architect does not considerthe design of paths, spaces and edges separately but asintegrated wholes (see the sections on Edges, p. 123 andLandscape fabric, pp. 269).

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Paths o Paths, spaces and edges

Wide paths particularly urban streets and promenades are potentially more than just places of movement andcan therefore be designed as spaces that facilitate static

activities. Busy urban streets are places for sitting, buyingselling and performance. Long linear spaces can bedesigned to function simultaneously as paths and spaces.

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Paths as spaces o Paths

The following pages illustrate influences on and consid-erations for the design of path form.

Form generators

Design generators for path forms have many similaritieswith those identified for spaces (see Spaces/Form, p. 37).Existing site forms and uses, geometry, metaphor,symbolism, archetype, vernacular and historic paradigmscan all be used to inspire and generate path form. Pathforms can also be generated through narrative (telling astory through design forms) which may draw heavily onmetaphor and symbolism.

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Paths o Form

Axis and meander

Directness and indirectness in path form have bothfunctional and aesthetic connotations. Axial and mean-dering path forms thus have different use, character andassociations and provide distinct experiences. Path formsstrongly influence the character and form of spaces andmay often be the dominant form generators for a site.

Axis has associations with order, power and control,while meandering paths have associations with natural-ness. There are many path form variations that combinequalities of the meander and the axis. Designers may alsodeliberately juxtapose and combine axial and meanderingforms for design purposes.

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Form o Paths

Varying the degrees of enclosure in the wall and skyplanes of a path is an important design consideration. Theexperience of walking a path can be enlivened and made

comfortable for example by controlling views, openingand closing glimpses, protecting from the elements andproviding refuge along one edge.

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Paths o Degrees of enclosure

As with topographic space design, landscape architectsmust decide on how much to intervene and changeexisting topography in path design. Paths may make smallinterventions in natural topography and accommodatethe lie of the land or require dramatic remodelling of theexisting landform. Design decisions are informed by func-tional and aesthetic considerations already discussed (seepp. 8392).

Over the following pages, examples of topographicpath forms are explored that offer distinct landscapeexperiences.

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A significant dimension of landscape architecture is theopportunity for inventive and subtle topographic pathdesign.

Ledge paths provide attractive landscape experiences asthey afford users prospect (views over surrounding land-scape) on one side while providing enclosure on theother. A ledge path may be as simple as a single step upfrom the space it surrounds, or as dramatic as acliff-hugging route. Ledge paths are often desirable or

necessary next to seas, rivers, lakes and canals, enablingwalks with prospect of water or fishing (See also thesection on Water paths, p. 112). Pavements with kerbsare ledge paths that protect users from vehicles. Ledgepaths can enclose spaces.

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Paths o Topographic paths o Ledge paths

Cuttings are paths enclosed by landform or retainingwalls on both sides. They provide distinct landscapeexperiences for symbolic, spatial and microclimaticreasons. The microclimate is often still and silent; dampand cool if deep and vegetated; warm and sunny if

shallow. Cuttings offer opportunities for dramaticcontrast of spatial experience, moving from open expan-sive spaces to closed in territory and vice versa. Ashidden places, cuttings encourage exploration but canalso be places of fear.

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Cuttings o Topographic paths o Paths

Ridge paths form routes raised on both sides above thesurrounding topography. In their use, pleasure is derivedfrom the prospect they allow in all directions and thefeeling of exposure to wind, sky and sometimes water.Ridge paths can enclose and define space. Ridge pathnetworks are developed on and are distinctive towetland landscapes.

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Paths o Topographic paths o Ridge paths

To access the top of high or steep landforms, topo-graphic paths often need to spiral around the landformor zig-zag up its side. The constraints of topography offerdesign opportunities for distinctive journey sequences.Spiral paths can have a smooth dynamic flowing char-

acter, but can also be disorienting and provide no natu-ral stopping places. Zig-zag paths can integrate stoppingplatforms for rest and prospect. The potential frustrationof repeatedly moving back and forward can be avoidedby developing narrative sequences for the path.

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Spiral and zig-zag paths o Topographic paths o Paths

On steep ground paths become staircases or ramps.Ramps should be fully integrated in designs to enable fullaccess to all. Steep staircases can be barriers to accessbut equally can be exciting landscape experiences,depending on context. Landings within staircases are

always desirable (even in short ones, and vital in longstaircases) where space allows. Landings and staircasesare often threshold spaces (see the section on Topo-graphic thresholds, p. 178), which enable transition aswell as sitting, resting and viewing.

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Paths o Topographic paths o Stepped paths, staircases and ramps

Vegetation can be used for surface, and for vertical andoverhead enclosure of paths. In this section, examplesof paths enclosed in these three planes are explored.The presence of vegetation is reason enough alone forwalking; to smell plants and touch leaves, to move fromdappled shade to sunlight or be amid the rustle of drygrasses. Vegetated paths provide highly sensory experi-ences. In addition, vegetation can play important struc-tural and spatial roles forming paths by emphasisingdirection, thus separating or integrating paths with adja-cent spaces. Roads in particular can be integrated intorural and urban contexts, and environmental effectscan be mitigated with vegetation. Vegetation can alsoplay way-marking, sequential, rhythmic and focal roles inpaths. Vegetation also plays an important ecological andenvironmental as well as recreational role in greenways orecological corridors (see Paths/Ecological corridors, p. 86).

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The avenue is an enduring landscape form. Its popularitymay be due to the many functions that avenues canperform. They shade, orient people by emphasising axis,provide transitional edges between road and buildingsand can mediate between large and human scales. They

provide habitats and play environmental roles in narrowurban spaces. Older avenues give a sense of place andtime. Historically and in rural places, avenues also haveeconomic and agricultural functions.

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Paths o Vegetation paths o Avenues

Forest paths provide distinctive walking experiences.Dark and gloomy in cloudy weather or animated anddappled in sunlight, forest paths are dynamic. Groundbecomes soft, mossy and damp. These paths are strangelysilent. As they are walked, tree trunks orbit, slide and

migrate from view, grouping behind each other like figuresin a crowd. Timelessness is somehow conveyed in theextent of repeated trunks (see also Spaces/Formalisedforest, p. 65). Forest paths form systems and networksassociated with nodal glades (see Spaces/Glades, p. 64).

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Forest paths o Vegetation paths o Paths

Paths through vegetated tunnels provide very green anddistinct experiences because of the total enclosure andseclusion created by leaves and branches. Like cuttingpaths they provide contrasting walking experiences byenabling people to move between light and dark, warmthand cool, openness and enclosure.

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Paths o Vegetation paths o Green tunnels

Hedges can enclose paths on one or both sides, providingsecrecy, shelter and scent. Like avenues, hedges reinforcethe direction of paths but if a path curves, it can alsoobscure a destination. Depending on context, hiddendestinations in hedged walks can be threatening orengaging through mystery and seclusion.

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Hedged walks o Vegetation paths o Paths

Vegetation is a vulnerable surface in places of heavypublic use. In less intensely used recreational places it isalways desirable if management resources are availableand climate allows. Paths can be created simply throughgrassland by using different mowing regimes.

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Paths o Built paths o Grass, vegetated floors and meadow paths

Path surfaces are of course structures. In this section,surfaces as well as enclosing structures are brieflyillustrated.

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The landscape design of streets is primarily concernedwith detailing the space between buildings, but it mayalso involve working at earlier stages with urbandesigners or architects and engineers to developconcepts and strategies for networks and building spacerelationships. Pedestrianised streets and pedestrianzones on vehicular roads offer great potential as recre-ational greenspaces. The diversity of approaches tolandscape and urban design of streets goes beyond thescope of this book.

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Paths o Built paths o Streets

Back streets and pedestrian-only paths are importantpaths in urban environments as they provide quieteralternative routes and settings for domestic and recre-ational activities. They are included here as an importantpath type in cities, with distinct design potential andcharacter.

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Backs o Built paths o Paths

The design of path floors is a major part of landscapearchitecture. The diversity of approaches to designing thebuilt surface of paths is beyond the scope of this book.An illustration is included here because surface plays avery important but often neglected part of urban experi-ence (see also Spaces/Built spaces/Floors, p. 75).

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Paths o Built paths o Path floors

Raised walk structures can provide exciting landscapeexperiences in giving prospect over surrounding spacesand can enhance the recreational potential of places withbland topography. However, they can also become

barriers to many users, especially if they are the onlymeans to travel through or to a place. Lightweightstructures avoid dark dead space below.

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Raised walks o Built paths o Paths

Canopied walks extend the use of places by improvingmicroclimate through the provision of shelter or shadefrom rain, wind or sun. As edges, covered walks can beimportant social and recreational places (see forexample Edges/B