what i talk about when i talk about landscape
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Amir Mueller Landscape Architects Ltd.Landscape Architecture Environmental Planning Urban Design
What I Talk About When I Talk About Landscape
“The concept of “another”, man-made nature, thus seems a fusion of two elements: the design inherent in nature and the improvements of nature which are interpreted as the effects brought about by human art in fulfillment of the design. ”
John Rennie Short: Imagined Country: Society, Culture and Environment 1991.
“The wilderness is ... at one extreme, the place of God’s creation; … on the other, a place whose transformation by human actions allows the possibilities of redemption.”
Clarence J. Glacken: “Changing Ideas of the Habitable World” Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth. 1956
Garrett Hardin: “The Tragedy of the commons”. Science 1968
“A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or no change in human values or ideas of morality.”
William E. Odum: “Environmental Degradation and the Tyranny of Small Decisions” BioScience 1982 .
“Much of the current confusion and distress surrounding environmental issues can be traced todecisions that were never consciously made, but simply resulted from a series of small decisions..”
Simon Schama: Landscape and Memory 1995.
“… a way of looking; of rediscovering what we have, but which somehow eludes our recognition and our appreciation. Instead of being yet another explanation of what we have lost, it is an explanation of what we may yet find”
William Haddon Jr.: “On the Escape of Tigres, an Ecologic Note”American Journal of Public Health 1970
“(some people view) harmful interactions between man and his environment as problems requiring reforming imperfect man rather than suitably modifying his environment.”
Henry Louis Mancken
“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong”.
Robert J. Bennett. “Administrative Systems and Economic Spaces”.Journal of Regional Studies 1997
“… increased emphasis on environmental responses and sustainability at a local level, create a major need to manage spillovers and environmental interactions across several different administrative units.”
Gillian Rose. Feminism and Geography:The limits of geographical Knowledge. 1993
“ . . . Spatial structure was seen not merely as an arena in which social life unfolds but as a medium through which social life is produced and reproduced.”
There is urgency in mitigating between cultural and technological advancement and serving the need for an undefiled environment. Therefore, incorporating environmental, social, and economic responsibility into the design process is vital to viable landscape architecture design.
Our designs reflect the belief that successful landscape architecture is founded on the understanding of the ways in which people interact with the environment. We work at the interface between culture and environment in order to create durable and expansive landscapes.
We specialize in integrating ecological thinking and understanding of natural processes into the design process. Considerable effort is put to understand the ways in which people interact with the environment. That understanding is then used as the main input for the design work.
Landscape Restoration of the Northern Gas line 2009
Verizland Garden – Herzeliya 2008First Prize – Design Competition 2002
Design Diagram
Conceptual Landscape Plan
Existing conditions
Topography
Trees
Built Elements
Design
Design Objectives
• Restoring the garden for public use• Preserving the garden’s character• Creating a contemporary Garden
for Changing uses• Allow for multiple uses and age
groups
Preliminary Landscape Plan
Garden Structure
Built Elements
Existing Trees
Spaces
Paths
Removed Trees
New Planting
Old Design New Design
Industrial Park – Nazareth 2013
Urban Plaza - Rehovot 2013
Positivistic Analysis for Progressive Landscape Planning:
A Methodology for Generating Socially-Based Future Alternatives
Landscape planning Studio – 2006-2008
Faculty Of Architecture and Town PlanningTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology
Most landscapes exist at the
interface between the social
pressure for conservation and the
demand for development due to
economic growth.
The landscape we experience is a
product of planning and decision
making that shape it over time.
Therefore, separating human from
natural influences is arbitrary.
The Spatial Dilemma focuses on
identifying key processes in the
region that can form the base for
planning.
While the spatial distribution of
land uses shapes the landscape
and influences the way in which
we experience it, decisions about
which areas to conserve and
which areas to develop are the
most important process in
landscape planning.
Prevalent Approaches
All of these solutions result in short term plans that focus on minor issues that are in agreement
Most contemporary landscape planning is aimed at
balancing conflicting regional interests in order to foster
development based on the specific needs of
communities in the region.
Planers, who are consumed by the demand to identify
needs and wants in the region, are expected to develop
a plan that is sensitive to social process.
Data based planning separates the community from the
solution.
Community based planning provides social sensitivity
and increases community awareness to its needs.
Planning for ObjectivityIt is important to generate objective and viable future
alternatives in order to foster region specific
development while conserving valuable – both natural
and cultural – resources.
Regional future alternatives require some basic spatial
statistic and physical data which can be found at most
planning agencies and can easily be converted to GIS.
Other socio-economic knowledge about the region can
be gleaned from round-table discussions with major
stake holders.
Plan objectives should be formulated as a response to
regional indicators that reflect failure in the way in which
a region functions.
Progressive Landscape Planning responds to planning and market failure and leads to the development of socially-based
alternatives
Process Models
Evaluation Models
Sensitivity Models
DataObjectivesBoundary
N=50N
Future Alternatives
Alternative Evaluation
Alternative Formulation
Choosing Alternative
Converging Selection N=10
Methodology Structure
Input
Process
Output
Focuses strictly on regional issues to formulate future alternatives that are region specific
Existing Condition Analysis:
Positivistic analysis of the study area
Define the environmental and socio-economic
principles by which the region functions
Defining the Plan’s Objectives:
Establishes a regional ethic
Defines the ethic roles under which the
regional strategy is formulated.
Boundary Definition:
Describes a specific area with a specific
solution
Defines the regional principles under which
future alternatives are developed
Progressive Planning
Progressive PlanningAnalyze the relationship and the
degree in which regional issues
overlap with
municipal, district, and other
administrative boundaries
Boundaries serve to define
unique and site specific solutions
to universal issues
By comparing the degree in which
the plan’s objectives are
achieved, it is possible to
compare future alternatives with
different boundaries.
This leads to spatially different but core-issue similar future alternatives that are site specific
Evaluation Analysis – Strengthening existing towns
At the landscape plan, boundaries have a cardinal impact on the scale and scope of different future alternatives.
Statutory boundaries are formulated due to administrative decisions that do not adequately represent regional processes.
Planning areas are commonly defined by administrative decisions that do not reflect statutory boundaries.
The study area is defined by existing condition analysis (as defined in the spatial dilemma above) and represents regional processes well.
Future alternatives, therefore, are defined by their specific boundaries and represent regional solutions.
Bennett 1996
Variability in Regional Definition
The following slides illustrate the process of Progressive Landscape Planning for generating of socially-based future
alternatives
Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area:Existing conditions
Landscape Planning Studio 2007
Land-use
Existing Conditions AnalysisEmphasis on Open Space and Development Pressure
• Urban Sprawl and lack of
community identity
• Increased pressure on
remaining open space
• Open space is not available
to the public.
Construction and Open Space
Problem: Vulnerable to development
Transportation & EmploymentProblem: Spatial inequality in employment opportunities
Socio-Economic Level
Problem: Strong centers vs. week periphery
• Tel Aviv as main
employment center
• Increased commuting into
Tel Aviv
• Lack in public
transportation service
• High variability in Socio-
economic level among
entities in the region
Density – Western edge of region is densely built. Need to increase density and strengthen population along eastern edge
Employment – Due to the high concentration of business in Tel Aviv there is Untapped potential for economic development at eastern edge
Open Space - Develop open space for sports and recreation based on location and accessibility
Accessibility – improve accessibility within plan boundary to improve access to different centers
Existing Conditions AnalysisEmphasis on Transportation and accessibility
• Understanding the region’s importance at the national level• Distinguish between core and periphery• Relationship to Tel Aviv metropolitan Area
Alternative I – acceptance of most national master plans with locally specific solutions
Alternative II – reaction to existing national and regional master plans. Increased development as a means of controlling the allocation of resources
Alternative Futures
Alternative III –centralization with hyper-accessibility
Alternative II –decentralization with local solutions
Alternative I –local adaptation with affiliation to the metropolitan center
Hierarchy of systems (Solutions for accessibility and transportation)
• Regional super structures, regional transportation• Regional systems of infrastructure, transportation and open space• Local systems of public open spaces and public services
Alternative Futures
Planning within a set of fixed objectives and programmatic constraints limits local development
The spatial difference between alternatives reflects local needs and emphasis
Spatial variability emphasizes divergence of solutions
Core areas provide a spatial anchor that adequately represent spatial issues
Despite common core areas, variability stems form the difference in boundary definition
Future alternatives arise from a highly localized methodology as an integral part of the planning process
Take-Aways
Sensitivity Analysis – Attracting new populations to the region while empowering existing communities
Most landscape plans are implemented
over time. Therefore, there is a large
degree of uncertainty at the time they
are conceived.
By providing localized and socially
relevant solutions, Progressive Planning
minimizes uncertainty while maximizes
flexibility.
This methodology is scalable and can
be applied to small scale, limited scope
projects as well as to large landscape
plans.
Sensitivity Model
Evaluation Model
Summary
Amir Mueller Landscape Architects Ltd.Landscape Architecture Environmental Planning Urban Design
What I Talk About When I Talk About Landscape