Landscape architecture

oktober 29, 2014

What have been the teaching books on landscape architecture that have (really) helped to shape both your professional sense of place and sense of self?

There is no time for any long reads this month. But I do wish to include you in a project that is about to start. The European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools (ECLAS) is intend on publishing a series of books. It is part of the exploring the boundaries – series, published by Routledge. One…
september 20, 2014

Dulness as a quality of landscape aesthetics

art examples that help to shape (urban) landscape experiences
juni 29, 2014

Comic books and their incredible landscapes

Excerpts of stories that help to shape (urban) landscape experience, part 6 Okay, this may be my favourite subject. In some ways a guilty pleasure because comic books are still for geeks or the illiterate. For those of you who haven’t spent time in really good comic book stores, the below examples will hopefully improve…
mei 25, 2014

Movie scripts and landscape experiences

Hi there. In addition to last month post, that produced quite some positive response on diverse linkedIN networks, I would recommend to watch this TEDtalk by David Byrne (former singer/frontman of the Talking Heads). He reveals the relationship between architecture and the evolution of musical styles. See here. There is another cross disciplinary influence…
april 21, 2014

Music that helps to shape landscape experiences (an excerpt)

(music begins at 1:01) The landscape architect Olmsted declared that ‘landscapes moves us in a manner more analogous to music than anything else’ (Olmsted biography by Martin 2011, 155). He was aware of a fascinating similarity between landscape design and the ‘flow of a symphony’. Olmsted noted how sounds were amplified and bounced off rocks…
maart 23, 2014

A near future with external memory storage and Bionet >>> wait a minute… bionet?

Will landscape experiences change by the influences of smartphones and on-site-extensive-information (OSEI)? Yes, probably just as radical as novels and travel guides have changed the perspective of the tourist/public gaze, since they first became popular. The educated public notices what it has been familiarised by and vice versa, becomes numb for those experiences that are…
februari 21, 2014

Billy Pilgrim, landscape bombing backwards

This excerpt is from a book by Kurt Vonnegut (1922 Indianapolis USA – 2007), an American writer who writes hilariously funny about modern or future American life. Most of his books are written from the perspective of the cast-out, such as individuals with exceptional skills or physical appearances, that render them an atmosphere of weirdness.…
januari 26, 2014

Excerpts of stories that help to shape (urban) landscape experience

Starting this new year, 2014, I intend to create posts that are different from what I wrote about in the past months. There are literary excerpts to be shared with you, containing diverse aspects of landscape experiences. Diverse landscapes create an equal diversity of experiences. The first excerpt is from a book I cherish deeply.…
december 21, 2013

The shy look in the eyes of landscape designers

Because it is Christmas time, I wish you a pleasant experience with this link. It contains a movie about the painting above, creating a portal landscape. Enjoy and take your time. Each year, new students arrive at my courses in Wageningen University. And each year I recognise a familiar look in their eyes. The same…
november 23, 2013

Axiom of Abundance

Just a small announcement this month because it is hectic. As every year at this time of the year, all seems to be caught up in a run towards some kind of ending. The end of the year and to many a professional therefore an axiom of stress. Axiom… I like the word axiom. It…