Landscape – Great Idea! X-LArch III - Department für Raum ...

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Fig. 1: Dimensions of Landscape
graphically (see Lynch 1993), resulting in the selection of
eight case studies. Their qualitative analysis along static
and dynamic attributes of landscape (see Czerniak 2005)
provided the basis for structuring the conception of landscape
along the dimensions of product, process and idea.
Structuring Landscape
The complex term of landscape can be structured along
three dimensions (see. Fig. 1).
Landscape as product
Space in its physic appearance is the object of enquiry
in this dimension. Both the natural substrate of landscape
and the physical manifestations of human activity
in space are part of this. The differentiation between
cultural and natural landscape is deregulated. The ‚sum
of all natural resources‘ (Sauer 1925) as well as the
‚system of man-made environments on earth‘s surface‘
(Jackson 1984: 43) can be integrated. This dimension
focuses on the existing physical space as product, regardless
whether the space was produced for intentional
representation or resulted in accidental by-products. A
hierarchy in this differentiation is obsolete.
Landscape as process
In two different aspects, landscape is an object of
continuous change, development and transformation.
First, from an ecological perspective, landscape is an
interactive product of natural processes as wind, water,
temperature and vegetation are continuously occupied
with shaping the landscape. Ecology as ‚science of process‘
(Halprin 1987) and the factor of time produce ever
unfinished, limited phases which result in preliminary
landscapes, shaped in open processes without defined
ideal. Second, the processes of individual and societal
appropriation comprise various layers, which interact with
the natural substrate – or ecological base layer of landscape.
Those ‚societal layers of landscape‘ (see Kühne
2006: 74) reshape landscape continuously and can be
abstracted as formative patterns of space. Processrelated
elements constitute profound components of
landscape, which allow for understanding landscape as
such as a process.
Landscape as idea
In this dimension, the various layers of landscape are
reduced, interpreted and valued. This process can be
understood analogous to an evaluation as the perceived
space is scanned with regard to subjective, cultural,
societal and ideological norms, ideas and preferences.
Kühne describes this procedure as a construction of
landscape within internal consciousness. It is to be
understood as an active, self-determined manipulation of
the outer environment (see Kühne 2006: 61). It is in this
dimension where the meaning and conception of landscape
is defined and articulated.
Establishing a structured view on landscape
The attributes used in the analysis of the case studies
can be ascribed to the three dimensions of landscape
(see Fig. 2).
In the dimension of product, the following attributes were
intended for analysis: the location within the urban agglomeration;
the topographical relief of the superordinate
landscape; the landscape elements characterising the
site and connecting it to the superordinate landscape; the
figured ground of the site and its material texture.
All attributes in the dimension of process have relational
character: the structure of use over time; the relicts of
Fig 2 Attributes of
landscape used in
the case studies‘
analysis and ascribed
to landscape
dimensions.
Papers