Landscape Representation I

The first in a two-semester sequence, Landscape Representation I introduces students to the rich and varied discipline of landscape architecture as inextricably intertwined with the concept of representation. This relationship is grounded in landscape’s history and conventions, and expanded through a wide range of techniques that embrace the highly generative agency of representation in the design process.

Throughout the semester, a series of lectures on a range of theoretical perspectives in design and adjacent fields will ask students to engage critically with diverging concepts of representation. These approaches will intersect with a sequence of exercises focussed on diverse conceptions of site as a critical construct, and the multiplicity of lenses through which to understand agents in the landscape.

These explorations will be supported by tutorials introducing techniques, skills, and workflows that engage both analog and digital methodologies, from physical modeling and hand drawing to software such as Rhino and the Adobe Creative Suite. Students will iterate between different modes of abstraction and translation to understand both site and agent as imagined, created, and ultimately designed through their various representations.

Finally, weekly discussions will provide an open collaborative space to think critically about representation’s agency in design, as we work together to articulate the reflexive relationship between visualization and conceptualization. Employing these various modes of learning in conjunction, students will develop their own iterative approaches to representation as a process of thinking, making, and designing, as they articulate and advance their own representational voice and position.

Please note this course will meet online through 9/15. This hybrid course will meet both virtually (50%) and in person (50%), as appropriate to course content. Please review the syllabus for details, and note that this is subject to change.