7.2 Discussion

Design question How can a landscape intervention at the Haupapa/Tasman Glacier within Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park address environmental melancholia and therefore become a place to encourage engagement with glacier retreat?

A landscape intervention at the site of the retreating Haupapa/ Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park cannot physically mitigate climate change. What it can do, however, is create a journey through the landscape that provides individuals with a designated space that accepts the melancholy of losing the glacier and facilitates contemplation about the greater whole.

Together, the Journey to Haupapa and the Haupapa Tribute Trail travel from Lake Pukaki, the glacier’s farthest historical extent, into the water of Tasman Lake looking out at the disappearing Haupapa. The keystone strategy at the Park scale is to apply the “modal shift” principle and slow visitors down in gradations as they move through the landscape. Pouwhenua to mark the beginning, moments of stillness, and a centralized visitor centre will also help the visitors reach the trail-head with a degree of focused concentration. The Trail is a walking loop that guides visitors through a sequence of experiences in tribute to the retreating Haupapa. Vanity Stair and Curio, stand out as the most significant gestures of melancholy in the space. Through them, the sense of loss towards the glacier remains immediate and tangible over time.

The produced proposal is informative, sensory, temporal and associative and brings the notion of aesthetics back to aesthesis, “the breathing of the world” (Bowring, 2016, p. 27). The landscape encourages engagement by creating a space that explores how aesthetics can contribute to the mental state of melancholic contemplation. The design embraces melancholy and so embraces the full spectrum of human emotion in order to heal (Bowring, 2016). It facilitates contemplation and so grounds, renews, and thereby fosters engagement and actually sustains action (Krinke, 2005) and it employs aesthetics which have the capacity to shift consciousness for the above aims (Meyer, 2008). The intervention demonstrates landscape’s capacity to participate meaningfully to address the psychological dimension of climate change encapsulated in glacier retreat.

7.2.1 OF THEORY

This thesis has drawn from theories and research in different fields and brought them together for the purpose of creating a spatial intervention in an environment relatively unexplored by landscape architects. Because of this, it had to be open to considering new approaches and to use existing approaches in novel ways.

The results from the interviews resonated strongly with Lertzman’s theory of environmental melancholia (2016), so I feel confident that it provided the necessary framework within which to consider the experience of glacier retreat. In addition to the theory itself, she encouraged unconventional research methods, which provided me with the courage to try. I believe this resulted in richer information than easier, but narrower methods (such as surveys, etc.).

To explore the role of aesthetics to contribute to a mental state, I referred to Zangwill’s Aesthetic Creation Theory (2007). Other authors have argued for its application in landscape architecture and I also found it to be suitable (van Etteger et al., 2016). It was, however, incomplete for this purpose, so I expanded upon it by studying and applying literature about contemplation and melancholy. It is likely my use of Zangwill’s terms, specifically aesthetic and non-aesthetic properties, goes beyond what they were intended for. It was challenging to classify some terms according to these categories, because their definitions could morph depending on how they were used.

In addition, the aesthetic framework I propose relies on the notion that reaching contemplation is a process of three stages. Although authors refer to a process indirectly, there are no scientifically reputable sources to directly support the claim that I made for a staged process in which some aesthetic properties affect the success of others. It is the result of a synthesis of literature from different sources and can therefore be considered a new, possibly richer, way of organizing aesthetic information.

7.2.2 OF CASE

Haupapa/Tasman Glacier was an ideal case on which to base a psychological study of glacier retreat and to propose a design, because the glacier is relatively accessible, already a tourism destination, and it is New Zealand’s longest glacier (giving it iconic status in a country that takes pride in its alpine environment). Due to Aoraki/Mt. Cook’s international appeal as a destination for visitors and mountaineers, an intervention here would have a far-reaching audience and could serve as an inspiration for other projects.

With regards to its potential application for another site, Haupapa/ Tasman Glacier site sets a high bar. Glaciers are often in difficult to reach places that are only accessed by small communities that depend on them. This project does not propose that every glacier needs a design for melancholic contemplation. Rather, it suggests that landscape architects should address glacial landscapes according to their specific contexts and respond to the psychological dimensions of environmental degradation. The aesthetic framework should even be tested for its suitability in other environments.

7.2.3 OF METHODS

To explain the limitations of this project, I will begin with the project’s generalizability and then describe the limitations of the data collected and analysis methods.

Generalizability The external validity of this project lies in its process and approach. It was a case study, so the results were highly context-dependent. The results could probably be applied to other tourism-oriented glacial landscapes but are perhaps less directly relevant in other places. Indirectly, however, and with necessary adjustments, the insights can possibly be applied to other degrading environments in which people experience environmental melancholia.

Data collection & analysis Anthropological and social research often happens over the course of months or years, but the interviews and observations for this research project happened over two weeks. This has immediate implications for the reliability of the results, so I triangulated methods to try and compensate for the lack of time. With regards to the interviews, I was aware that I could not reach all groups of people, so I relied on second-hand commentary to fill in the gaps as much as possible. A few days of direct observation were not enough to draw sweeping conclusions, but I believe that they were sufficient to provide an impression with the purpose of producing a design. I experienced the national park in autumn, at the tail end of the tourist season. I used the interviews and referred to secondary sources to understand park operation, weather, and experience in other seasons. I found, however, having such a short time in a tourist destination was not detrimental, it catered to short-term clients and spontaneity based on weather conditions.

The internal validity of the collected data depended on the quality of the interviews, design sketches, and the literature available. Due to the qualitative and constructivist nature of this project, the methods of data collection and analysis should be judged by their “trustworthiness and authenticity” (Kumar, 2014). If I reflect upon the overall approach to data collection, I chose to go into depth with a limited number of sources. The interviews would undoubtedly have been different with different participants and another researcher. I believe, however, that even with the small number, I reached a wide spectrum, achieved depth, presented myself openly, and created a trusting atmosphere where interviewees felt comfortable to express themselves.

I did not refer to extensive literature to produce the aesthetic framework, but each work explored the subject matter in great detail; there was almost an over-abundance of insights. However, with the exception of one author, the information about melancholy and contemplation was not necessarily “ready for use”. These subjects tend to found in art, poetry, philosophy and religion, and rarely in empirical research. This thesis intended to access these concepts for research, but do so in a way that would not be at the expense of their richness.

The validity of the analyses relied on how I chose to interpret the interviews, interpret the literature, and organize information (Kumar, 2014). I have been transparent with my methods and explained the rationale behind the decisions. It would be natural for someone else to consider approaching the process differently, but the choices made built on each other logically and can be traced back to the assumptions and arguments behind them.

7.2.4 RECOMMENDATIONS & POSSIBILITIES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This thesis proposes that a state of melancholic contemplation towards a glacier can foster wholesome engagement with environmental issues. There are many accounts of the benefits of contemplation from those that meditate (Merton, 1998; Sivananda, 1975, amongst others), but except for expert opinion, these accounts are not directly linked to landscape experience. It would be interesting to use empirical methods to explore how aesthetics within a landscape experience can contribute to people’s mental states and therefore their engagement with particular issues.

Arriving at the argument for melancholic contemplation drew from landscape architecture insights about melancholy and contemplation. Although they are age-old terms with prominent positions in certain niches in landscape architecture, they are relatively unexplored in academic writing. This thesis does so from a particular angle, but it would be useful if more researchers would operationalize these terms so that a diversity of designers can apply them.

The aesthetic framework developed here (and the recommendations for its application) builds on existing research, but the way it is synthesized and presented is relatively new. I therefore consider this thesis to be a thoroughly considered development, but one that needs further exploration to firmly establish it in academia. For instance, new findings might emerge if the framework is tested on existing projects. Additionally, each aesthetic property offers the possibility for in-depth research; the properties of “slowness” and “otherworldly” bring up many questions…

I also hope that it inspires further research of aesthetics to describe conditions beyond the visual, of the performative nature of aesthetics, and of aesthetics that either support or jeopardize one other. This thesis began with a concern for glaciers and extended into unanticipated realms of research and design. I hope that I have demonstrated landscape architecture’s creative capacity to respond to retreating glacial landscapes and piqued the interest of a few others to rise to the challenge as well.

Figure 7-2. (left) Glacier des Bois (Ruskin, 1843)

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