Landscape Design is Integral- and Healthy

Clients or Companies who understood the importance of good landscape architecture design see their monetary investments pay off with higher property values. They also earn the great satisfaction of creating a place that is a more desirable place to live, work, or play within. Investing just a little more into landscape design can make a big difference to the overall look and feel of the project.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are Companies or Clients who merely focus on the financial bottom line. They consider landscape as just a necessary component, so they install the bare minimum landscape required. And their projects unfortunately show it.

This is a missed opportunity, as it’s important for everyone to connect to nature wherever they can. Many studies have shown the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in natural surroundings. The natural environment helps reduce stress and helps the body recover from many health aliments.

Landscape Architects have been at the forefront of this renewed focus on nature with creating green spaces in our expanding built environment. One classic example was mentioned above – Central Park in New York. Olmstead and Vaus had a bold idea to bring a large open green space to the concrete jungle on Manhattan Island, giving the urban dwellers a respite from the harsh city environment. This gift to the city continues to promote the wellbeing of its residents.

The Impact of DesignGood and Bad

You recognize when a location looks beautiful or makes you feel good, but you don’t necessarily understand why, or the considerations and components that went into creating it. Good design can create a deceptively simple setting. Landscape Architects help to set the stage, allowing for creative use of space, flexible programming, as well as room for entertainment and enjoyment of life.

Conversely, there are also many places where you don’t really want to spend any time, as it just doesn’t feel right. This is often because the landscape design is an afterthought and the installation is left to the end. By the time the project gets to landscape in that kind of scenario, there isn’t any funding left to finish the job.

Landscape gets “value engineered” to meet the budgetary constraints- meaning stripped down to the barest essentials.

When Landscape Architects are brought into the project design process early, and provide their talents to the site plan, our input is invaluable to siting building, allowing enough space for the landscape overlay so the project has room to breathe. We also experience the inverse- projects where the site is already designed and there’s very little space for programmable areas/events or to add the landscape overlay. We are simply brought on towards the tail end to “green it up.” As you can imagine, this is reflected in the execution and feeling of the space.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS WHAT DO WE DO?