History + Theory

LANDSCAPE THEORY

ANUSHKA ATHIQUE

Tutors: Roo Angell, Anushka Athique, Bob Bagley, Emma Colthurst, Benz Kotzen, Sarah Milliken.

Thanks to: Mark Garcia, Christina Geros, Local Works Studio—Loretta and Ben Bosence, Joseph Schneider, Ed Wall.

“It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what descriptions describe descriptions, what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.” —Donna J. Haraway

LANDSCAPE IS a messy business, it is experience and production, representation and archive. It necessarily crosses with other disciplines, forming connections across time and geographies, operating networks simultaneously at multiple scales. It is, as Georg Simmel describes, ‘the infinite interconnectedness of objects, the uninterrupted creation and destruction of forms’.

Landscape History and Theory at Greenwich embraces this interconnectedness adopting an interdisciplinary approach across the entirety of all programmes. We work to reveal nuanced discussions between ourselves and other disciplines, other agents, and other collaborators - situating ourselves in the exchange between theory and applied practice.

To be able to work with these relationships and to address the intimate (dis)connections between the production and the enactment of Landscape we need to question how we think about Landscape: how we categorise, how we conceive of its borders and boundaries; the language we use to talk about the multiple human and non-human agents that work simultaneously, but not always together, to alter and redefine our Landscapes.

Landscape History and Theory at Greenwich explores the critical discourses surrounding landscape, architecture, and urbanism whilst identifying itself as part of aninterdisciplinary dialogueacross design, performance, philosophy, sociology, geography, history, and anthropology. The exchange of ideas (our own and other people’s) within our working group are key to understanding Landscape and Urbanism as live interdisciplinary practices.

In the first-year we look at the core ideas of landscape and architectural theory, contextualising our positions within London. In the second-year we expand this knowledge, exploring key texts through discussion and site-based workshops. In the third-year personal research is developed as a dissertation that connects sites, projects and landscape theory. Masters students combine and develop these research approaches with seminars and presentation to produce an illustrated thesis.

As thinkers and designers at Greenwich, we use this discussion to explore the porosity between theory and applied practice. We actively encourage participation with research through workshops, seminars, site-specific investigation, and presentation. Our aim is to develop a critical methodology that can be applied to practical assignments as well as written work. In doing this, students develop an understanding of the multiscalar sites of research: the theoretical understanding of a site, the expansive view that comes with hindsight, and the immediacy of working with people and materials.

It is an approach that appreciates knowledge—like landscape—as forever in flux, and that only by embracing the knowledge developed by different disciplines can we allow our own to grow continuously and exponentially.

Madeleine Ferns How Can Landscape Architects and Other Public Realm Designers Use Design to Alter the Perception of Homeless People?

Biomimicry derives from the Greek roots bios, meaning life, and mimikos, meaning imitation The trend in recent decades of using hostile architecture in cities such as London has left those Biomimicry comes amidst the manifest rise of biological, ecological, who are marginalised within communities feeling and naturally-inspired approaches to global issues in recent decades. The 21st century has been characterised by increasing concern about unwelcome in many places that are intended to be climate change, resilience, shifting demographics, resource depletion and continuing unsustainable practices. Biomimicry practitioners claim that it is this theory that is the imperative solution for this open to all. Frequently urban renewal introduces myriad of issues. features into the landscape that are designed to Whilst only originating as a material science in the 1960s, Biomimicry has seen a significant rise in interest in recent decades. It was popularised in its modern guise in 1997 when Janine Benyus published discourage individuals from sleeping or lingering ‘Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by Nature’ (1997). Since then, the number of papers published annually has risen from fewer than 100 too long, such as spikes beneath shelters or slant in the 1990s to thousands now, and since 2016 a dedicated journal (Biomimetics) exists, and an increasing number of practices, projects and educational programs are adopting a Biomimicry methodology. ed benches. Inclusive design is a methodology that (Lepora et al. 2012). searches for multiple solutions to an issue, often This essay starts by examining the inherent presuppositions and permutations in section one, followed by a methodology analysis in section two. In the third section, the case studies section, now aware through consultation between communities and of Biomimicry’s inherent permutations, the essay will engage with existing projects on a multi-scalar analysis. Finally, the last section professionals. If more widely applied to the process titled Biomimicry, will examine the considerations raised throughout this analysis, whilst asking - how does a biomimicry approach help us, as landscape architects? of designing public spaces, it could be one step towards creating a more welcoming, kinder urban public realm that is inclusive of groups that may previously have been sidelined or excluded. This essay looks at how landscape architects, and other 3. 2.1 Billion Years Ago. Nucleated cells propagate. designers in the public realm, can create public spaces that are welcoming for all people, 2 specifically focusing on those that are currently experiencing homelessness, with a particular focus on rough sleeping. The increasing application in both thought and practice of Biomimicry (syn. Biomimetics and 3 Biomemisis) is revelatory. Questions arise, of its potential, its implicit issues and, perhaps most complex, why is this theory being applied over others—why now? The theories we adhere to are representative of contemporaneous society, and so, what introspection does Biomimicry inform us of? Under the umbrella of biologically informed disciplines, Biomimicry is a design methodology that advocates assert will lead to sustainability, innovation, and transformation. Its proponents ardently argue that this should, and will, be the zeitgeist methodology of the 21st century. Others would argue that it is a fad in the mould of another futuristic proposal and for some it provides merely another avenue of research. Then there are those who view Biomimicry as an inherently flawed approach philosophically, of inevitable failure, but even conceivably with the inadvertent potential to lead us to a dystopian future.

Fig. 12: Cardboard City, Waterloo

“To those who lived outside and observed it, the name Cardboard City makes sense – seeing the shelter built from cardboard. For them, the people who lived inside were distant. People unlike themselves. Victims of government. Victims of their circumstances. Something easy to invoke and easy to forget. But the Bullring was a real place with real residents and their stories should be valued and recorded. In years to come, will we remember the communities of survival that have since emerged in London, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Glasgow? Will we tell their stories? ” (Jeraj, 2020)

Michael Hallifax Biomimicry. The Increasing Application in Thought and Practice of Biomimicry in Landscape Architecture

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Daniel Wray Can Temporary Urbanism be used as a successful tool in responding to the rapid changes in the built environment, looking specifically at social, economic and public?

Without doubt there is huge uncertainty across the world, with a global pandemic still in full swing and political upheaval in many countries. The UK will have to respond to the latest recession by slashing government budgets influencing urban developments, regeneration, and the public realm. This essay looks at how Temporary Urbanism can be used as a successful tool in responding to these challenging environments and how they are being developed within the urban fabric of London. Looking at the current discourse of Temporary Urbanism, I focus on the social, sconomic and public benefits using a range of case studies to help form my argument. I look at how Temporary Urbanism projects have been implemented across London, carefully selecting different typologies from Pop-ups to Meanwhile Spaces, whilst also looking at who has benefited from these projects and how we measure their success. How has Temporary Urbanism allowed for experimenting and prototyping? Can Temporary Urbanism be financially viable? I look at forward thinking Architectural practices like Assemble, Commercial pop-ups like Boxpark, and how local communities have influenced public policy through com munity groups and temporary initiatives. Overall, I want to understand if Temporary Urbanism can be a successful tool in responding to the rapid changes in the built environment, looking specifically at social, economic, and public benefits.

Image 05. Rye Lane Peckham (VICE, 2021)

Figure 17

This essay investigates the practice of farmhouse cheesemaking and the creation of a unique product Engaging with theories of terroir, taskscape and correspondence that expresses its place of origin through taste, form and texture which intersect with landscape practices and theories, it has al—Terroir, taste of place. Such a practice lowed for an investigation into the larger factors and roles at play within the landscape of cheese. Through an understanding and comprises a complex layering and interweaving of clarity of these theories, a dialogue can be created within this different skilled agents which show in the final study. The next chapter aims to give a base of the key theories that will be looked at throughout this essay. product. Agents investigated are the cheesemaker, the ruminant, the culture and the geography of the place of origin. It shows how exchange and inter 5 relationship between each agent produces a unique wheel of cheese illustrat ing Gatt and Ingold’s (2013) theory of correspondence in which daily, mutual interactions between skilled agents are researched. Using interviews and anthropological methods such as participant observation, the study reveals and examines these skilled agent’s dialogue of questions and answers. Furthermore, it investigates the idea of terroir: taste of place, and how taste, form or the texture of cheese reveals the landscape in which cheese is made. In gold (2000) refers to this in terms of taskscape which explores practical tasks undertaken by skilled agents through and in the landscape. The conclusion will argue that neither one of these skilled agents have greater influence over the other but that they work together as a harmonious system to create a product which is greater than its’ sum.

Figure 17: Cheddaring at Hafod: A process of stacking the curds on top of each other to get the extra whey out (Darby, 2021)