Entry standards update

By Lucy Pickford

Lucy Pickford is Membership Marketing Manager at the Landscape Institute.

Who are you designing for? It might seem like a simple question, even one with an obvious answer. But are we really doing this in our work as landscape professionals, and how do we approach something as important as inclusive design?

The Times They Are a-Changin’

The landscape profession and the design focus of the work in particular is an ever changing one, whether we’re looking at how we incorporate equality and diversity into our work both in the office and out, designing inclusivity into our projects or designing for the future, to ensure that all places are healthy places.

There are many factors that drive change: sometimes they are small shifts that happen frequently but are almost missed, and sometimes there are major shifts – Le Corbusier for one has a lot to answer for. When he developed Modulor, his proportional design system, in the 1940s he was setting in place a system that would define the shape of much of the built environment. It was a set of design rules that focused primarily on a 6ft tall man – something most of us are not.

The Guardian recently highlighted an exhibition at the Barbican about the feminist architecture cooperative Matrix that took a radical approach to their design work fighting against these particular engrained standards (we could question whether designing with most of the population in mind is really radical but that’s not the point here). It did, however, make us think about what the equivalent is within the landscape profession, and how we as built environment professionals look at both gendered spaces and inclusivity in spaces as a whole.

There’s a lot to explore here, whether it’s looking at physical accessibility of space, power dynamics in ownership of a space, non-physical barriers to access or the impact of nature and green space on health. The conclusion was that while we may not have a radical group like Matrix, it doesn’t mean there aren’t many of our members out there now trying to design thoroughly inclusive environments, or that the industry isn’t heading in the right direction.

Matrix founding member Anne Thorne carries a pram up the steps of a subway in Aldgate, East London from ‘Urban Obstacle Courses’ in Making Space: Women and the Man-Made Environment (Pluto Press, 1984).

Source: Liz Millen

Who’s leading the change?

While there’s still a long way to go, the tide is turning, and inclusivity and equality & diversity is becoming more central to all of our work. Here at the LI, we’ve incorporated it directly into our competency framework so that the next generations are measured against competencies such as equality and diversity, inclusive design and healthy places, not only in their earlystage training, but as they continue through their careers too.

Our registered practices such as Planit-IE are going a step further and holding themselves directly accountable by becoming a B Corp in July 2020. (1) This means that values in these areas are built into their internal processes and client facing work, applying practical changes that create a sustainably focused and community minded environment.

Alongside this, there are initiatives that have been running concurrently with the Matrix group. Coin Street, for example, are a social enterprise established in the 80s to bring a derelict site on the South Bank, London, back to life. Following a proposal for new office buildings on the site, they formed the Coin Street action group and, with other local organisations, launched a campaign for a new vision for the sites: housing, a new riverside park, managed workshops, and leisure uses. Later they went on to form the Coin Street Community Builders and bought the sites.

This project (recently profiled on our site) is an excellent demonstration of community led regeneration. By transferring the power of ownership to the local community and users of the space, a site can truly fulfil its potential and come alive, and it’s still the case decades later. As it’s run by a social enterprise of which many community members are a part, it means that those that live there have control over the development of the space and will be directly involved with the redevelopment of green space in the area in the future. While it’s important that community takes ownership over these spaces, they are still public and accessibility to all is equally important.

As we look to the future of our profession, it’s clear that whatever we do we need to lead by example to instil these changes and create truly inclusive design, whether that’s as individuals, practices or as a professional body. Perhaps the starting point though is to simply think, “who am I designing for?”

If you’d like to understand how these topics align directly with your practice as a landscape professional, there is a full break down of our new competency framework on our website.

Matrix co-founding member Anne Thorne and her children cross a busy road in Aldgate, East London from ‘Urban Obstacle Courses’ in Making Space: Women and the Man-Made Environment (Pluto Press, 1984).

Source: Liz Millen

References

1) Certified B.

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. https://bcorporation. uk/about-b-corps