LANDSCAPE TIMELINES
LEXICON
History II
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
Natalia Almonacid Assignment 02 [Lexicon] History II: Landscape Timelines Professor John Threadgill Master of Landscape Architecture Fall 2017
INDEX
Ar t efact / spon ta nei ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 I rr ig a ti on /dra i nag e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 N ost alg i a /u topi a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 M em ory /obli v i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pr ofan e/sacr ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 S cen ogr a phy /spon t an eity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 I llu si on /t angi bl e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ex ot ic /in digen ou s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 I nt er st ic e/con t inu ou s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 C ont ra st /bala nc e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
ARTEFACT/ SPONTANEITY Artefact Etymology: In α. forms < classical Latin arte, ablative of ars ART n.1 + factum, neuter past participle of facere to make (see FACT n.). In β. forms apparently altered after classical Latin arti- , alternative stem of ars ART n.1, in e.g. artifex ARTIFEX n., artificium ARTIFICE n. Compare Spanish artefacto (late 17th cent. or earlier), Portuguese artefato (1690), Italian artefatto (1708 as noun, also 18th cent. as adjective). -An object made or modified by human workmanship, as opposed to one formed by natural processes. -Archaeol. An excavated object that shows characteristic signs of human workmanship or use. -A non-material human construct. -adj. That is made or modified by human workmanship. Also: that is a result of human intervention. rare. 1 Spontaneity Etymology: < Latin type *spontāneitas, < spontāneus. So French spontanéité, Italian spontaneità, Spanish espontaneidad, Portuguese -idade -Spontaneous, or voluntary and unconstrained, action on the part of persons; the fact of possessing this character or quality. 2 -Spontaneous or voluntary action or movement on the part of animals (or plants); activity of physical organs in the absence of any obvious external stimulus. -The fact or quality of coming without deep thought or premeditation.
Figure 1. Lascaux cave painting
Artefact. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Spontaneity. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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To think of the origins of landscape it is necessary to understand the way is has been transformed through time by geological factors, forces of weather, water, and topography, but also by human’s interventions. In the absence of humans, the landscape would not exist, otherwise, we will be referring to it as nature and territory; which can also be called spontaneous acts. As opposed, when we refer to human’s interventions we are talking about artificial facts that transform nature through cultural meanings, reasons or ideas. In that sense, an artefact, as its word’s etymology says, refers to art and facture, which means that has been created by humans through the materialization of ideas. Therefore, when Christophe Girot in The Course of Landscape Architecture, states that landscape is about making sense of the world and providing a fundamental model for cultural transformation, he is probably referring to artefacts that change or modify the natural world. In conclusion, the importance of artefacts in landscape architecture lies in the difference between nature, understood as spontaneity, and art, understood as the world of ideas where culture transforms the territory.
Sapiens. The graphic gesture created a boundary between nature and man that gave rise to the transmission of experience and the creation of consciousness in men. In the academic field of the School of Architecture of the Universidad de los Andes, the Professor Fabio Restrepo 3 states that "the existence of Lascaux paintings will forever separate man from nature because of its capacity to capture what men saw in an image and be able to transmit and reproduce it". This has a great value if one thinks about the transcendence of what is represented in the paintings, not only because it is art but because of the image they reproduce and the information they convey. If the reason why Homo Sapiens survived and the Neanderthal became extinct has to do with the ability of graphic expression of the first, what is painting as an act of survival? Restrepo affirms "It is because there is a hand that there is intelligence".
Another way to understand the landscape is through the drawing; in the sense that it represents what is seen in the world and is reproduced as an image. For example, it can be stated that drawing may have been one of the specific reasons that possibly allowed Homo Sapiens to survive, even though, in biological terms, Neanderthal was better adapted to the natural environment. It is argued that, since prehistory, the graphic gesture embodied in rock painting is an action that Neanderthal never produced and therefore determines the unique condition of Homo
Professor in the area of history, theory and criticism at the School of Architecture and Design of the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia); PhD in Architectural Projects, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 2011, Spain; Diploma of Advanced Studies in Architectural Projects,
Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 2003, Spain; Master in History and Theory of Architecture, National University of Colombia, 1996, Colombia; Architect, Universidad de los Andes, 1986, Colombia.
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IRRIGATION/DRAINAGE
Irrigation/Irrigate Etymology: < Latin irrigātiōn-em watering, noun of action from irrigāre to IRRIGATE adj.: compare French irrigation (15th cent. in Godefroy Compl.). -Irrigation: The action of supplying or fact of being supplied with moisture; a moistening or wetting. (Now rare in gen. sense, and regarded as transf. from 2a.) 4 -Irrigate: trans. To supply with moisture; to moisten, wet. (Now rare in the general sense, and regarded as transf.from 2a.) 5
Drainage/Drain Etymology: < DRAIN v. + -AGE suffix. - The action or work of draining. 6 Figure 2. Oasis in Morocco. Photography, 2015.
Irrigation. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/ 5 Irrigate. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Drainage. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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gave way to new and enduring terrain dynamics that had economic, cultural, social and political effects on civilizations.
To think of the origins of landscape and the designs on the natural world, it is important to understand how the efficient use of water resources was a decisive factor in the development and survival of the very first settlements. Before irrigation was carried out, during years â&#x20AC;&#x153;hydraulic civilizationsâ&#x20AC;? developed previous steps to prepare the terrain: the landscape needed to get cleared of trees, the land was levelled off, and stones were gathered together to form walls and terraces. When first irrigation systems were developed (the action of supplying moisture), different kinds of species and fruits emerged, new ways of exchange commerce came up, and crops became more bountiful, which made cities grow. According to the above mentioned, it could be stated that irrigation systems created a major impact in the human settlements in terms of their agriculture, economic system, territorial connections, trade routes, and the understanding of water and terrains. Additionally, in time, advances in irrigation techniques also allowed the transformation of certain terrains, allowing the dry desert to become into pleasure gardens. However, after such success, early hydraulic civilizations collapsed, and their fields returned to desert due to the absence of a system that could permit fields to leach the salty water back into the river system again. Other hydraulic civilizations handled the salinity problem differently by developing qanats (fresh water channels) to irrigate the desert lands, and maintain both irrigation and drainage to rinse water out of the fields, gardens and crops and take it back into the river system. This gave rise to a different form of agriculture and civilization that led to important and standing transformations of the landscape and the territory. The importance of these two words also lies in the fact that such technologies
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NOSTALGIA/UTOPIA Nostalgia Etymology: Nostos - Algia Nostos// A homecoming or homeward journey as a literary subject or topos; spec. the return of Odysseus and the other Greek heroes of the Trojan War, as narrated esp. in the Odyssey. Also (in extended use): the conclusion of a literary work. Algia// Forming nouns denoting types of pain, typically in the location or of the nature specified by the first element, as CAUSALGIA n., MYALGIA n., NEURALGIA n., etc. -Sentimental longing for or regretful memory of a period of the past, esp. one in an individual's own lifetime; (also) sentimental imagining or evocation of a period of the past. 7 Utopia/Utopic Etymology: Ou â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Topic Oudemia// n. a non-existent place, nowhere (sometimes as a notional address). Topic// Of or pertaining to a particular place or locality; local. -An imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, esp. in respect of social structure, laws, and politics. 8
Figure 3. Cytadel of Mycenae
7 Nostalgia. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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Utopia. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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One might think about nostalgia as a contemporary issue from a society that longs for a period of the past, wrapped in an environment that has been formed, mostly, against and at the expense of nature, and hence is paying the consequences. However, in The Course of Landscape Architecture, Christophe Girot displays different occasions where nostalgia was present during ancient time. It turns out that a sentimental imagining or evocation of period of the past was experienced by Hellenistic culture which evoke, through literature and art, a time when the world was simpler, more immediate and innocent. 9 Therefore, Hellenistic literature represented the notion of idyllic places that evoked an idealized view of the life of Arcadian shepherds and the landscape bare of religious meanings.
of landscape design, as a meaning of the landscape which changes according to its cultural and ecological context.
Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing for or regretful memory of a period of the past. Its Etymology meaning is composed by Nostos, as a homecoming or homeward as literary subject, and Algie, which forms nouns that denote types of pain. One could state that because of nostalgia, landscape design can be conceived as hypothetical perfect places that lean on utopia. In antiquity,the concept of nostalgia reappears as the original closeness to nature was lost when the landscape ceased to be conceived as the home of gods and spirits, and became a place for learning, scientific reasoning and pleasure. 10 Later, this longing for a simpler past, was inherited by the Roman empire, which led to a cult of idealized landscapes in the form of gardens rich in symbolic meanings. 11Finally, the longing and memory of places or time, remains present in the history
Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., p 91
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Ibid. P 91 Ibid., p 97
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
MEMORY/OBLIVION Memory Etymology: <AngloNorman memoire, memore, memorie, memoir, memor, memour, Old French memorie, memoire, memore (11th cent.; French mémoire ) and their etymon classical Latin memoria < memor mindful, remembering (a reduplicated formation (compare ancient Greek μέρμερος baneful, fastidious). -Senses relating to the action or process of commemorating, recollecting, or remembering. -The perpetuated knowledge or recollection (of something); that which is remembered of a person, object, or event; (good or bad) posthumous reputation. 12 Oblivion Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French oblivion forgetfulness (c1220 in Old French; French †oblivion) and their etymon classical Latin oblīviōn-, oblīviōforgetfulness, state of being forgotten, amnesty < oblīv- , verb-stem found in oblīviscī to forget (see OBLIVISCENCE n.) -The state or fact of forgetting or having forgotten; forgetfulness; (also) freedom from care or worry. -The state or condition of being forgotten; (also, more generally) obscurity, nothingness, void, death. to fall (sink, etc.) into oblivion: to become forgotten or disused; (also) to die. to consign (also †put) to (or †in) oblivion: to forget entirely about (something), to abandon, regard as in the past. 13
Figure 4. Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoly,Italy
12 Memory. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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Oblivion. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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As its definition says, the word memory is related to the process of commemorating, recollecting and remembering something (a person, a place, an object or an event). Also, it refers to a perpetuated knowledge or recollection of something. 14 Regarding these definitions, the Hadrian´s Villa, understood as a composition, introduces a new and strong narrative that later influenced other landscapes, buildings and urban spaces. Although Hadrian’s Villa was created to reflect how powerful, rich and important a man was, in a certain way, it recollects, interprets, recreates, and represents different historic periods, events and achievements through the architecture and the landscape. In this sense, it is evident how architecture and landscape can bring something from the past and use it as a tool (a source of knowledge and inspiration) for new creations, being able to create places that are unlinked from their site, it was more about subjective memory, a narrative of landscape. In some way, this can also be understood as an episode of nostalgia, a sentimental imagining or evocation of period of the past. On the other hand, the Hadrian’s Villa is also a representation or reproduction that proves that a certain knowledge has been transmitted from one culture to another, or from one period to another, leading to progress. In relation to the above, oblivion, as an opposite word, understood as the state or condition of being forgotten, to become disused or abandoned, 15 could lead to the disappearance of certain culture’s knowledge, rites and customs, and in the worst case to its extinction. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight the importance of landscape and architecture for a culture´s memory record, as a legacy that can remain in time.
Memory. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Oblivion. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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PROFANE/SACRED
Profane Etymology: < Middle French prophane, prophaine, profane (French profane) not sacred (1228 in Old French), not pertaining to a religious order (1384), that acts impiously (1486) and its etymon classical Latin profānus (in postclassical Latin also prophanus, frequently in medieval MSS: see note) not dedicated to religious use, secular, not initiated into a religious rite, ceremonially unclean, impious. -Of persons or things: unholy, or desecrating what is holy or sacred; unhallowed; ritually unclean or polluted; (esp. of religious rites) heathen, pagan. 16 Sacred Etymology: Sacre – ed (suffix): To consecrate (the elements, or the body and blood of Christ) in the Mass. Figure 5. Santa María de Poblet,Spain
-Consecrated to; esteemed especially dear or acceptable to a deity. 17
16 Profane. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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Sacred. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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According to Girot in The Course of Landscape Architecture, during Christian cultures of the Middle Ages, the conception of earth was allencompassing and sacred. By means of the forest clearing, it was described as the land that was cultivated, the place where the church was founded and the sacred ground where one was laid to rest. 18 Therefore, the forest (derived from the Latin foris that means beyond), represented ancient beliefs often thought to be malevolent as it never became part of the Christian world and continued to form part of every village as a hiding place for brigands, lepers and whores. 19 It can be said that the forest had the notion of profane, as something that was “not dedicated to religious use, secular, not initiated into a religious rite, ceremonially unclean, impious”. On the other hand, Christian’s buildings and interventions of the land were conceived as sacred, or acceptable to deities. During the Middle Ages, the symbols of nature both good (sacred) and bad (profane), came to embrace the message of the Christian faith, which shaped the face of the entire territory.
the way were recreated inside the gothic cathedrals. This represented a change in attitude towards nature as people’s beliefs regarding the dark forest were exorcised leading to the forest clearing and agriculture in the name of God.
Both architecture and landscape represented this duality between profane and sacred. On the exterior of the gothic buildings, mystical monsters and demons of pagan origin demonstrated the wild cults to be present in the forest. The placement of symbols, creatures and gargoyles represent the dark old forces of nature on church roofs and facades, and created a strong contrast with the heaven inside the nave, devoid of any demons, offering protection against their spells. This notion of sacred enclosed space that contrasted with older beliefs, was further developed in many gothic cathedral sites across Europe. Later, a deep forest of trunks and branches reaching for the heavens and spreading out to show 18
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Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., p 117. Natalia Almonacid
Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., p 118. 11
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
SCENOGRAPHY/SPONTANEITY Scenography Etymology: < Latin scaenographia drawing (of buildings) in perspective (Vitruvius) < ancient Greek σκηνογραϕία scene-painting, in Hellenistic Greek also illusion < σκηνή (see SCENE n.) + -γραϕία -GRAPHY comb. form. -The design and use of scenery, costume, lighting, etc., to create an effective performance environment; theatrical design; stagecraft 20. Scenario Etymology: < Italian scenario outline of the plot of a theatrical work (1634 or earlier), sheet containing the information needed by the call boy in a theatre (a1665), decoration of a stage set, scenery (1772), setting in which an event occurs (end of the 19th cent.) < scena scene (see SCENE n.; compare SCENA n.) + -ario -ARY suffix1. -A postulated or projected situation or sequence of potential future events; (also) a hypothetical course of events in the past, intended to account for an existing situation, set of facts, etc. Also, more generally: a set of circumstances; a pattern of events 21.
Figure 6. The fountain of the Deluge
Spontaneity Etymology: < Latin type *spontāneitas, < spontāneus. So French spontanéité, Italian spontaneità, Spanish espontaneidad, Portuguese -idade -Spontaneous or voluntary action or movement on the part of animals (or plants); activity of physical organs in the absence of any obvious external stimulus 22. Figure 7. The fountain of the moors Scenography. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/ 21 Scenario. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Spontaneity. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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The understanding of landscape from its generic definition is what can be seen and can be represented as a spectacle, either by observing something that in fact exists and is happening, as well as its own representation. However, the concept of landscape is more complex and can be approached by several disciplines and perspectives. Eugenio Turri 23 explains the landscape as a theater, "man and society behave in two ways in relation to the territory in which they live: as actors who transform, in an ecological sense, the vital environment, imprinting the stamp of their own action, and as spectators who know how to look and understand the meaning of their action in the territory. In the absence of man as an observer, inhabitant and being reflective, the landscape would not exist, we would only talk about nature and territory. 24
personifications and interpretations. On the other hand, as an opposite, the word spontaneity denotes to a voluntary or natural action or movement by the activity of physical organs in the absence of any obvious external stimulus, referring to any unintentional or manmade transformation of the landscape; nature or territory.
In The Course of Landscape Architecture, the word scenography is used by Girot to describe how, during the Renaissance in the Villa Lante (Italy), a newly planted forest formed an integral part of the scenography of a garden. 25 In this context, the word scenography is understood as the design and use of scenery, to create an effective performance environment; a theatrical design. This leads to consider the landscape as a scenario that projects a situation, a sequence or a set of circumstances that are telling a story with narrative loaded with symbolic, mythological and figurative contents. The previous can be better explained through the integration of ancient mythology into the landscape narrative during the early Renaissance. It was not much about the story, but about the staging of historic myths, which marked the beginning of a longstanding tradition in the landscape design of including mythological
Italian geographer, landscape expert (1927 – 2005). Eugenio Turri, “Teatro”, in Landscape + 100 palabras para habitarlo, edited by Daniela Colafranceschi (Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2007), 177.
Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., p 157.
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ILLUSION/TANGIBLE
Illusion Etymology: < French illusion (12th cent. in Oxf. Psal. lxxviii. 4), < Latin illūsiōn-em mocking, jeering, (in Vulgate) deceit, illusion, noun of action < illūdĕre to ILLUDE v.. 26 Something that deceives or deludes by producing a false impression; a deceptive or illusive appearance, statement, belief, etc.; in early use often spec. An unreal visual appearance, an apparition, phantom. Tangible Etymology: < Latin tangibilis that may be touched, < tangĕre to touch: see BLE suffix. So French tangible (16th cent. in Littré) 27 -Hence, Material, externally real, objective. // Physical and material assets which can be precisely valued or measured. // A thing that may be touched; something material or objective. Also fig.
Figure 8. Vaux – le - Vicomte aerial view
Illusion. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Tangible. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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The garden at Vaux-le-Vicomte, France, was designed by André Le Nôtre, one of the most influential designers of the first baroque garden style, hired by Nicolas Fouquet, a rich French noble man that worked for the King Louis XIV as his right-hand man. This masterwork of landscape scenography was created in the wake of the desire to transform a banal stretch of rural countryside into a complex arrangement of exquisite geometric illusions. The garden’s purpose was to celebrate Fouquet’s achievements in France and to represent himself in it through the idea of space as expansive and endless. The garden`s design implied that existence was infinite and unlimited, by the creation of a broader view of the landscape through imposing perspective. The space was manipulated and appropriated by illusion: a landscape that deceives and deludes by producing a false impression or appearance. Le Nôtre created a theatrical kind of experience, in the way that he tells a story through spatial manipulation, creating a broader view of landscape and implying that there are no limits. For example, he manipulates the experience by an advanced domain of perspective in the fountain’s geometry and size, where he created an impression of amplitude by experimenting with optical art. Vaux-le-Vicomte is a demonstration of illusion, it was crafted out using different features such as terraces, parterres, sculptures, and flanking central axis. Also, Le Nôtre was able to command a huge space by making it flat, using repetitive objects, putting patterns into it, manipulating geometry to delude the human eye, mind and senses, manipulating the experience.
present in the garden, the forest clearing and walled garden as a moral element, denoting the good and evil.
On the other hand, as an opposite, the word tangible denotes materiality, externally real, objective, physical and material assets which can be precisely valued or measured, a thing that may be touched; something material or objective. This word refers to the project and the space itself; the design plans, drawings and the actual gardens, that unlike illusion and experience are tangible. Finally, the two main archetypes are also Natalia Almonacid
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EXOTIC/INDIGENOUS
Exotic
Figure 9. Aero photography. Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Josep Fontserè, 1881.
Etymology: < Latin exōticus, < Greek ἐξωτικός, < ἔξω outside. Compare French exotique. a. Belonging to another country, foreign, alien (obs.). b. In narrowed sense: Introduced from abroad, not indigenous. Now chiefly of plants (in popular language with added sense of ‘not naturalized or acclimatized’); also, of words, forms of speech or writing, fashions, etc. 28 Indigenous Etymology: < late Latin indigenus born in a country, native ( < indigena a native: see INDIGENE adj. and n.) + -OUS suffix. Born or produced naturally in a land or region; native or belonging naturally to (the soil, region, etc.). 29
Figure 10. Plan. Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Josep Fontserè, 1881.
Exotic. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Indigenous. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
In the mid-19th century, European cities experienced a unique moment of time that led to a big shift in the approach of landscape architecture; the loss of the traditional, aristocratic and symbolic meaning of the landscape and the arise of the creation of large public parks in the cities for social and economic purposes, which was mainly caused by the effects of the industrialization. The cities’ infrastructure had to be rethought to deal with the massive migration of people from rural areas toward cities in search of work, the industry’s impact, the air pollution, the public sanitary and the contamination of rivers which became industrial and urban sewers. Encouraged by an overwhelming nostalgia for the return to nature, landscape architecture relieved the symptoms of the industrialization’s effect by the design of urban parks where citizens had access to nature regardless of their social class, providing physical and psychological benefits. Both urban design and landscape architecture contributed to build democratic and egalitarian urban spaces which in turn shaped nature as infrastructure. Regarding the idea of nature as infrastructure, it can be inferred that landscape was no longer understood as indigenous, native or natural, instead, it is now defined as exotic, artificial, and introduced from above. In The Course of Landscape Architecture, when Girot describes the liberation of the city and the natural landscape’s relationship caused by different scientific achievements, he states that:
Somehow, the nostalgic idea of getting back to a relationship with nature was palliated by landscape architecture in the way that citizens were close to an exotic nature that filled their needs. At present, there are numerous large-scale parks around the world that exemplify the urban relationship between exotic nature and the cities. The Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, for example, was traced on the old grounds of the Citadel Fortress in the late 19th century. It is located at the heart of the city and can be accessed through several ways; public transport, bike lanes, pedestrian paths, roads, the coastal walk, greenways and ‘ramblas’. Additionally, the park is equipped with several public and institutional buildings. All these features make the Parc de la Ciutadella the main park in Barcelona, a place of encounters, where sports, recreation, and leisure take place, and most important, a place where people get back to nature. In conclusion, the success of a city lies on its capacity to bring nature into the urban environment through high quality landscape design, so that private backyards become unnecessary and the nostalgy for nature turns obsolete. In the contemporary city, the discussion lies on urban revitalization and adaptive reuse for public space projects, instead of the “exotic” and “indigenous” nature concerns.
“Rapid urban expansion led to a broader definition of landscape architecture, in which it also came to denote a constructed natural environment cut off from its rural background and adapted to the functional and societal constrains of the city.” 30 30
Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc., p 236. Natalia Almonacid
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
INTERSTICE/CONTINUOUS
Interstice Etymology: Latin interstitium space between, < *interstit-, participial stem of intersistĕre, < inter between + sistĕre to stand; compare French interstice (14th cent.).
Figure 11. Photography, Juan Amarillo River, Bogotá, Colombia.
An intervening space (usually, empty); esp. a relatively small or narrow space, between things or the parts of a body (frequently in pl., the minute spaces between the ultimate parts of matter); a narrow opening, chink, or crevice. 31 Continuous Etymology: French continuité (16th cent.), < Latin continuitāt-em , < continuus : see -ITY suffix.(Show Less) a.
The state or quality of being continuous.
Of material things: The state or quality of being uninterrupted in extent or substance, of having no interstices or breaks; uninterrupted connection of parts; connectedness, unbrokenness. 32 Figure 12. Photography Córdoba’s Channel, Bogotá, Colombia.
Interstice. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Continuous. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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An interstice is defined as a space between things, parts or bodies, it can also be understood by an idea or a perception, as expressed by the Terrain Vague. This concept, first used by the Spanish Ignasi SolĂĄ Morales in the late 20th century, refers to a shift in aesthetic appreciation and landscape design that pushes to a potential of interaction between humans and land that expresses no quality per se. This concept has unleashed a wide series of new approaches to landscape design where designers have experimented with different forms of nature around ecology, for example, Design with Nature, Natural Regeneration, Environmental Redemption, and Urban Ecology. This attitude has led to a new feeling of hope where the melancholy and abandonment result in engagement and active adaptation, creating opportunities in which human interaction plays essential roles. Since the late 18th Century, the traces of humans and machinery became visible and affected the attitude towards nature, understanding the gap between natural and artificial in order to provide closeness to nature in the cities. However, during the 20th century, new types of terrains became visible, seen as opportunities and described, for example, the landscape in between the citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; continuity or context. These landscapes in between, understood as Terrain Vague and Urban Interstices, are playing an essential role in contemporary cities. These could be considered urban interstices even if they are the result of different accidental products of surrounding human forces.
Perception plays a strong role in the way that Urban Interstices are understood, as their condition reflects deserted, insecure, and unclean, but also the way in which they are disjointed to the city even when they are hold in between it. This reflection leads to think about the different types of interstitial spaces that the contemporary cities hold, derived from the Terrain Vague and the way that landscape architecture approaches to it regarding perception as a concern.
As an example of the previous, in BogotĂĄ, several wetlands are constrained in between the city as a result of the city sprawl over the occidental wet areas of the territory since the epoch of the colony, causing the drought and disintegration of extensive waterbodies. These ecosystems can be characterized under the concept of Urban Interstices because of their ecological and neglect condition that has been addressed during the last decades within a very aggressive urban context. Natalia Almonacid
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
CONTRAST/BALANCE
Contrast
Etymology: < French contraste (masculine), < Italian contrasto (= Provenรงal contrast, Spanish contraste ) contention, opposition: see contrast on. Comparison of objects of like kind whereby the difference of their qualities or characteristics is strikingly brought out; manifest exhibition of opposing qualities. 33 Balance Etymology: < late Latin indigenus born in a country, native ( < indigena a native: see INDIGENE adj. and n.) + -OUS suffix. General harmony between the parts of anything, springing from the observance of just proportion and relation; esp. in the Arts of Design. Stability or steadiness due to the equilibrium prevailing between all the forces
Figure 13. Design sketch, Project II, Studio II, Natalia Almonacid, MLA 2017
of any system. 34
Contrast. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Balance. (2017). In Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
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According to René Thom, “Topology is precisely what makes a distinction between natural topography and designed topography. It is about the form of intelligence applied to the shaping of a landscape, resulting in a modified topography, call it landscape design if you will”. 35 This definition highlights the incessant discussion about the contrast between nature and landscape; ecology and culture; biotic and abiotic, and natural and artificial, among others. However, there are very few places in the world that are truly natural and haven’t been transformed or touched by humans. During centuries, the territory has been taken or modified by humans for several purposes; industry, farming, settlements, constructions, etc. Nature is no longer a type of landscape, it is now an element or a tool for design. Therefore, the discussion is not about nature versus landscape anymore, as it is taken for granted. Instead, it is about thinking the form of intelligence applied to the shaping of a landscape, resulting in a modified topography; Topology as a premise. Since the 19th century, Landscape Architecture has been facing two different ways to approach to design; one is influenced by a conservationist view; based in the rational use and sustainable exploitation of natural resources in benefit of efficient human use, with no interest in wilderness preservation, environmental aesthetics or pollution reduction. Sought only to achieve maximum sustainable yield from renewable resources such as forests and watersheds. The other one is influenced by a preservationist view; which advocates for the reverence of nature and wildlife, in the aesthetic and spiritual sense of appreciation, arguing that men should not have greater rights than nature, supporting the idea that nature and its diversity have intrinsic
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value irrespective of human uses and interests. It makes sense to think that the contemporary discussion about landscape design’s approach should be centered in finding the balance; harmony, stability and steadiness due to the equilibrium prevailing between the forces of the system: ecology and culture. As an example of the previously mentioned, to think about the city of Auburn’s development, it is necessary to understand its hydrologic context, its topography, its ecological conditions and the way in which people relates to them. There is the opportunity to make water accessible to people by creating a loop of water to experience the hydrological system and hydraulic system, make it visible and recognizable, and integrate culture and ecology by giving meaning to the cycle of water from an urban scale. On the other hand, it is an opportunity to create public spaces for people’s enjoyment related to the natural resources and both ecological and cultural significant. Also, to connect important engineered places as the Water Treatment Plant and The Auburn Water Works Board, to environmental preservation areas such as the Chewacla State Park, The Lake Wilmore Park, and the Chewacla Creek, creating an educational circuit. This connection becomes effective by a trail system for pedestrians and bikes, greenspaces, and greenways, to follow the path of the cycle of water making it visible and enjoyable. Lastly, to provide access to water, create memory, change the way that people think about their city, to respect nature and at the same time show meaning of culture, and finally to recognize it in order to take care of it.
Thom, René, Topologie et Signification, L´Age de la Science 4 (Paris: Dunod, 1968, 219-42)
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Being one of the engineered places that are connected by the loop of water, the Water Treatment Plant is a place where different types of water streams come together through a pipe: the treated water, the storm water drainage, the stream and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek. However, within the bounds of the facility there is a gap that prevents the visual and spatial connection between the different water streams and the hydrological system, making it unreachable and unknowable for people, and preventing its understanding as a closed in-motion cycle. Also, somewhere within the gap, between the streams’ mouth and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek, there is space in between: the result of different accidental products of surrounding human forces that led to a Wet Forest whose topography’s characteristics hint that, originally, it is a flood zone. According to the above, the objective of this project is to modify the gap´s 36 topography to shift the trajectory and spatiality of water and transform the ecosystem, turning the wet forest into a wet land. To reclaim the wetland, designing a flood zone that can capture the different water streams, creating a new ecosystem that leads to different conditions, preserving the existing vegetation and inducing to new ecological processes caused by the increase of humidity. In such way, the gap is closed by modifying the terrain’s dynamic, the ecological processes and the path of water, making it visible to people through the connection of the aeration, the wet forest, the spillway and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek.
36The
Gap, understood as a the current space between the aeration and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek, the interstice where the path of water is not visible. Natalia Almonacid
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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LEXICON: History Timelines
Bibliography
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Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.
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Eugenio Turri, “Teatro”, in Landscape + 100 palabras para habitarlo, edited by Daniela Colafranceschi (Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2007), 177.
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Oxford English Dictionary, online (2nd ed.), Retrieved from: http://www.oed.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/
Source of images
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Figure 1. Lascaux cave painting http://www.history.com/s3static/video-thumbnails/AETNHistory_VMS/21/203/tdih-sept12-HD.jpg
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Figure 3. Oasis in Morocco. Photography By Natalia Almonacid, 2015
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Figure 3. Cytadel of Mycenae https://twitter.com/spartanwarriors
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Figure 4. Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoly,Italy http://www.rome-chauffeur.com/tours/tivoli-villas/
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Figure 5. Santa María de Poblet,Spain http://www.traveler.es/gastronomia/galerias/120-planesredondos-para-semana-santa/447/image/20527
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Figure 6. The fountain of the Deluge Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.
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Figure 7. The fountain of the moors Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.
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Figure 8. Vaux – le - Vicomte aerial view http://www.fourseasons-georgev.com/excursions-outside-ofparis/vaux-le-vicomte/
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Figure 9. Aero photography. Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Josep Fontserè, 1881
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Figure 10. Plan. Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Josep Fontserè, 1881.
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Figure 11. Photography, Juan Amarillo River, Bogotá, Colombia. By Natalia Almonacid, 2016
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Figure 12. Photography Córdoba’s Channel, Bogotá, Colombia. By Natalia Almonacid, 2016
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Figure 13. Design sketch, Project II, Studio II, Natalia Almonacid, MLA 2017 By Natalia Almonacid, 2017