THINKING ABOUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
UK describes what is a very basic principle of landscape architecture: the design process:6 Landscape architecture is rooted in an understanding of how the environment works and what makes each place unique. It is a blend of science and art, vision and thought. It is a creative profession skilled in strategic planning, delivery and management. Landscape architects bring knowledge of natural sciences, environmental law and planning policy. And they create delight with beautiful designs, protecting and enhancing our most cherished landscapes and townscapes. (Landscape Institute, 2012)7 The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realize that they cannot be viewed in isolation. They are systemic problems, which means that they are interconnected and interdependent. (Capra, 1996)8
Sustainability The underlying and contemporary foundation of landscape stewardship for environmental and cultural resources is to protect these resources for future generations through a rational planning and design process. The concept of protecting these resources for future generations is referred to today as sustainability. Sustainable landscapes are of sufficient integrity where the processes and support systems necessary for the plants and animals are able to continue functioning and to survive. Stewardship provides the underpinnings for sustainable thinking and well-informed land and resource management principles. The goal of achieving sustainable wild, rural, suburban, and urban landscapes while accommodating human development depends upon the application of environmentally responsible strategies of land management and land development. The application of responsible design and planning strategies would seek to achieve a mix of human spaces and healthy land, water, and wildlife systems across the landscape. Landscapes where humans dwell, work, and play, whether they are urban, rural, or wild landscapes, are a complex mosaic of earth, water, and sky. Sustainable designed landscapes are created by applying an array of independent design interventions and making comprehensive land use decisions. The accumulation of each design and land use decision of the past eventually has created fragmented landscapes, such as isolated slivers of wildlife habitats. Eventually these fragments have eroded a landscape to the point that they no longer serve as viable, self-sustaining habitats. In fact, they have eventually disappeared altogether. The small residual patches no longer are capable of functioning as robust and healthy natural systems. A forest may over time be subdivided with roads, utility lines, and other built structures so that eventually what remains of the original forest no longer has the capacity to support wildlife in a sustainable manner. Fragments of native forest and other ecosystems that once 22
