INTRODUCTION TO LANDSCAPE

 What is Landscape ?

• An expanse of scenery that can be seen in a single view or from a single viewpoint. 
• A piece of land which we perceive comprehensively around us, without looking closely at single components, and which looks familiar to us  (Haber, 2004) 
• The total character of a region (Von Humboldt) 
• A mosaic of interacting ecosystems.

Landscape : ഒറ്റനോട്ടത്തില്‍ കാണുന്ന പ്രകൃതിദൃശ്യം. ഒരു ഭാഗത്തിന്റെ കിടപ്പു മാറ്റിയോ പുതിയ അംശങ്ങള്‍ കൂട്ടിച്ചേര്‍ത്തോ ഭംഗി വര്‍ദ്ധിപ്പിക്കുക.

What is design? 

It is the process of creation of Object/ Space/ System/ Policy 

• To serve a pre-determined Purpose / Objective 
• To solve one or more specified problems 
• To enhance the quality of environment of the delineated (രേഖപ്പെടുത്തുക) space 

What is landscape architecture?

• An art and science of planning and designing the landscape for purposeful human use and the conservation of landscape resources.
• Landscape Architecture is the design profession concerned with the design, planning, management and stewardship of the land.

As defined by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)

• Landscape Architecture is the design profession concerned with the design, planning, management and stewardship (നോക്കി നടത്തിപ്പ് ) of the land. 
• The foundation of landscape architecture education and practice is the application of ecological design in the consideration of abiotic (ജീവന്റെ സാന്നിദ്ധ്യമില്ലാത്ത), biotic (ജീവനേയോ ജീവികളേയോ സംബന്ധിച്ച), and cultural features in conservation, development and restoration projects. 
• The goal is to achieve environmental, social or aesthetically pleasing spaces by investigating existing social, ecological and geological conditions in the landscape. 
• The work of landscape architects is all around us in the form and function of the land: the work often touches on urban design, site planning, storm water management (വെള്ളപ്പൊക്ക നിയന്ത്രണം ), urban planning, restoration (പുനരുദ്ധാരണം), parks and recreation planning, green infrastructure planning and private or residential master planning and design.
• Those who practice the profession of landscape architecture are called "landscape architects".

CATEGORIES OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN

• Landscape derived directly from natural habitat of the region 
• Man’s alteration of the natural habitat for his own use 
• Landscape deliberately (കരുതിക്കൂട്ടി, ആലോചിച്ചുറച്ച്‌, മനഃപൂര്‍വ്വം) designed for a purpose 

LANDSCAPE DERIVED DIRECTLY FROM NATURAL HABITAT OF THE REGION 

They exist in their purest form only where man is absent or in the areas of least human intervention.

MAN’S ALTERATION OF THE NATURAL HABITAT FOR HIS OWN USE 

• With or without major consideration or concern for the natural settings and its elements. 
• Introduced to accommodate or solve a certain issue or requirement. 
• Introduction of elements may sometimes result in mesmerizing (വശീകരിക്കുക, മോഹിപ്പിക്കുക) landscape, which can be a planned or an unplanned activity.

LANDSCAPE DELIBERATELY DESIGNED FOR A PURPOSE 

• A landscape designed and created intentionally by man for a specific purpose. 
• The character of the designed landscape helps to define the image of the people who inhabit it and a sense of place that differentiates one region from other and the activity that surrounds the place.

PROFESSIONAL SCOPE OF WORK INCLUDE

• Architectural Landscape Design
• Site Planning
• Housing Estate Development
• Environmental Restoration
• Town or Urban Planning
• Urban Design
• Parks and Recreation Planning
• Regional Planning
• Landscape Urbanism
• Historic Preservation
• Landscape Conservation

ROLE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

• Large or small urban regeneration schemes. 
• Forest, tourist or historic landscapes, and historic garden appraisal and conservation studies.
• Reservoirs, dams, power stations, reclamation (വീണ്ടെടുക്കല്‍) of extractive industry* applications or major industrial projects. 
• Environmental assessment and landscape assessment, planning advice and land management proposals. 
• Coastal and offshore developments.

*Extractive Industries  : Are the businesses that take raw materials, including oil, coal, gold, iron, copper and other minerals, from the earth. The industrial processes for extracting minerals include drilling and pumping, quarrying, and mining.

LANDSCAPE INTERPRETATION 

• Interpretation of landscape has been theorized in a number of ways. The concerns primarily interpretations from socio-cultural relations, emotions and interpretations of environmental processes. 
• Landscape interpretation amounted essentially to the explanation of how natural and cultural forces combined in shaping environments. 
• Attention to the importance of the human subject and cultural values stimulated a wide-ranging scholarly engagement with interpreting landscapes within their shifting societal contexts as places of, aesthetic pleasure, cultural value, spiritual refuge (അഭയസ്ഥാനം, ശരണം, ആശ്രയസ്ഥാനം), ordinary experience, or alienation (വേര്‍പെടുത്തല്‍, അന്യവത്‌കരണം)

LANDSCAPE AS NATURE

A natural landscape is a landscape that is unaffected by human activity. It is intact when all living and nonliving elements are free to move and change. The nonliving elements distinguish a natural landscape from a wilderness (മരുഭൂമി, ഘോരവനം, വിജനഭൂമി, വെട്ടിത്തെളിക്കാതെ നിര്‍ത്തിയിരിക്കുന്ന ചെറുകാട്). A wilderness includes areas within which natural processes operate without human interference, but a wilderness must contain life. As implied, a natural landscape may contain either the living or nonliving or both.

LANDSCAPE AS HABITAT

In ecology, a habitat is the type of natural environment in which particular species of organism lives. It is characterized by both physical and biological features. A species’ habitat is those places where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction.

Habitat: ചെടിയുടെയോ മൃഗത്തിന്റെയോ സ്വാഭാവിക വാസസ്ഥലം.

LANDSCAPE AS ARTIFACT

Artifacts are implied as elements of landscape showing human workmanship or modification as distinguished from a natural object especially an object remaining from a particular period showcasing various timeline, culture and environment.

Artefact (Artifacts-plural ) :  an object that is made by a person.

LANDSCAPE AS SYSTEM

A landscape system is the collection of interconnected ecosystems, which is always open to inputs and outputs, such as a set of wetlands connected by runoff **. The successful integration of ecosystem ecology with landscape ecology would be conducive to understanding how landscapes function. 

runoff **: the draining away of water (or substances carried in it) from the surface of an area of land, a building or structure, etc.

LANDSCAPE AS A PROBLEM / CHALLENGE

Land pollution is nowadays a major problem into landform*** which creates various hazardous effects to the environment. Waste landscapes or derelict landscape, disturbed landscape, land that needs regeneration and reclamation, brownfields are some of the landscape challenges that need to be addressed.

landform*** : a natural feature of the earth's surface.

LANDSCAPE AS IDEOLOGY (പ്രത്യയശാസ്‌ത്രം )

With an intention to help raise awareness about the world’s shrinking forests, artist Konstantin Dimopoulos ‘paints’ trees in urban areas, most recently in Seattle and Kenmore, Washington state. Colored with azurite (a blue rock) and water that will eventually fade and wash away, the project’s trees are supposed to draw attention.

Landscape as Wealth

Landscape considered as aesthetic expressions of beauty through art and nature, a display of taste or style in civilized life, an expression of an individual's or culture's philosophy, and sometimes as a display of private status or national pride showcasing the wealth of the person/ culture/ community/ nation. 

LANDSCAPE AS HISTORY

The complex cumulative record of the work of nature and man gives a picture of the written record and deep into the natural evolution of the history and geology. These landscapes will act as a record to the evolution of mankind, the culture belief and their relationship with the environment. 

LANDSCAPE AS PLACE

Each landscape needs to define the character of the place and its relationship with the surrounding elements. Eg. Urban landscape, gardens, plazas (വിപണിസ്ഥലം, കല്ല്‌ പാകിയ പൊതു സ്ഥലം, നഗരപത്വരം). An appreciation for the everyday landscapes (vernacular) that citizens create out of their social, economic and environmental needs. Eg. Farmers market.

Plaza : 1. a public square, marketplace, or similar open space in a built-up area. "the plaza is lively in the evenings when the pavement cafes are full". 2. a shopping centre.

LANDSCAPE AS AESTHETIC

HARD AND SOFT LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS 

The elements of landscape design will fall into the broad categorization of hard and soft scape elements. Soft Landscaping and Hard Landscaping are essential elements of a landscape design. There is a requirement of a good mixture of soft as well as hard landscape materials for a proper well-built landscape design

HARD LANDSCAPE 

Hardscape or Hard Landscape refers to the heavy elements of a Landscape design like stone, rocks or driveways (a short road leading from a public road to a house or other building). The construction materials used in the design of landscape elements or to make outdoor structures come under hardscape. 

SOFT LANDSCAPE

The Softscape or the Soft Landscape is the living part of your landscape structure. The plants, the lawns, the trees and the shrubs make up the components of Soft Landscape. For example, materials required to build a pond in a garden area are components of Hard Landscape; however, the Pond itself is a part of Soft Landscape.

PAVEMENTS

Pavement in construction is an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering. Paving materials include asphalt, concrete, stone such as flagstone, cobblestone, setts, artificial stone, bricks, tiles, and sometimes wood. In landscape architecture pavements are part of the hardscape and are used on sidewalks, road surfaces, patios, courtyards, etc.

Pavement  : തറ, കല്ല്‌ പാകിയ നിരത്ത്‌ / തറ, നടപ്പാത, കല്‍പ്പടവ്‌ 

TYPES ON THE BASIS OF SUBGRADE

The pavement material receives traffic wear and transfers load to the base and subgrade. Pavements are classified as being either flexible or rigid. Additionally, they are porous or non-porous.

Subgrade : a surface of earth or rock leveled off to receive a foundation (as of a road).

FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

Flexible pavements commonly have thin wearing surfaces (top layer of a sealed road) and relatively thick aggregate basis and sub-bases. A thick aggregate base will distribute design loads over a greater subgrade area and will limit subgrade deformation potential. These pavements are appropriate in cold climates and in clay subsoil areas due to the capacity to move uniformly during swell and shrink cycles. 

RIGID PAVEMENTS

In rigid pavements (i.e. reinforced concrete), loads are distributed internally within the rigid pavement and transferred to the subgrade over a broad area. These pavements are suitable in areas that contain uniform subsoil with moderate bearing capacities. 

POROUS PAVEMENTS

Porous pavements are a class of pavements structured to allow precipitation runoff to drain freely though the pavement surface and aggregate base. Porous pavements may perform more effectively in cold climates.

In-situ (തനതായ) Paving: 

• Concrete: It is easy to pour concrete and pattern imprints it, which makes design patterns versatile. Concrete can stand abrasive (രാകിയോ ഉരച്ചോ മിനുസപ്പെടുത്താനുള്ള വസ്‌തു) materials and different climatic conditions. 
• Asphalt: Asphalt is flexible, built in multiple layers and provide smooth surface to pavements. Asphalt pavements are load bearing and are easy to construct and maintain. 
• Synthetic Surfacing Systems: Can be designed for specific purpose (e.g.. Court games, track) More resilient than concrete or asphalt.

Unit Paving:

• Bricks: Bricks provide non-skid surface. Bricks can be use anywhere due to their  small size; they can be laid to strong flowing curves.  
• Tiles: Tiles provide polished appearances (indoor/outdoor)
• Granite: Granite can support heavy load. They are durable, flexible and easy to  clean.  
• Limestone: Easy to work with. Rich color and texture.

Soft Paving: 

• Aggregates : Economical surfacing material. Available in wide range of colures. 
• Organic materials : Compatible with natural surroundings. 
• Turf : (പുല്ലുവച്ചു പിടിപ്പിക്കുക): Good drainage characteristics. Ideal for many types of recreations.

SOFTSCAPE / SOFT LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS

TREES

• Trees are an important part of landscaping. When thriving (നന്നായി വളരുക, തഴയ്ക്കുക) they make a beautiful contribution to the landscape. Adding trees to your landscape, whether it is one specimen tree or a grouping of a certain variety, will greatly improve the appearance and ecological value of the area.
• They define spaces, marks boundaries, acts as landmarks, gives a sense of place and also acts as shade giving element.
• They provide enclosure, gives privacy, camouflage (ഒളിപ്പിച്ചുവയ്‌ക്കല്‍) with the surroundings and gives direction. 
• It also forms linkages between one building to another forming avenues (രണ്ടരികിലും ചോലവൃക്ഷങ്ങള്‍ നട്ടുവളര്‍ത്തിയിട്ടുള്ള വഴി, വലിയ കെട്ടിടത്തിലേക്കുളള പ്രവേശനപാത) and creates network of tree lined streets. Improves air quality, provides shade and shelter, reduce noise level and contribute to habitat creation. 

SHRUBS

• Shrubs diversify the landscape and give variety to it horizontally. 
• It is a good source of food and cover for wildlife on a smaller scale. 
• It also provides cover for shade loving plants. 
• It can be used to demarcate (വേര്‍തിരിക്കുക, അതിര്‍ത്തി നിര്‍ണ്ണയിക്കുക) boundary, give buffer between spaces and give a sense of place. 
• It gives free vision and movement.

GRASS

• Grass, any of many low, green, non woody plants belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). 
• They make good ground cover 
• They provide variety of texture, color and serve as a transition between two different vegetated areas such as from a shrub to a flower bed. 
• Ornamental grasses add experience to the landscape. 
• Helps the surrounding by preventing soil erosion.

FLOWERS

• A flower, sometimes known as a bloom (വിടരല്‍, പൂവ്) or blossom (പൂങ്കുല, യൗവനം, പുഷ്‌പം), is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. 
• They add color and texture to the landscape defining the mood or the context in which it is set in. 
• Alters and plays with the aesthetic feel of the area.
• They add value to the place with their interaction with surrounding flora and fauna.