Reframing the Given: Landscape Analysis Techniques

This work tracks an investigation in to the forces inherent in landscapes. An increased attentiveness to these can enhance design thinking and help design processes become more dynamic. Examples of landscape forces include dynamic systems such as ecosystems, and the mobile patterns that are deeply embedded in landscapes as a result of seasonality and diurnal change. These forces are patterns of organisation whose specific, locational qualities are investigated through my research by design. The purpose of this research, then, is to identify, unravel, and utilise the often overlooked and unseen forces operating in landscapes. My investigation is intended to allow for the elaboration of rich and intricate patterns of organisation in order to enable the deployment of these by landscape students and professionals. This involves thinking of landscape architecture as an operator and regulator of rhythmic moments occurring in the landscape, rather than as a tool with which to configure bounded terrains containing objects.

C. Pete Griffiths, MLA: Studied Landscape Architecture at Unitec New Zealand. Programme Director, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Unitec New Zealand.