Sustainability through History
Published in APLD Magazine — Design Online — May 2020
The first two months in this series laid a solid groundwork connecting our clients to sustainable designs. Our clients have strong senses of regionalism and environmental identity. This frames who they are. And when spaces are planned within that context we see that those same clients are more encouraged to sustain our sites and therefor enhance sustainability overall. It makes an easy step to accept the power of evaluating ecological and historical characteristics to help inform our work. The question is how do we frame ecological and historical characteristics, and how do we gain perspective on these as designers.
Every site and client will vary greatly for the need or applications of these site studies. Additionally, even when conditions suggest a clear need for understanding, you will get into them and find a moving target. However, they can be generally put into two categories: as narrative (a written program element) and drawn data sets (much like a site analysis). Let’s begin with ecological characteristics.
Jens Jenson was a classic that not only designed within this context but also was a well-voiced advocate for designers knowing and planning to the local environment. I’ve walked a number of his sites, as many mid-westerners do, and your first impression is ‘this place hasn’t been designed it’s just naturally beautiful’. Which is cue number one, because they are more than that and we need to seek understanding of what we see. One way ecological characteristics can be enhanced on your projects is if you go for lots of walks out in the nature that make up your region. But, the walk won’t be enough. Too often do I walk and see what is around me like white noise. You need to study what you see. I learned a long time ago that when I saw a beautiful scene, vignette or even an open glade, I had to stop myself and ask for the ‘meaning behind the meaning’. Yes, it is beautiful, but what is the make up, which creates what I sense as beauty? Is it the colors and how they balance or contrast? Is it the layout and space between elements or even a starkness of a baron space? Then you take a step further and begin to unpack the specific elements that shape the space: are those colors I’m excited about flower, foliage or actually texture that I’m misunderstanding in color? We can make this a purposeful exercise too. We each read as professionals, seek new plants, and we practice many skills. Part of finding environmental context is the same; we draw it.
My students freak out when I say that, because we aren’t all artists. And, this isn’t art in that way, its study. Taking time in nature that encompasses you to sketch is an easy way to find that meaning behind the meaning. Because you have to process what you see in order to tell your hand what to draw. We gain a much deeper understanding of the natural environment from a design perspective when we sketch like this. Some of that is note taking. What plants are you seeing, what is the soil like there and other informative surroundings? Are the trees big and therefore an older forest or young and you’re likely studying ‘new ecology’? Where is the wind and sun coming from, and what does the space feel from those exterior elements?
The same rules are in effect when looking at a site you intend to plan with ecological context. Walk the surrounding area; assess what you see and how the location has local environmental influence. Think about that area in the context of the four seasons, rainy days, and sunny days. And, if you’re really getting paid the big bucks takes some time to assess the flora in a plan view study drawing, mapping what exists. Start with some soils data from the NRCS site and build yourself a full understanding of what exists or what used to exist.
The goal is to take your studies of nature and overlay them on the site that fits what environment you assume it should be. This isn’t a one-off design style, this is a brand. The exercise of being well versed and competent in your environmental context takes time to develop. I’ve noticed more than anything the time finding and sourcing your material adds both to the complexity of ecological planning as well as educates you. Make that part of your journey. And, know the more you experience and open yourself to what you see the better you will contribute to this design dialogue.
To be honest the historical characteristics is one of my favorite studies when doing my analysis of a site. I’m lucky enough to teach History of Landscape Architecture and explore the work that so many talented before us have contributed. I also think this brings immense creative opportunities to our work. Regionalism should always play a roll in our design process. When we think of intense brickwork we may think of Williamsburg. When we think of stucco and red tiles roofs we can see the southwest. Historical materials are the result of accessibility. Williamsburg clay begat brick and thus the use of materials in construction. When we use these materials, in a modern area of mobility, out of place it feels wrong. Chip and dale railing also make us think of Williamsburg. Thomas Jefferson spent goodly years in France when our country was forming. Of the many things he brought back was what they called chinoiserie, the Asian influence on art during the three Louis’ of France. Its Chinese influenced French design that we use in Virginia. Which leads me to how we contextualize the historical underpinnings of a site or region, how far we go back in time, and when its ok to pull a ‘Jefferson’ by importing something new for fresh flavor in our work.
I think you have latitude as a designer when approaching this. History is yesterday as much as it is 300 years ago. To a great degree, the depth in which you approach this is driven by the site architecture and client program elements. Because site architecture can vary greatly from regional history, I think we take that as our first cue. If this is a residential site and the owner feels embedded in the region we should see that as the second cue. That differs if your working for the local museum house that is dated mid 1800 and was the first house in town. I had a live site a few years back that was this last example. We measured an oak tree across the road and dated it to being on site at the beginning of the settlement. These sites are special. We don’t go back to the first white people walking this continent like many do when assessing native plants. We only go back to the beginning of planned spaces that had historical influence. In this case not even that far. The Industrial Revelation had a great influence on this town years after the first house. The Midwest Victorian period showed itself strong in all the surrounding homes, likely dating back to just after the turn of the century. It felt more fitting to date the landscape to the period of the boom and most prosperous for the museum home, her golden years.
Once the region, site and client helped you gain some concept of historical timing it’s back to the books, searching in the local library for vintage photos, or online where passionate people keep this information. You will pinpoint well-known designers or sites in that region that date your project, then seek examples. We call this precedent work. At times I put a full set of precedent pictures together as part of my presentation. And, just a little investigation can be very inspirational as well as educational. With time comes change. Likely your creative results won’t have the exact plants or hardscape of the era but varieties that are more accessible or have characteristics that fit better in our time. You take the liberty to choose what elements you will bring forward and what you interject as the creative influence. You can be traditional or take some pieces with an up to date twist. Either way when presenting this to clients it’s fun. They know you have done your homework and your design is embedded in a process that is informed and sophisticated. You can come with solutions that respect the historical context and at the same time bring the clients own opportunity to imprint the earth and her history.
If it’s not obvious, ecological and historical characteristics are not equivalent.Environmental context speaks to the natural environment.History is predicated on human impact and the keeping of human information.The environment changes in her own way, slowly like a dance of season and biological battles.But, History looks at how the human hand has touched the environment.How the planner built in that environment and how that environment was re-distributed around new spaces by the landscape designers of the time.Either way this is a journey of information, of expanding our own knowledge and skills.This is an education never complete but with every new nugget we add to our product, we create more informed connected spaces and thereby better environments for flora, fauna and client.In tern dramatically increasing not just the quality of our product but the longevity or sustainability of our sites.I encourage you; if you don’t already, take the time with each project for a precedent study.Seek to be informed, be informed to be relevant.