Abstract
Landscape architecture – like architecture and urbanism – faces a fundamental choice: either it develops its own, aestheticised “starchitecture”, or it invents new practices of transformation for our current societal crises. Being a hybrid discipline from the very start, it is strategically positioned to address issues like climate adaptation, the energy transition, circular agriculture, rural vitalisation strategies, demographic change and mobility, but will it live up to this potential? This paper presents an experimental design approach towards spatial development planning that has been applied in three different cases in the southernmost province of The Netherlands – Limburg. The concept underlying these cases has always been to create added value for all actors involved in developing an area, region, or municipality. This approach shifts the role of the designers from being creators of objects to acting as initiators of processes, putting them in the roles of mediators, coordinators, communicators, and “imagineers”. The role of design changes radically, moving away from proposing fixed, aestheticised schemes to leading discussions, bridging differences, proposing new avenues of development and participating in multidisciplinary engagements. Consequently, landscape architecture invents new process instruments to guide and coordinate the large-scale transformations that our societies face. However, the complexity of these questions is not tackled by proposing rigid measures or unifying schemes, but by continuously weighing options, opening possibilities and coordinating discussions. The designer becomes a mediator; consequently, the discipline of landscape architecture may become a process-oriented craft that discusses while sketching and mediates while imaging new courses of action.
Presenters
Otto PaansConcept Developer/Landscape Designer, HeusschenCopier Landscape Architects, Limburg, Netherlands
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus: Towards a (Design) New Deal
KEYWORDS
Landscape Architecture, Process Design, Rural Development, Design, Participation, Transformation Design
