Landscape Architecture

The terminology and the definition of landscape architecture have changed. Still in constant evolution, one can place it under planning disciplines. Transforming and adapting to different fields and necessities, both human and environmental. It is also a learning discipline, where operators have to deal with every possible issue involved in the process – including the unforeseeable – determined by the space one works with. Usually one means the outside space, referring to natural processes, when one talks about landscape architecture. An open space. Open towards the sky and open towards the land. In an vertical and horizontal way. One can therefore also speak of two main directions. It depends, in which space and position of space we are, we are dealing with and we are talking about.

2D space. A flat space. Constructed by 2 vectors. Visible from above. It describes the space you are working with, when you are drawing a ground plan. Your tools are lines, geometric forms, areas, textures, structures, colours, text, numbers, measures, special characters and much more.

3D space. The space which opens up a room with 3 vectors. It is easy to define this architectural space in relation to a building, as the area which surrounds it.

This conception of landscape architecture, as a planning discipline of its own, emerged during the early 19th century. Whereas previously such tasks were solved by architects. For this reason, landscape architecture was always bound with architecture itself and its own understanding of space in correlation to buildings, as the space in-between.

The perception of landscape architectural space. This space can be perceived as a space constructed around a perceiving subject. One could describe it as a stage. A horizontal space with it's special character. When we move, a whole wall morphs into a concave area, with which we engage.

Space is always around us, regardless of being inside or outside a building. Inside or outside the landscape architectural space. To reflect, what architecture and landscape architecture brings together, one needs to understand, what environment means. For a landscape architect in practice it always points towards an ecological field, where one has to deal with issues of protection, for example. For an architect environment can mean this as well, but, also the thought can bring us to a combination, where space is placed. The environment is the space, where everything happens and both situations of space, the landscape architectonic and the architectonic space are part of. Here and to make it easier for the understanding and for the usage of the terminologies in everyday life, landscape architectural space can somehow stand as a synonym for the 'outside' and architectural space as a synonym for the 'inside'. To give a simple technical explanation of this: It means, because buildings are often wrapped in walls and a skeleton, it feels, that we are talking about an inside space. Landscape architecture refers to an outside space, underneath the open sky. Of course there are combinations possible. What for example is a covered courtyard or a green area with a glass roof? So there must be added another parameter which helps to define the terms.

The content of green. The landscape architectonic space is recognisable by it's content of green in every possible way and how this content is placed and spreads out within it's placement, which does it mostly in a horizontal direction. For nowadays architecture understanding this may look like a very limited definition, because buildings can also contain 'green'. In this way, landscape architectonic space is difficult to locate. And for practical reasons one can rely on the kind of professions, which have to deal with it. But within this case it is also possible, to talk about both. If the project itself includes more architectonic problems, it can be called architectural space. If it contains more landscape architectonic facts, one can tell about landscape architecture. The boundaries are shifting.

The quality of surface. The dimension of soil in a negative vertical direction, towards the inner earth is important for defining the kind of space. In both cases, one also needs to consider the type of surface, where the made and placed objects are. The material of the surface, the attributes of the soil. Landscape architecture is, as much as architecture, determined by the surface, where it should be. Both need a ground to be placed and to just be. This, without consideration of space architecture flying around in the universe. Landscape architecture can be often found and felt by it's direct contact to an organic underground and the direct contact the perceiver has, when he is engaging with the space, by touching. A possible way is analysing the kind of materials which were used and bring them into order, additional telling it's sources and decide, either architecture or landscape architecture based.

Height and depth. Another main factor is the altitude. Landscape architectural space is often arranged in the horizontal dimension. Architecture can be noticed out of huge distances, because of it's mostly dominant vertical dimensions. Landscape architectural space is in direct exchange with it's organic underground. Architectonic space is separated by it's thick layers from the organic underground.