From Soil to Landscape

Writing from the sixth story of a historic building in Hollywood, I reaffirm the decision to engage with the natural world through the practice of landscape architecture. It is the most ethereal and nebulous practice, that works with spaces, not walls. It is the science and art of blending the built with the grown environments.

The human process of planning and design offers a component I didn't know existed. I imagined the designed landscape as a sort of magic trick, a black art that is passed down aurally or visually, not necessarily written down or planned, but simply placed as an afterthought.

I imagined that after the buildings and walkways are laid out, the gardeners are invited in with a smattering of foliage and trees to work in wherever they found space, minding the existing trees.

I never really thought that Landscape Architecture was a practice. It sounds made-up, like two opposing words brought together. I mean, how can you even practice 'landscape' and architecture' at once. The key perhaps is that in this field, the two are interwoven and seamless. The building of the landscape is a mix of plant and man-made material.

It's the underappreciated part of many spaces, it's the way to and from the purely human spaces, the rooms and buildings, which are the focal point of the human. We do appreciate the open spaces, the outdoors, but they don't get fancy names, do they?

I know a few architects, and I'm adding to the list. Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick Law Olmsted, Luis Barragán, if that at all! Architecture videos abound, and they are not limited to the built environment alone. I watched a video interview about spaces that reckon with nature, and question the isolation of the building from its geography. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-farnsworth-house.htm

I was searching for a way to give back or to model an appropriate way forward with an Earth that is on life support and this appears to be it. Landscape architecture to me, signifies a utilitarian and smart approach to deal with climate adaptation. Use what you've got here and now to heal the land, restore ecological and human communities, and have fun doing it.