At the risk of parrotting, this post re-visits some points of concern regarding perception of the subject of Landscape Architecture at B.Arch level.
The following observations and questions are culled from a personal interaction with 3-4 colleges in Mumbai:
1- An overkill on looking at the subject through site beautification only, resulting in dismissal of the subject as “secondary/ problem solving/ hiding defects in the building / horticulture”.
2- Dumbing down the subject, which is essentially based on sound common sense. A case in point is "Q: why do we design lawns in children’s' play areas? ANS: so that there is greenery and they won't get hurt if they fall down.” Seriously speaking, the “landscape is lawn” attitude needs to be re-examined. Being a product of such education one is keen towards changing all this.
3-Compared to the discussion on the theory and history of Architecture, the same for Landscape Architecture apparently ends at the Picturesque, suggesting that the profession has reached its epoch/ intellectual high point/theoretical plateau. Sadly, a notion crept in about landscape design being all about serpentine paths somewhere in the 1980's and continues till date.
4-Reticence of faculty to initiate and carry forward critiques and debates on Urban open space and natural environments in the city as vital constituent of the wellness of the city and its citizens.
5-No takers in Urban Design/Town Planning faculty to try and look at the city as an Urban Landscape, rather than just Urban Form/Design etc.
6-Uninspiring and -at times- insipid Landscape design studio briefs - a great put-off.
7-The debate on "how much do architects need to know about landscape?' is a glass ceiling in itself. Somehow, people have missed the bus regarding a thought like "Does a landscape Architect see a site differently? How does that affect building? "
8- Architecture students have been experimenting with organization of built form on the basis of the Vernacular, climate, material or even buzz words like Regionalism, Green Architecture etc. In AD, many colleges have attempted a popular exercise usually called "In the Manner of" which involves a detailed study of a personality/ style/system/ manner of dealing with spaces.The idea of this particular exercise is to detach oneself from the moralities of the gesture (eg. "why should i do it...?", "i am not architect XYZ" etc) and do the interventions using a garb/ mask.This leads to a certain incisive analysis of how different/ same could things be. It also gives a lens through which one can examine evolution of one's own work. How many B. Arch landscape studios and classes tackle such ideas through the perspective of landscape architecture?
Resultant fallout of the above at the Post graduate level:
Valuable teaching hours and intellect get constrained in just introducing these above mentioned parameters, rather than exploring them. Personally, I feel that, had I been better oriented/ informed about Landscape Architecture in my B. Arch years, my M. Arch studies and focus would have gone one step further in at least a couple of aspects.
With limited inquiries, I can only think aloud about how many definitive studies have been undertaken by any of the 4 Post Graduate schools to try to generate a critique or even compile sources of information on the Indian Landscape. Essays on the gardens of India (ICOMOS), the CSE- Delhi essays and others on Sacred Groves and some work by Dr. Romila Thapar on the landscapes of Early India can be used (with their permission, of course) as starting points in this endeavour.
Indian poetry on gardens, nature, seasons etc. with their incisive observations can become a versatile media for interpolating the meaning and form/ notion of these spaces in the mind of the composer. There would a number of surprises in this while examining seemingly simple words light quality, silhouette, and the “bheeni bheeni saundhi sugandh” that describes the aroma of damp earth and wet leaves immediately after a rain shower.
The above brings me to another favorite agenda - mapping of historic gardens. Many students take up this topic for their Masters Thesis, but at the end of the programme, the knowledge they have gained leaves the department with them as they graduate. Documenting these would allow a slow yet sure compilation of information on the Historic Gardens of India, which could be used for further investigation as a part of research papers, studio problems, electives where the original contributor is duly acknowledged. It could be a NASA styled Louis I Kahn trophy kind of competition, with emphasis on analysis, documentation and re-vitalization (which LIK doesn't do...strangely). one should allow repetition of sites for study and exploration.
End Note
With all these possibilities, can the teaching fraternity identify an initiative/ framework for the interested B. Arch student, who is pursuing a landscape elective? Maybe then, ALL colleges would have a structured landscape elective, preferably diverse in content, apart from Landscape design studio and theory, thereby giving more scope to the understanding of the subject at B.Arch level, thereby requiring the instruction at the Masters' level to push itself up a few notches.
Valuable teaching hours and intellect get constrained in just introducing these above mentioned parameters, rather than exploring them. Personally, I feel that, had I been better oriented/ informed about Landscape Architecture in my B. Arch years, my M. Arch studies and focus would have gone one step further in at least a couple of aspects.
With limited inquiries, I can only think aloud about how many definitive studies have been undertaken by any of the 4 Post Graduate schools to try to generate a critique or even compile sources of information on the Indian Landscape. Essays on the gardens of India (ICOMOS), the CSE- Delhi essays and others on Sacred Groves and some work by Dr. Romila Thapar on the landscapes of Early India can be used (with their permission, of course) as starting points in this endeavour.
Indian poetry on gardens, nature, seasons etc. with their incisive observations can become a versatile media for interpolating the meaning and form/ notion of these spaces in the mind of the composer. There would a number of surprises in this while examining seemingly simple words light quality, silhouette, and the “bheeni bheeni saundhi sugandh” that describes the aroma of damp earth and wet leaves immediately after a rain shower.
The above brings me to another favorite agenda - mapping of historic gardens. Many students take up this topic for their Masters Thesis, but at the end of the programme, the knowledge they have gained leaves the department with them as they graduate. Documenting these would allow a slow yet sure compilation of information on the Historic Gardens of India, which could be used for further investigation as a part of research papers, studio problems, electives where the original contributor is duly acknowledged. It could be a NASA styled Louis I Kahn trophy kind of competition, with emphasis on analysis, documentation and re-vitalization (which LIK doesn't do...strangely). one should allow repetition of sites for study and exploration.
End Note
With all these possibilities, can the teaching fraternity identify an initiative/ framework for the interested B. Arch student, who is pursuing a landscape elective? Maybe then, ALL colleges would have a structured landscape elective, preferably diverse in content, apart from Landscape design studio and theory, thereby giving more scope to the understanding of the subject at B.Arch level, thereby requiring the instruction at the Masters' level to push itself up a few notches.
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