Reading Landscapes through Colour- Part 2

3.0 Recent Standpoints- Colour as Landscape Design Rhetoric

“…explain red to somebody who has never known red”. “ If we touched it with the tip of a finger, it would feel like something between iron and copper…if it were a flower, it would smell like a daisy, not a red rose” (Ch XXXI; My Name is Red)

A restrained imposition of colour can render spartan qualities to the designed landscape, thereby allowing for deep contemplation and intense emotional experiences. On the other hand, exuberance can recreate immersive three-dimensional spaces using by manipulating seemingly uni-dimensional aspects of colour. In a modern milieu, landscape+architecture projects by Luis Barragan, Roberto Burle Marx, Maya Lin and Bernard Tschumi see diverse approaches in the use of colour (architectural, vegetal). These projects are atleast 25 years old today and are still relevant in terms of discourse and the offbeat approach they embodied for their time.

The work of Luis Barragan exemplifies the restraint needed while dealing with colour. More often than not, his sense of colour has found ethnic moorings in the interpretations in his work by others. While his Gardens of El Pedregal (Mexico) celebrate the red Volcanic rock formations that characterized the site in colour and mass, Los Arboledas and San Cristobal are characterized by the simple combinations of forms, materials and light, expressing architecture in the landscape with a seductive use of colour. The clean lines present in Barragan's work are evidence of the influence of the Modern movement, who nonetheless advocated for an 'emotional architecture' claiming that, "Any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake." (cit; Barragan, 1980). Built with a profound respect for the Sense of Place, Barragan’s work is considered as an 'architecture as a sublime act of the poetic imagination. He has created gardens, plazas, and fountains of haunting beauty— metaphysical landscapes for meditation and companionship' (cit; Pritzker Prize Jury, 1980).

Painter, ecologist, printmaker and musician Roberto Burle Marx’s landscape design process can be understood to comprise of assembling a series of coloured paintings as per the subject of his project, and representing the design in Cubism-influenced graphics and renderings. His landscape design aesthetics were often nature based, such as using colours in swathes, utilisation of big groups of the same specimen, using native plants and integrating the natural colours of the terrain into his work. His studies of the natural Brazilian landscape enabled him to add significantly to the field sciences, through discovery of new rocks and plants. Today, at least thirty plants bear his name in recognition of his contribution to botany. Burle Marx’s work forms a vital link between Modernist Art, Ecology and Landscape Architecture.

The winning entry for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Competition (1982) by Maya Lin obliterated the need to impose scale, fancy and colour in its scheme, while acknowledging and conserving the colours of the existing park- the grass and the foliage. Based on geometry, emotive reasoning and a narrative, the polished black granite wall renders itself both as a mirror and as a stark contrast to the greens and the Neo-Classical white buildings of the Washington Mall. As a “ sharp pain that lessens with time, but can never quite heal over” the design has investigated form, contrast, meaning, symbolism and emotion to become a de-facto benchmark for design of memorials commemorative spaces of emotional and cultural value.

Bernard Tschumi’s design for Parc de la Villette (Paris,1987) was an architectural experiment in space, form, cognition and response in open space settings, partly in response to the Deconstructivist philosophies of Jacques Derrida. Organized into a series of points, lines, and surfaces- the park design aims to deconstruct the traditional views of about a park, its conventional usage and its reason for existence. Tschumi’s Points- bright red coloured follies act as architectural representations of deconstructed space and are meant to act as points of reference that help visitors gain a sense of direction in the park and navigate throughout the space. Parc de la Villette, comes with certain connotations and intent such as visibility and navigation. Tschumi’s choice of colours seem well caliberated.

4.0 Current Standpoint: Landscapes of the Information Age.
“What is the meaning of red?” “Red cannot be explained to those who cannot see”. (Ch XXXI; My Name is Red).

Project Apollo (NASA Apollo XVII) has given us the most indelible image of our Earth- a blue orb with masses of white set against an endless sea of night. This is our “Blue” planet. The Greek philosopher Socrates (c. 470-399 BC) said “Man must rise above the Earth-to the top of the clouds and beyond- for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives”. Socrates’ prophetic paean towards understanding our Earth has indeed come true with the advent of Satellite Information. By venturing beyond the visible light spectrum, the secret hues of our “blue” planet are revealed by Satellite imagery. The resulting images are landscapes of the Information Age where each pixel contains a measurement, each swathe of colour reveals a once invisible set of information. Digital data embedded in these pictures are refined by computers to extract and highlight precise information in a pictorial form. The abstract beauty of these pictures unites aesthetics with utility. (Cheetam 2006).

Satellite views of landscapes allow us to follow rivers, uncover hidden archeology, peer into a volcano and watch helplessly as our forests disappear and icecaps melt. The colours in these images show that Urbanization and Deforestation shadow our march across our planet. In some areas, cities are merging, losing individual borders as they consume lands that once separated them. What is surprising is that the quantum of data now available to us far outranks any other age in mankind’s history, yet we don’t seem to act sensibly. In this light, colours of six landscape typologies should draw our attention:

The blue-green Desert: The arid slopes of rocky deserts are embedded with an invisible filigree of meandering waterless gullies or Wadis. This elaborate skein is a relic of the rains that either fell at the end of the last ice age or of a time when these lands were naturally habited by vegetation before being completely stripped. Can these erstwhile blue-green networks be revived?

The polychromatic Wetlands: The transition between water and land gives rise to a mosaic of estuaries, lagoons, salt pans, streams, marshes and vegetated areas. These are areas of rich bio-diversity and perform vital environmental functions of filtration and buffering. Many of these areas hold essential freshwater and support a variety of flora and fauna apart from being home to human habitation. Will these landscapes be preserved for future generations?

The Heat signature of Mines: The earth’s inner layers conceal a wealth of minerals which are sourced through mining. The heat reflectivity of various materials acts as a specific signature even with fractional variations in temperature. To the prospector, such a landscape is rich with information; once hidden seams and pockets of ore are betrayed by their heat signature. What remains after the mining is a large scar, along with the pollution that occurs during the process. Can such thermal images inform similar colored land-uses that will heal and rehabilitate these lands in the long run?

The Red of the Forests: Rainforests are being rapidly exploited to create more agricultural land even as urbanization quickly engulfs agricultural landscapes. Upto 50,000 square kilometers of virgin rainforest are consumed every year in this manner. Within a century these rainforests, especially in third-world economies may no longer exist. The patterns in the landscape indicate large patches of ranches, fine toothed farmlands and star-shaped fields and farms concentrated around a groundwater source. The red colour indicates standing native vegetation. Will future generations be able to experience the grandeur of a rainforest?

Mechanised agriculture: Prairie grasslands are increasingly affected due to their conversion to centrally irrigated agricultural fields. Much of what has been inscribed is already falling short of demands. Elsewhere, the same approach converts desert land into agricultural oases. Since the 1980’s these central-pivot crop circle landscapes have marched across Arabia, infiltrating deep groundwaters to depths of over 1200 metres to triple cultivation output. How can we give back to the earth what we take from her without abandon?

The hue of City form: We are jumping natural green belts, filling lakes, seizing mangroves, cutting hills and all of this is being recorded in satellite imagery as our way of living. The colours of our cities seen in a satellite image should make us question why sustainable traditional urban forms existing for hundreds of years have suddenly been abandoned in the last 50 years in India.

References:
Fredrica Zanco: Barragan the Quiet Revolution (2001) Skira. Italy.
Freida Lee Mock: Maya Lin- A Strong Clear Vision (1994) (DVD)
Keith L Eggner: Luis Barragan’s Gardens of El Pedregal (2001). Princeton Architectural press. New York.
Matthi Forrer: Hiroshige-Prints and Drawings. (2001). Prestel, London.
Ian Mc Harg: Design with Nature (1969) 25th anniversary reprint.. Wiley and Sons, New York.
Nicolas Cheetam: Earth- A new Perspective (2006) Quercus. London.
Orhan Pamuk: My Name is Red (2001). Faber and Faber (trans.) London.


Websites:
Luis Barragan-
Pritzker prize Homepage- http://www.pritzkerprize.com/laureates/1980/jury.html (10-09-2010)
http://www.design museum.org

The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005.
http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml (10-09-2010)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial-
American Treasures of the Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm022.html

Parc Villette
http://escapsule.blogspot.com/

Roberto Burle Marx
http://www.bobcolman.com/marx.html
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/
http://www.marinmodern.com/blog/heroes-of-modern-landscape-design-roberto-burle-marx.html

Satellite imagery
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/08/60-stunning-satellite-photos-of-earth/
www.geology.com