Corequisite(s): Spring Field Ecology Laboratory, Willig.
Workshop II explores two elemental tools in the practice of landscape architecture–landform and planting design–and their role in placemaking. The shaping and sculpting of the land is both art and science. Workshop II aims to provide an appreciation of landform as an evocative component in design vocabulary, a critical tool in resolving design challenges, and essential in addressing site performance and functionality. The basic techniques and strategies of grading design (slopes, terraces, water management, and grade change devices such as walls and steps) will be introduced and applied so that grading design becomes an integral part of the student’s design approach. Lectures, field trips, physical modeling, in-class exercises, and group projects will be used. The planting component of the course provides students with a working overview of the principles and processes of designing with plants from an ecological and artistic standpoint. The natural distribution of plants, concepts of plant community and successional patterns, and the relationship of planting and topography will be used as the framework for planting design as a dynamic system. The role of plants as a key element in the structural design of the landscape will be explored through a combination of modeling, plan and section drawing, temporal studies, writing, field trips, and case studies. Emphasis will be placed on process and evolution: the temporality of planting (daily, seasonal and annual changes), the establishment and maintenance of plantings, and the process of planting design. During the first week of May, a five-day field ecology corequisite course focuses on techniques of urban revitalization, sustainable land use, reclamation, and restoration. The field trips offer insight into the diversity of approaches to using plants to promote positive environmental change.
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