College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
Landscape design inspiration beyond the office walls
Thursday April 2008
Jamie Fleckenstein and Chad Wichers, both from the CAUP Landscape Architecture department, offer up simple yet insightful ways to keep landscape architecture designs fresh and innovative in an article for the Daily Journal of Commerce. While every site and project is unique, with variations including sun exposure, topography, and even a client's program element and personality, a landscape designer may still rely on the same tried and true design successes of past projects, instead of developing a design response as unique as the project. To prevent designers from falling into this trap, Fleckenstein and Wichers suggest several ideas to help promote innovative design ideas, fresh thinking and broader pallettes.
Among their suggestions, the landscape architects favor design charettes with a variety of participants including multiple design professionals, clients, property owners and intended users of the site. Charettes will often produce several design options, while drawing on the strengths of the contributors.
Additional ideas include regular visits to nurseries to update plant palletes by becoming familar with new varieties, as well as reinforcing consideration for seasonal changes. Interacting with academia through student design reviews, and even teaching also benefits design professionals through interaction with cutting-edge research, and a student's ability to come up with design ideas as yet untamed by real-world restrictions. These interactions can be a source for inspiration for landscape designers, as well as furthering their design communication skills.
For the complete story, please visit The Daily Journal of Commerce online.