The Visual Essence of the Natural Landscape of the Puget Sound Basin.

 

Oechsle, Michael.

 

This thesis is an exploration into the understanding of the essential visual character of the Puget Sound landscape and the elements which contribute to that character. The basis for this exploration is to provide a way in which landscape architects can avoid designing landscapes which lack a sense of place, but rather capture the essence of this unique region.

The author has recognized that the artists which use this landscape as their focus are more sensitive observers of the natural world. Through a series of interviews, several elements were determined to have great influence on the region's character. Of these elements, the following were identified as most important:

 

1. Physical (including landform, water, vegetation, rock)

2. Ephemeral (light, climate, seasons, wildlife, natural processes)

3. Pictorial (line, form, texture, pattern, scale, movement)

 

In addition, these categories were further broken down and ranked in importance. Some of the most notable physical elements were landform (most notably volcanoes), water and vegetation. Light, climate, and seasonal change represented important ephemeral elements, as well as the interplay of physical landscape and these changes. Pictorial elements were more challenging to define, but the predominance of cool colors (green, blue and gray) was noted. The region also exhibits great variation in texture, as illustrated through the juxtaposition of water, rock and vegetation. Variation in scale, from the center of a forest to the scale of human-made landscapes, as well as the presence of mountain vistas, was also noted. Included in this these are color examples of artwork by the artists who were interviewed. These particular artworks were chosen by the artists themselves as representative of the described characteristics and elements.