Site Seeing: Interpreting Site in Landscape Architecture Alex. J. Albans This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Birmingham City University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Birmingham School of Architecture Faculty of the Arts, Design and Media Birmingham City University August 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the following people for their support and guidance in the preparation of this thesis: Firstly, to my supervisor Prof. Kathryn Moore who has guided and supported me throughout this research project. Prof. Moore’s enthusiasm for the subject continues to be inspirational, as does her dedication, knowledge and kindness. Thanks also to Prof. Richard Coles whose input in the early stages of the thesis was very much valued. Special thanks must also be extended to Dr. Lawrence Green whose timely involvement in this project renewed my confidence and gave me the impetus to keep going. You have all helped me to see things differently, to think more deeply, and to push the limits of what I thought I was capable of. Next, I must also thank each of my interviewees for taking part in this research: for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to me, and for the enthusiasm with which they each greeted the subject of my research. Heartfelt thanks go to my wife, Allison, for your love, unwavering confidence and on-going support. Thanks too, to Isla for brightening my life when times were tough. To my parents and my brother: thank you – I could not have done this without you. To Helen Albans, Barbara Payman, Claire Clarke and Anthony Searle – you have all helped me along my journey in different ways, and I value you all greatly. Thanks must also be extended to the numerous support staff at BCU, notably Yanyan Wang, Shelly Fray and Beccy Boydell for all of their assistance and guidance over the years. ii ABSTRACT In landscape architecture, sites are commonly portrayed as being the inspiration behind practitioners’ ideas; lending a sense of legitimacy to projects seeking to connect people and place, and strengthening local identity by ‘coming from the site’. In landscape design theory, a site’s history, genius loci (spirit of place) and its physical and cultural contexts are considered to be highly significant shapers of material form in contemporary landscape architecture. Furthermore, professional practice renders the site survey as an exercise in data-gathering and/or as searching for the site’s ‘je ne sais quoi’. Students are encouraged to conduct these investigations neutrally and objectively before any analysis or interpretation. Such conceptions appear to rob novice designers of the confidence in their own decisions because they presume the site must ‘tell’ them what to do. Primarily benefiting students and early-career practitioners, the thesis challenges established ways of understanding and working with sites, as revealed through the embedded knowledge and expertise of experienced designers. It is an investigation into the circumstances and motivations that shape how landscape architects interpret sites and make design decisions, applicable to education and career-development. A pilot study of 109 award-winning landscape schemes and twenty four in-depth interviews demonstrates how sites are interpreted in light of a complex web of factors and ideas, and not simply ‘known’ through surveys or consulting the genius loci. It shows that the ideas, experience and knowledge brought to each landscape project are key to a landscape architect’s creativity. The study also reveals that sites are interpreted collaboratively, and that stakeholders have very different ideas about sites, all of which can impact working relationships and design decisions. Communication and listening are found to be key factors in professional practice. This research acknowledges the professional importance of the genius loci but reframes it as a name for the process of interpretation and decision-making undertaken by practitioners, based on their skills, knowledge and experience. iii CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Contents iv List of figures vii List of appendices viii PART ONE 1 1. Does Site Matter? 2 2. Professional Perspective 10 2.1 Historical perspective 10 2.2 Landscape architecture in context 12 2.3 Educating landscape architects 15 2.3.1 Landscape architecture’s key components 16 2.3.2 Chartership and professional development 29 3. Theorising Site 32 3.1 Terminology 34 3.2 A history of site in landscape architecture 38 3.3 Academic Dimension: Conceptions of site in landscape architecture 45 3.3.1 A way of seeing 46 3.3.2 Geographical, physical site 47 3.3.3 Emptied site 51 3.3.4 Full site 52 3.4 Professional Dimension: Site survey and practice 67 4. Operationalising the Study 77 4.1 Research Journey 77 4.2 Research Questions 90 4.3 Research Methods 93 4.3.1 Research Approach 93 iv 4.3.2 Pilot Study 96 4.3.3 Literature review 100 4.3.4 In-depth interviews 101 4.3.5 Interview analysis 110 PART TWO 115 5. Delving Deep into Site 116 5.1 Pilot Study: a report 116 5.2 Re-forming a Site’s History 121 5.2.1 Understanding a site 122 5.2.2 Connecting people and place 127 5.2.3 Informed and critical decision-making 134 5.2.4 Stakeholders 139 6. A landscape architecture way of seeing 146 6.1 Personal context 149 6.2 Professional context 156 6.3 Site context 163 6.4 Project context 172 6.5 Socio-political context 175 7. Whose site is it anyway? 178 7.1 Stakeholders’ views 179 7.1.1 Diversity in the range of stakeholders 179 7.1.2 How stakeholders influence the interpretation of site 183 7.1.3 Expanding stakeholders’ horizons 187 7.1.4 Negotiating working relationships 188 7.2 Landscape architects’ views 191 7.2.1 Landscape architects’ relationship to other stakeholders 191 7.2.2 What landscape architects bring to a project 193 7.2.3 How stakeholders influence landscape architects’ practice 194 7.2.4 Negotiating working relationships 196 7.3 Good working relationships 198 v 7.3.1 What stakeholders want 198 7.3.2 What landscape architects want 200 7.3.3 Listen and learn 202 PART THREE 207 8. Site-seeing: Contextualising the Findings 208 8.1 What is a site? 211 8.1.1 Materiality of a site 211 8.1.2 Ideas about a site 214 8.1.3 Ideas informing materiality 218 8.2 Interpreting sites 220 8.2.1 Forming and understanding of a site 220 8.2.2 Site survey 222 8.2.3 A landscape architecture way of seeing 225 8.2.4 Stakeholders’ ways of seeing 228 8.3 Communicating site 231 PART FOUR 235 9. Interpreting Site: Conclusions, Recommendations and Limitations 236 9.1 Research Questions 237 9.2 Contribution to Knowledge 246 9.3 Forward Agenda 251 9.4 Limitations 254 References 255 Appendices 270 vi LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 1 1.1 Thesis structure 6 Chapter 2 2.1 Map of International Federation of Landscape Architects delegates 12 Chapter 4 4.1 Example of Primary Generators 99 4.2 Set 1 interviewee details 103 4.3 Set 2 interviewee details 105 4.4 Set 3 interviewee details 107 4.5 Portion of transcript from interview 2D 112 4.6 Interview data pertinent to 2D’s site survey approach 112 4.7 Subjects for study matrices 113 Chapter 9 9.1 Pocket guide to site survey 253 Appendix 1 A1.1 Number and percentage of project by category 273 A1.2 Main concerns of each judging panel 274 A1.3 Percentage of projects influenced by site history 287 A1.4 Number and category of projects influenced by site history 288 A1.5 Percentage of socio-economic projects influenced by site history 288 A1.6 Percentage of well-being projects influenced by site history 289 A1.7 Percentage of site-sensitive projects influenced by site history 290 A1.8 Percentage of restoration projects influenced by site history 291 A1.9 Percentage of other projects influenced by site history 291 A1.10 Percentage of ecological projects influenced by site history 292 A1.11 Percentage of landmark projects influenced by site history 293 A1.12 Percentage of projects with a Resurrected Footprint feature 294 A1.13 Percentage of Resurrected Footprint projects by category 295 vii LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Pilot Study results 271 Appendix 2: Letter to potential interview candidate 297 Appendix 3: BCU/BIAD ethical statement 299 Appendix 4: Sample interviewee questions by set 301 Appendix 5: DVD of pdf interview transcripts 305 viii PART ONE Part Chapter 1 Does Site Matter? 2 Professional Practice 1 3 Theorising Site Operationalising the study: 4 Journey, Questions and Method 5 Delving Deep into Site 2 6 Results A Landscape Architecture Way of Seeing 7 Whose Site is it Anyway? 3 8 Site Seeing: Contextualising the Findings Interpreting Site: 4 9 Conclusions, Recommendations and Limitations 1 1 Does Site Matter? “For the disciplines and professions concerned with design of the physical environment, site matters.” (Burns and Kahn 2005: viii) Site matters in landscape architecture because it constitutes the principal environment of the discipline. It is variously thought of as the forum in which we operate, the profession’s muse, the material with which we sculpt, or the canvas onto which we paint. The intrinsic value of site to landscape architecture is such that our abilities in “site-reading and editing” were acknowledged by Meyer as “establishing landscape architecture as a discipline separate from architecture, engineering, and horticulture” (2005: 94). In practice, the site benefits from all manner of close inspections: from survey to analysis, through design to construction, the site is at the forefront of the landscape architect’s mind.