CONVERSING WITH THE SETTINGS

Created landscape does not exist in isolation. It rather lives in its context, contributing to and borrowing from the latter. Landscape design approaches look at distinctive attitudes towards natural settings or urban surrounds. On occasion these merge seamlessly with their surrounds, forming a continuum or a flow across project boundaries while at other times these stand out as landmarks offering visual delight. In yet other situations, these are introverted within gated enclaves. The key question to be asked is how the geographical setting can become instrumental in siting and disposition of activity, resulting in dialogues. Another issue hovers around the possibility of the internal spatial organisation to reflect or be influenced by something distant, adjacent or outside of the project boundaries. In introverted urban situations too, an exploration of the ways in which the designed landscape can creatively establish a dialogue with the sky is an interesting theme.

TRAVERSING, REVEALING AND EXPLORING LANDSCAPE

Landscape space is experienced as one moves through it. Motion or journey that connects parts of a development sometimes become remarkable traverses that offer sequential revelation. These trails or linear spaces in themselves are exploratory tracts that offer incidental encounters. While at places these may be designed and perceived as noteworthy vistas or linear promenades, at other situations, these may take the form of winding trails that offer continuously renewing perspectives along the journey. Not always do these tracks humbly graze the profile of the land. Often, these may take the shape of skywalks or subterranean connections.

REIMAGINING CULTURAL AESTHETIC, EVOKING HISTORY AND CELEBRATING ROOTEDNESS

The huge repository of cultural responses is a key inspiration to guide landscape design. While times change, roots remain intact, albeit forgotten at times. Landscape design offers a creative opportunity to evoke a sense of the past through a pattern language that is reminiscent of a cultural aesthetic. What is particularly exciting is to emulate values associated with land, water and vegetation and reinterpret their physical form in keeping with the times. Associations and relationships as well as eternal planning ethos become the everlasting soul that upholds cultural continuum, while constantly evolving material and technique represents the ephemeral body, refreshed and ever changing.

STYLISING NATURAL PROCESSES AND PATTERNS

Landscape architecture in one sense can be looked upon as a discipline that enables nature to find expression in the urban setting. What better inspiration could there be for designed landscape, than the changing patterns and moods associated with landform, flow of water and existence of vegetation communities in nature itself. Natural patterns are an outcome of the causality that flows through ceaseless ecological processes. These become precious inspiration to create landscape organisation rich in symbolic content as well as geometrical order that seems to echo or stylise the form and space sensed through the flow of nature. The creative expression offers opportunity of emulating and recreating nature, albeit in a poetic, non-literal form at two levels, one as a pattern language in creating a spatial vocabulary for site planning and the other in elemental design that could allude to processes and objectify natural forms.

SCULPTING LAND

Caught in the web of mediocre expression, landscape design today often gets seen as simply a two dimensional pattern in green, brown and blue! Of late, in thought-space, laying out movement networks precede creation of landscape itself. Landscape composition thereafter suffers the banal act of scattering objects in space, governed often by the pattern in which movement is conceptualised. However, in reality of nature, landscape exists and is created seamlessly through geological processes over time and human beings learn to inhabit it, create indelible marks of civilisation on it and find the most creative way to move through it. Landscape experience indeed can only be enriched if the cart is not put before the horse. In that sense, playing with and modulating the ground itself becomes a sculptural exercise. Grading land is one of the most effective ways to create three dimensional experiences.

BLURRING DISCIPLINARY BOUNDS

In compact urban situations where lands are decreasing and buildings get taller by the day, landscape is no longer a phenomena glued to the ground. Further, there may be interesting opportunities where projects are conceptualised in a truly integrated fashion, where built form and open space create a tapestry without getting constrained into stereotypical definitions. It is here that landscape architecture offers opportunities for redefining its own identity and occurrence. The discipline of landscape finds expression not only in configuring highly evolved, integrated architectural form and space, but also in reimagining edges and transitions where it can seat itself, depicting nature in less envisaged and unpredictable forms and creating indoor-outdoor continuums.

EXPRESSING METAPHORS IN LANDSCAPE & EMPLOYING ETYMOLOGY IN DESIGN

Landscape design is a potent vehicle to allude to imagined context, create poetic expression rich in symbolic value or become a metaphor evoking nostalgia and memory. Powerful narratives and abstract ideas have the ability to result in outstanding landscape expression. The creative process involved in conception serves to heighten the joy of creation itself, imbuing rich meaning to elements and geometries. What promotors choose to call their complexes too has a bearing on landscape design thought and vocabulary, and so do the values that individual owners, corporates and development authorities stand for. All of these contribute significantly to design thinking.

CREATING THEMATIC URBANISM

Districts and character zones within urban areas stand out for their identity and serve to aid in varied sensory experiences in the city. Landscape urbanism is a tool to heighten the distinctiveness and in fact, the vehicle to create a unique character. In addition, landscape possesses an ability to act as a glue, integrating seemingly disparate areas within evolving neighbourhoods. Streetscapes, parks, greenways and promenades are precious opportunities to infuse freshness in the ever-growing city.

EVOKING ASPIRATIONAL LUXURY

Irrespective of the fact that landscape has acquired an egalitarian role in the urban realm, private landscapes look at inclusion of nature as a tool to offer a style-statement and an opportunity to offer aspiration. A constantly evolving aesthetic order and unique image-building is needed to satiate the appetite of those who wish to look at their living environment as a reflection of class. Landscape, though composed of timeless material and elements, must reinvent itself to creatively present flamboyance and panache

INTEGRATING ART IN LANDSCAPE

Landscape in itself is an artistic endeavour. Yet, being the cultural arena that expresses the human spirit, it is natural that landscape architecture enables spaces to become repositories of art in its various forms. While visual arts adorn landscape with sculptures, murals and other installation, performing arts and the art of seeding conversations occupy centre stage in landscape design. Furthermore, land-art and nature-art elevate the content and quality of landscape design beyond compare.

Themes Underlying Works