Design of Landscapes

Three main strands of knowledge production define the subject area:

• Design of places (aesthetics & construction)

• Design processes (methods, tools and fabrication)

• Design thinking (epistemology and ontology)

Sustained trajectories for the subject area focus on long-standing contributions to research and education related to the design of places, parks, districts, towns, streetscape etc. as well as research and education on artistic methods and design processes. These practices support both individual capacity building and collaborative practices. The subject area plays a key role in numerous courses across SLU’s landscape related programmes, both at the Alnarp and Ultuna Campus. The teaching relates to topics including design and construction processes, materials and materiality, regenerative design and blue-green infrastructure, universal design and landscape analysis. Other areas of teaching address design history and theory, artistic methods and design research methodology, design built through large-scale modeling, visual communication and applied aesthetics. A core pedagogical approach for the subject area is the intertwined learning activities of theoretical and applied knowledge. Important vehicles for supporting learning are the studio environment, reflection in action, and the materialization of ideas and phenomena.

Research within the subject area is multidisciplinary, with a strong emphasis on design research and artistic methods. Ongoing, and longstanding, research engagements include areas such as sensorial and experiential dimensions of landscapes, landscape-oriented living labs, spatiotemporal transformation and landscape change, mobility and public space. Research projecst are often carried out in collaboration with other universities, both in Sweden and internationally. Transdisciplinary projects in collaboration with practice is common. For education, collaboration with practice and local municipalities are critical in training the next generation’s landscape architects, designers and engineers.

Expanded trajectories for the subject area includes visual communication and hybrid fabrication using advanced digital and analogue techniques to shape, communicate and represent design proposals and processes. Of importance is methodologies and protocols for reuse and upcycle of mineral and biotic materials, contributing to circular design strategies.

Future trajectories involve critical reflections on ethics and the rewriting of landscape architectural history, theory and practice. This includes a stronger focus on environmental justice and resource management, and a deeper understanding of local and regional contexts. Another related trajectory for the subject area to explore is how design can evolve in response to new understandings of the agency between humans and other species (non-humans, more-than-humans, transspecies, etc.). These concerns reshape not only what and how we design, but for whom. Appreciating landscape architecture projects that embrace co-creation and co-production involves recognizing their collaborative nature and the involvement of diverse stakeholders and communities in the design process.