Contemporary landscape architecture

Contemporary landscape architects work to sculpt landscapes into spaces that mirror the human living experience. They develop these spaces with respect to Nature, and in some way or another always seek to create a relationship between structures and the surrounding terrain. Contemporary landscape architecture can be used either unify architecture and the natural environment, or it can be utilized to starkly contrast the natural and the manmade. The determining factor in this lies in the specifics of the project itself, its location, and the type of environment being worked in. Contemporary landscape architects work in almost every imaginable setting where a quality human living experience determines the forms and structures expressed outdoors.

To understand the difference between contemporary landscape architecture and other traditional forms of landscaping design, think infrastructure. Buildings such as libraries, hospitals, corporate campuses, civic centers, academic institutions, and sports stadiums all represent both the human experience and a high quality of life. Technically, any open area such a building can then be developed into a planned environment that speaks to the quality of human life through manipulation of natural forms and outdoor spaces. This is very different from traditional landscaping, which tends to showcase natural beauty alone as the ultimate meaning of life. Contemporary landscape architecture is far more Existential in that it insists on creating only forms that reflect specific functions indicative of a high level of human activity, thought, and commerce. This is not the first time such concepts have found their way into the minds of a people. The Roman Empire was build around an infrastructure decorated with landscapes that reflected the Roman belief that man was the master of Nature, and Rome was the master of all men. Wherever the Romans went, (even in the rural areas of Spain and Gaul) they built their arenas, amphitheaters, gymnasiums, aqueducts, roads, and temples as reflections of themselves.

Pure lovers of Nature (both then and now), often find this concept distasteful. They prefer more aesthetic forms of landscaping and garden design plans that represent states of consciousness in their own right, and not something that necessarily serves mankind. This is why we see more traditional and culturally-specific landscape design and garden design around private residences, and we see an almost universal preference for contemporary landscape architecture in and around any public areas where civil engineers and planners have decided to integrate the natural world into human life itself, allowing people to experience the landscape on uniquely human terms. Movement through the landscape in these outdoor spaces is encouraged as much as possible. Clean lines in gardens and low-growth trees help place the natural world on a more eye-level experience for human beings that makes them feel comfortable and confident when walking through city plazas, parks, and streets.

Because of the desire to connect Nature to human life and architecture, variety of plant life is frequently replaced with geometry. By contrasting only a few very different plant materials planted either in linear bed lines or gardens shaped in stark geometric designs, the contemporary landscape architect can make a single open space into many blocks of form and experience, woven together, much like a building containing hallways and rooms with specific lines of movement and specific functions and unique activities contained therein.