Transforma tion

What are the roles of human and nature in the landscape change?

How to experience the dynamic process of perception?

Even if the concept of the Anthropocene is not fully defined today, such a perspective brings together many environmental crises in the world in which we exist to discuss them in one context. As a result, our perceptions of the past and the future are sufficiently influenced by such a concept to reexamine social and environmental changes based on a larger time scale. As Vincent Ialenti writes in Deep Time Reckoning, “if humans are judged to be agents of geological change, then the value of better syncing our everyday thought patterns with deeper timescales may become clear”[8]

Pushing back the time, starting from the historical dimension, the existing landscape was formed by natural factors or human activities. Here transformation will involve how the landscape has been transformed into what it is today and whether the history of the site is important. The mention of reductionism in landscape transformation in the article land to landscape is controversial in my opinion. In my study experience, historical elements are always emphasized in almost all design projects. However, questions often arise in my mind: what is the relationship between the historical element and the landscape? How should landscape design be treated? Is the status quo future history?

Moving forward in time, from a future perspective, the landscape needs to face the challenges of time. In today’s increasingly serious environmental problems, the landscape needs to consider changes in sea level rise, extreme climate, hydrology, etc., as well as the growth of vegetation in the landscape, the evolution of habitats, and the weathering of materials.

In the process of landscape design, the intervention of unnatural elements is inevitable. I have always been cautious in understanding and facing the existing landscape. When I place my human perspective below nature, I often feel intimidated to change, and I want to leave the decision of the landscape to nature.

“Nothing is so plentiful as time.”

Pastures, production forests, natural vegetation areas, and artificial areas are superimposed and intertwined.

Express the historical dimension of terceira island in a timeline.

The High Line is a great example of incorporating timescales into the design. Taking into account the history of the site, elements such as railway lines are retained, and attention is paid to the selection of landscape materials. The detail design of seats, paving, and plants carefully balances the natural and artificial parts of the landscape.