Drawing as a fundamental tool for thinking in landscape architecture

Abstract

This paper considers the role of drawing and representation as a tool for capturing the more ephemeral aspects of the landscape.

These aspects include ideas about change, chance and transformation. The importance of drawing has a relationship with current theory related to emergence, shifting social norms around material landscapes and an increasing drive for responsive landscapes. Several techniques drawn from the fine arts are discussed and evaluated in terms of their merits for revealing the often hidden potentials in any given landscape. The paper concludes that utilising some or all of these techniques could help landscape architects to do design that avoids an ‘off the shelf’ approach and posits that the way landscape architects understand the landscape through drawing and representation can have a significant impact on designed outcomes.