Written exam
Présentation of the lessons / discussions and questioning
The Learning Unit aims at teaching the students how to read the polysemic nature of the fundamental notion of the landscape.
Architecture always interacts with the environment, close by or far away, and functions on different scales in a landscaped context. The entire history of landscape architecture revolves around the intrinsic and evolving relationships between buildings and their environment.
After having completed their studies, the students will have mastered basic knowledge of a large number of essential aspects of the notion "landscape": historical, technical, artistic, social and philosophical.
The historical aspect is very important, as history shows us that a society's political-social circumstance induces quite diverse interactions between building and environment.
This gives architects the possibility to put their point of view into perspective in their daily practice.
The technical aspect is not to be undervalued, as an architect needs basic knowledge of the botanical and geological aspects of plants. Rooftop gardens are of a particular interest.
The artistic aspect also plays its part, as landscape architecture can be considered as the visual stage setting of landscape interventions and is therefore closely linked with the artistic expression of the moment.
The social aspect of durability has taken up a central space on the ecological market, as well as within the conception of the "landscape".
And finally philosophical, because glancing at the landscape is glancing at infinity, an essential act and object of metaphysical contemplation.
The course takes on different subjects, using Powerpoint presentations containing a large number of images and structured texts.
Georg Simmel (1858-1918), Philosophie du paysage (1912)
Simon Schama, Le paysage et la mémoire (1999)
Wouter Reh & Clemens Steenbergen, Architectuur en Landschap (2005)
A range of slideshows is distributed amongst the students.
