architecture / landscape

Most of our projects include architectural and landscape elements. On some projects the architecture is more dominant and the landscape closely supports the goals of the architecture. On other projects the landscape is primary with the architecture dispersed throughout and on some projects these aspects are balanced with each aspect an equal partner in the composition. The distinction between these categories is fluid but all projects fall somewhere on the spectrum.

Landscape for Architecture

In these projects the building is dominant and the landscape is carefully modulated to reinforce the goals of the structure. On many projects we collaborate with other architects who design the building while we design the landscape. It is important to recognize when the landscape should play a supporting role. In these cases the landscape often functions in a mediating force smoothing the transition between the architecture and its larger context, tempering the site to better relate the building to the surrounding landform and the wider world beyond.

Viewed from outside the site, the landscape forms a contributing foreground that frames the building form and helps define the building approach sequence. Looking out it directs views, obscures distracting neighboring elements and provides a protective buffer to the outside world.

Architecture for Landscape

Being architects as well as landscape architects we often employ architectural constructs within our landscapes in the form of pavilions, pergolas and sheds. Every fence and trellis becomes a design opportunity that can help shape the particular character of each project. Architectural pieces within the landscape provide focus points, create thresholds and provide anchors in the landscape composition. These pavilions become locations for more intense uses and focused activities such as dining or gathering next to a pool. We like to blur the distinction between the disciplines seeking opportunities for the inclusion of rigorously designed architectural elements.

Architecture and Landscape

In some projects the landscape and the architecture form an equal balance with each telling its own complimentary story. This is perhaps the most difficult condition to realize and maintain. This balanced approach can be found in many houses and garden traditions, the design approach of Frank Lloyd Wright, the design of traditional Japanese houses and many other examples. This design approach invites reciprocity and the development of the counter balancing dualities, with each architectural move countered by an equally strong gesture in the landscape until one questions if the garden is an extension the house or if the house is a feature of the garden.

The composition is usually a smooth sequence that flows from garden space to building room as well as garden to garden and room to room. The transition from building to landscape is highly permeable resenting a wide variety of opportunities to pass from inside to out.