Amir Mueller Landscape Architects Ltd.Landscape Architecture Environmental Planning Urban Design

What I Talk About When I Talk About Landscape

“The concept of “another”, man-made nature, thus seems a fusion of two elements: the design inherent in nature and the improvements of nature which are interpreted as the effects brought about by human art in fulfillment of the design. ”

John Rennie Short: Imagined Country: Society, Culture and Environment 1991.

“The wilderness is ... at one extreme, the place of God’s creation; … on the other, a place whose transformation by human actions allows the possibilities of redemption.”

Clarence J. Glacken: “Changing Ideas of the Habitable World” Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth. 1956

Garrett Hardin: “The Tragedy of the commons”. Science 1968

“A technical solution may be defined as one that requires a change only in the techniques of the natural sciences, demanding little or no change in human values or ideas of morality.”

William E. Odum: “Environmental Degradation and the Tyranny of Small Decisions” BioScience 1982 .

“Much of the current confusion and distress surrounding environmental issues can be traced todecisions that were never consciously made, but simply resulted from a series of small decisions..”

Simon Schama: Landscape and Memory 1995.

“… a way of looking; of rediscovering what we have, but which somehow eludes our recognition and our appreciation. Instead of being yet another explanation of what we have lost, it is an explanation of what we may yet find”

William Haddon Jr.: “On the Escape of Tigres, an Ecologic Note”American Journal of Public Health 1970

“(some people view) harmful interactions between man and his environment as problems requiring reforming imperfect man rather than suitably modifying his environment.”

Henry Louis Mancken

“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong”.

Robert J. Bennett. “Administrative Systems and Economic Spaces”.Journal of Regional Studies 1997

“… increased emphasis on environmental responses and sustainability at a local level, create a major need to manage spillovers and environmental interactions across several different administrative units.”

Gillian Rose. Feminism and Geography:The limits of geographical Knowledge. 1993

“ . . . Spatial structure was seen not merely as an arena in which social life unfolds but as a medium through which social life is produced and reproduced.”

There is urgency in mitigating between cultural and technological advancement and serving the need for an undefiled environment. Therefore, incorporating environmental, social, and economic responsibility into the design process is vital to viable landscape architecture design.

Our designs reflect the belief that successful landscape architecture is founded on the understanding of the ways in which people interact with the environment. We work at the interface between culture and environment in order to create durable and expansive landscapes.

We specialize in integrating ecological thinking and understanding of natural processes into the design process. Considerable effort is put to understand the ways in which people interact with the environment. That understanding is then used as the main input for the design work.

Landscape Restoration of the Northern Gas line 2009

Verizland Garden – Herzeliya 2008First Prize – Design Competition 2002

Design Diagram

Conceptual Landscape Plan

Existing conditions

Topography

Trees

Built Elements

Design

Design Objectives

• Restoring the garden for public use• Preserving the garden’s character• Creating a contemporary Garden

for Changing uses• Allow for multiple uses and age

groups

Preliminary Landscape Plan

Garden Structure

Built Elements

Existing Trees

Spaces

Paths

Removed Trees

New Planting

Old Design New Design

Industrial Park – Nazareth 2013

Urban Plaza - Rehovot 2013

Positivistic Analysis for Progressive Landscape Planning:

A Methodology for Generating Socially-Based Future Alternatives

Landscape planning Studio – 2006-2008

Faculty Of Architecture and Town PlanningTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology

Most landscapes exist at the

interface between the social

pressure for conservation and the

demand for development due to

economic growth.

The landscape we experience is a

product of planning and decision

making that shape it over time.

Therefore, separating human from

natural influences is arbitrary.

The Spatial Dilemma focuses on

identifying key processes in the

region that can form the base for

planning.

While the spatial distribution of

land uses shapes the landscape

and influences the way in which

we experience it, decisions about

which areas to conserve and

which areas to develop are the

most important process in

landscape planning.

Prevalent Approaches

All of these solutions result in short term plans that focus on minor issues that are in agreement

Most contemporary landscape planning is aimed at

balancing conflicting regional interests in order to foster

development based on the specific needs of

communities in the region.

Planers, who are consumed by the demand to identify

needs and wants in the region, are expected to develop

a plan that is sensitive to social process.

Data based planning separates the community from the

solution.

Community based planning provides social sensitivity

and increases community awareness to its needs.

Planning for ObjectivityIt is important to generate objective and viable future

alternatives in order to foster region specific

development while conserving valuable – both natural

and cultural – resources.

Regional future alternatives require some basic spatial

statistic and physical data which can be found at most

planning agencies and can easily be converted to GIS.

Other socio-economic knowledge about the region can

be gleaned from round-table discussions with major

stake holders.

Plan objectives should be formulated as a response to

regional indicators that reflect failure in the way in which

a region functions.

Progressive Landscape Planning responds to planning and market failure and leads to the development of socially-based

alternatives

Process Models

Evaluation Models

Sensitivity Models

DataObjectivesBoundary

N=50N

Future Alternatives

Alternative Evaluation

Alternative Formulation

Choosing Alternative

Converging Selection N=10

Methodology Structure

Input

Process

Output

Focuses strictly on regional issues to formulate future alternatives that are region specific

Existing Condition Analysis:

Positivistic analysis of the study area

Define the environmental and socio-economic

principles by which the region functions

Defining the Plan’s Objectives:

Establishes a regional ethic

Defines the ethic roles under which the

regional strategy is formulated.

Boundary Definition:

Describes a specific area with a specific

solution

Defines the regional principles under which

future alternatives are developed

Progressive Planning

Progressive PlanningAnalyze the relationship and the

degree in which regional issues

overlap with

municipal, district, and other

administrative boundaries

Boundaries serve to define

unique and site specific solutions

to universal issues

By comparing the degree in which

the plan’s objectives are

achieved, it is possible to

compare future alternatives with

different boundaries.

This leads to spatially different but core-issue similar future alternatives that are site specific

Evaluation Analysis – Strengthening existing towns

At the landscape plan, boundaries have a cardinal impact on the scale and scope of different future alternatives.

Statutory boundaries are formulated due to administrative decisions that do not adequately represent regional processes.

Planning areas are commonly defined by administrative decisions that do not reflect statutory boundaries.

The study area is defined by existing condition analysis (as defined in the spatial dilemma above) and represents regional processes well.

Future alternatives, therefore, are defined by their specific boundaries and represent regional solutions.

Bennett 1996

Variability in Regional Definition

The following slides illustrate the process of Progressive Landscape Planning for generating of socially-based future

alternatives

Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area:Existing conditions

Landscape Planning Studio 2007

Land-use

Existing Conditions AnalysisEmphasis on Open Space and Development Pressure

• Urban Sprawl and lack of

community identity

• Increased pressure on

remaining open space

• Open space is not available

to the public.

Construction and Open Space

Problem: Vulnerable to development

Transportation & EmploymentProblem: Spatial inequality in employment opportunities

Socio-Economic Level

Problem: Strong centers vs. week periphery

• Tel Aviv as main

employment center

• Increased commuting into

Tel Aviv

• Lack in public

transportation service

• High variability in Socio-

economic level among

entities in the region

Density – Western edge of region is densely built. Need to increase density and strengthen population along eastern edge

Employment – Due to the high concentration of business in Tel Aviv there is Untapped potential for economic development at eastern edge

Open Space - Develop open space for sports and recreation based on location and accessibility

Accessibility – improve accessibility within plan boundary to improve access to different centers

Existing Conditions AnalysisEmphasis on Transportation and accessibility

• Understanding the region’s importance at the national level• Distinguish between core and periphery• Relationship to Tel Aviv metropolitan Area

Alternative I – acceptance of most national master plans with locally specific solutions

Alternative II – reaction to existing national and regional master plans. Increased development as a means of controlling the allocation of resources

Alternative Futures

Alternative III –centralization with hyper-accessibility

Alternative II –decentralization with local solutions

Alternative I –local adaptation with affiliation to the metropolitan center

Hierarchy of systems (Solutions for accessibility and transportation)

• Regional super structures, regional transportation• Regional systems of infrastructure, transportation and open space• Local systems of public open spaces and public services

Alternative Futures

Planning within a set of fixed objectives and programmatic constraints limits local development

The spatial difference between alternatives reflects local needs and emphasis

Spatial variability emphasizes divergence of solutions

Core areas provide a spatial anchor that adequately represent spatial issues

Despite common core areas, variability stems form the difference in boundary definition

Future alternatives arise from a highly localized methodology as an integral part of the planning process

Take-Aways

Sensitivity Analysis – Attracting new populations to the region while empowering existing communities

Most landscape plans are implemented

over time. Therefore, there is a large

degree of uncertainty at the time they

are conceived.

By providing localized and socially

relevant solutions, Progressive Planning

minimizes uncertainty while maximizes

flexibility.

This methodology is scalable and can

be applied to small scale, limited scope

projects as well as to large landscape

plans.

Sensitivity Model

Evaluation Model

Summary

Amir Mueller Landscape Architects Ltd.Landscape Architecture Environmental Planning Urban Design

What I Talk About When I Talk About Landscape