Operative Landscapes

Book excerpt: There are infinite ways to build a community, yet the defining feature of any community is characteristically the landscape. Whether it is a park, a river corridor, community gardens, a plaza or a streetscape, the public spaces where people interact provide a shared sense of ownership, and the qualities of these spaces influence how the communities evolve. In a systematic overview, following the workflow sequence of open space projects, the book explores the various types and levels of intervention: from masterplanning to guerilla gardening and from land reclamation to building in existing fabric. Case studies mostly from North America, Europe and Asia accompany the introductory essays. The emphasis is on strategies of interaction between landscape projects, building development and urban planning, resulting in neighborhoods and city quarters that offer a higher quality of life. Beyond trendy theories on landscape urbanism or landscape infrastructure, this book offers an unideological view on the pragmatic potentials of landscape design for enhancing the built environment.