Subject coordinator: Associate Professor Andrew Saniga
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This subject provides a critical examination of landscape architecture as a discipline that has shaped public and private landscapes through time. Philosophies and theories relating to landscape design and associated professions are discussed in terms of the evolution of landscape architecture on the international scene. The history of landscape architecture in Australia is contextualised and the Australian contemporary landscape is considered as a product of its colonial and twentieth century cultural contexts.
Students explore these ideas through biographical research and through analytical drawing. The major assignment is a collection of five case studies, determined by thematic or by a designed landscape. In the main, students devise the structure of their analyses, choosing themes or sites that are aligned with their own interests. They often select places they have visited or intend on visiting in the near future. In the process of tracing images (plans, photographs, and other visual material) they become immersed in images’ content, finding ways to further express the design qualities of form, materiality and arrangement in illustrative drawings, diagrams and by way of annotation.