Mossop, Elizabeth. “Landscapes of Infrastructure”. Landscape Urbanism Reader. Ed. Charles Waldheim. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. 2006. 164-177. Print.
In her article “Landscapes of Infrastructure”, Mossop explicates her idea of the connection between landscape and infrastructure proposing a novel approach to the process of designing landscapes. Mossop’s argument centres on the premise that when designers use an integrated approach they are better able to create sites which are beneficial to the urban settings. Her argument is based on examples which show the different ways in which infrastructure has been incorporated into the urban foundation and structure. Mossop uses examples from different urban cities in the world including North America, Asia, Europe and Australia to argue her position. Each of the examples explain the extent to which infrastructure has been incorporated into the designing process of the urban setting in question. She asserts that “If we think of landscape as an infrastructure which underlies other urban systems, rather than equating it with nature or ecology we have a much more workable conceptual framework for designing urban systems.” (176)
Beardsley, John. “Kiss Nature Goodbye: Marketing the Great Outdoors” Harvard Design Magazine. 10(2000): 1-6. Print
In his essay “Kiss Nature Goodbye: Marketing the Great Outdoors” Beardsley tackles the issue and impact of created artificial nature of our psyche and offers the most precise advice for efficient ecological design. Using the Underwater World at the Mall of America, Sea World and Rainforst Café as examples, Beardsley mocks that these are the best places “to experience our confusion about nature and to begin to understand what we ought to do about it.” (3). Giving an amusing account for the history of the Rainforest Café, Beardsley explains how the Rainforst Café concept, “the brainchild of Steven Schussler” was a “wish to give these pets a cageless environment”, which he thinks is great except that most of the animals are fake” (3). He proposes “We need to hold out for healthy ecosystems in the city and the suburbs; we need to insist that culture—however much it might flirt with simulation retain a focus on the real world, its genuine problems and possibilities” (6)
Berger, Alan. Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007. Print
In his essay ‘Drosscope’, Berger discusses the issue of abandoned spaces or “waster landscape” which have been lying useless due to the decline of industrialization. Berger argues that “Adaptively reusing this waster landscape figures to be one of the twenty-first century’s great infrastructural design challenges. This essay chronicles this condition and suggests that those with an understanding of both landscape and urbanization will be best positioned to act on these sites in the future” (p199). Berger asserts that reuse of these wastelands is important since he believes that many such abandoned sites such as the Brooklyn Bridge Park have historical value. Considering these wastelands to be a future challenge to the design infrastructure community, Berger asserts that designers should integrate such land into future projects. He argues that landscape and urbanization go hand in hand which is why the waste land use is necessary for future landscape designers in the current urban environment.
Abbott, Mick. “Designing Wilderness as a Phenomenological Landscape: Design-directed Research within the Context of New Zealand’s Conservation Estate”, PhD Thesis, New Zealand: Lincoln University, 2008. Print.
In his thesis “Designing Wilderness as a Phenomenological Landscape: Design-directed Research within the Context of New Zealand’s Conservation Estate”, Mick Abbott tries to converge wilderness and landscape architecture. With conservation at the core, New Zealand’s wilderness is discussed as the untouched. Abbott argues New Zealand’s wilderness when interpreted with landscape may actually help conservation and allow for ecological and cultural productivity. Abbott’s thesis provides a novel view of the scope of design directed methods which can be used in designing landscape architecture. Summing up his thesis, Abbott explains that his research, “a forward-looking orientation of the issue brings out the creative opportunity in how the conservation estate and wilderness might be engaged. It also shifts the framing of the relevant issues from investigating how the conservation estate and wilderness might be organised and managed to a question of how, as landscapes rich in cultural possibility, it might be practised” (344).