LANDSCAPE

What is landscape??!!!

“A picture representing a section

of natural,inland,scenar,as of
prairie ,woodland,mountains..
And expanse of natural scenery
seen by the eye in one view.”

-Websters dictionary
So creating ideal environment
for Man in nature
should be our GOAL
 But such an environment can never be
created whole; once created it could never
be maintained in static form. By its very
definition it must be dynamic and
expanding, changing as man’s requirements
change. It will never in all probability, be
achieved. But planning toward the creation
of this ideal environment must be
OUR GOAL
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
 Landscape architecture

-covers a huge spectrum achieving a balance

between the built and natural environments
-It requires a multidisciplinary approach involving
environmental science, art, ecology, and much
more, leading to extraordinary results: restoring
endangered wetlands, reducing hospital stays,
securing government and other buildings,
removing toxins from rainwater
 Landscape architecture
SCALE OF PROJECTS:
School and college campuses
Corporate and commercial grounds
Public gardens and arboreta
Historic preservation and restoration
Hotels, resorts, golf courses
Hospital and other facility sites
Interior landscapes
Land planning
Landscape art and earth sculpture
Monument grounds
Parks and recreation
Land reclamation and rehabilitation
Residential sites
Security design
Streetscapes and public spaces
Therapeutic gardens
Transportation corridors and facilities
Urban and suburban design
Water resources
 Landscape architecture
SCALE OF PROJECTS:
School and college campuses
Corporate and commercial grounds
Public gardens and arboreta
Historic preservation and restoration
Hotels, resorts, golf courses
Hospital and other facility sites
Interior landscapes
Land planning
Landscape art and earth sculpture
Monument grounds
Parks and recreation
Land reclamation and rehabilitation
Residential sites
Security design
Streetscapes and public spaces
Therapeutic gardens
Transportation corridors and facilities
Urban and suburban design
Water resources
UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP

MAN
&
NATURE
 Activity Change Impact
Gathering and sharing food Settling at one place for food Started utilizing nature
Discovered fire

Paleolithic age – Ref:pre historic world maps

 Activity Change Impact
Stone age Started storing food Cutting and taming of nature
Community life ands elf Started imitating nature started
sufficiency Religious feelings towards
Different advanced tools nature
Started spreading further

probable area of influence of Neanderthal man– ref: Hawkes

Jacquetta, Atlas OF Early Man
 Activity Change Impact
Taming animals First modern man Spread to new areas
Supportive tools progressing Developed crude techniques to
Hunter-gatherers toward the better life fight nature
Mode of behavior
Change from cave shelter to Culture improved
open space Travel to find new places
.

Spread of Homosapiens– ref: Hawkes Jacquetta, Atlas OF

Early Man
 Rustic life in river valleys with abundance of natural
resources- ref: Hawkes Jacquetta, Atlas OF Early Man

Activity Change Impact

Settlement near water sources Responding to seasonal Agriculture
for agriculture. changes. Channelizing courses of water
Channelization of water Standard sets of living Mud bricks
courses Community life. Started nurturing land for
Plowing of soil for plants. God as highest power good harvest
Use of ship

Activity
River valley -Fertile soil
Change in natural features
organized communities
Cotton and making of cloths
Domestic animals and pottery
became part of livelihood.
Rustic life in river valleys with abundance of natural
resources- ref: Hawkes Jacquetta, Atlas OF Early Man
Change Impact
Innovative activities Agriculture
Social and religious life Channelizing courses of water
Family participation Mud bricks
Symbolic system Started nurturing land for
good harvest
 Activity Change Impact
Egyptian civilization Physical expression of life Mining and cutting huge
after death stones
Mining started
Man engaged in religious Cutting forest on the river
Architectural & city
activity edge & filling marshy
planning activity
landscape for agriculture
Class system in community
Change of materials from
Light on the lifecycles of
raw to processes Strong geometric &
Man
calculus theories
Temples & religious
structures
Human labour

Nile valley civilization - Egyptian spread on the valleys

of Nile 3400 to 2000 BC.
Hawkes Jacquetta, Atlas OF Early Man
 Regions of different civilizations from 900 to 400 BC
Hawkes Jacquetta, Atlas OF Early Man

Activity Change Impact

Indus valley civilization Water - physical & symbolic Caste system evolved,
element communities multiplied
Great bath – social
architecture Evolved drainage system & Burning & cutting of
high technology forests in war
Use of bricks
Water conservation Properties destroyed
Study & socializing
Sense of being in community
Event – Mahabharata
Education, war commodity,
Aryans settled, started
deep religious rituals
agriculture
Different occupation pattern
Building palaces & city
Advanced tools used
 Agricultural practices over all the world 600-1 AD
Hawkes Jacquetta, atlas of early man

Activity Change Impact

Cotton & rice cultivation Beliefs on the nature Gods Man overpowering land
Ornaments & pottery Political boundaries Caste & religion
differentiation
Land ownership Strong cultural concepts
Religion influencing the way
Mining Money economy - coinage
of life
Battle for power - Wars
Over population
Agro industries
Deforestation
Trade & commerce
Construction of dams
Buddhism & Jainism
 The major trade routes, i.e. by sea and land 500 to 1400
AD Hawkes Jacquetta, atlas of early man

Activity Change Impact

Exploration of sea routes Molding of nature as per man’s Adopting nature
concept
New kingdoms formed Richness in natural resources lead
Conscious landscape design to political invasions
Engaged in business
Increase in living standards Mixing of flora & fauna
Iron industries
Spread of technology Settings and the merging built form
Value making from land
- uniqueness of cultural symbolism
Influence of new ideas & science
Temple architecture
Destruction of property & land
Cosmic forces, axis & geometry
Construction of bridges, resources
introduced
canals & dams
Variation in cultures, thoughts &
Indulging into different art
Chinese civilization philosophies
expressions
Mughal Empire Spiritualism started declining
Well organized Society Trained In
Classicism Fine Arts Like Music, Dance &
Paintings
Taxation
 Hawkes Jacquetta, atlas of early man

Activity Change Impact

British rule over India Pattern & discipline Change in land pattern
Colonization of trade Use of advanced Introduction of exotic
centers – Growth of cities equipments species of plant material
Crop rotation Organized plantation Deforestation
Extensive crop production Weakened Indian economy Soil erosion
Irrigation systems for Change in space concepts Over population
trading all over world
Loss of agricultural fields
Urbanization & Industrial
Pollution
growth
Enhancement of
infrastructure
Divide & rule policy
 Influence Of Industrial Revolution Starting In Europe
1753AD Hawkes Jacquetta, atlas of early man

Activity Change Impact

Industrial Revolution Change in agricultural Setback to nature
pattern
Machinery manufacturing Exploitation of resources
Modern living
Rapid urbanization Destruction of natural
Comprehensive urban wealth
Salt Industries
planning schemes for ease
Town, palace & garden
Railways of military use
changed into one whole
Mannerism & Renaissance Art & science gained new composition
momentum
Baroque Human scale in
architecture
Catholic church gained
prominence
Creation of Loire valley,
Versailles, Eiffel tower
 Activity Change Impact
Rapid urbanization, Man’s behavior and lifestyle Over population, growth of slum
modernization and middle class
Flying machinery, air crafts,
First world war communication medias Machine pollution
Revolution against British Nuclear power Major destruction of natural
in India wealth
Advancement in building
Second world war technology Climatic changes
Change in global politics High disparity in economical status Global trends and concerns
Green revolution (1988) Staring of automobile age Green revolution made drastic
changes, agricultural patterns ,
Computer revolution Awareness and action plans about
sociology and economy
(1990) degradation of environment
Environmental influence

•The “primitive” people seem to have enjoyed a close association

with nature, (probably too close for our present ideas of comfort)
literate man has erected as a dualism, in which “progress” is linked
with control over nature.

•In the process of evolution, from hunter-gatherer to agriculture he

started living as community.

•As he developed “intellectually”, the influence of nature was seen in

his “culture”. In Hindu culture, one can see the thought of respecting
and protecting nature, as it says, “it is healthier for man to regard the
planet less as a set of commodities for use and more as a community
of which he forms a part.”

•The nature influenced man in both positive and negative ways. Some
time it hampered the growth of human kind, and many time enhanced
it….Nature from early period inspire man to learn, to discover, to
grow, to raise…

•Now capable of destroying his own species many times over through
consciously contrived means of war, it suddenly becomes apparent
that his largely unconscious, and uncontrolled, exploitation of the
earth’s resources may render the planet unlivable.
Environmental Changes
Human modifications of the planetary habitat extend out into the atmosphere-to
the degree that the activities of man have altered and continue to alter the
composition of the atmosphere.
They extend also to the streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, to the extent that man
has altered these also. And they embrace the overall relationship of water, land
and air, as he has already transformed large areas of the earth surface-removing
forests, changing vegetation cover through cultivation, redirecting and damming
rivers, redistributing the metals and minerals, and so forth-and so changed the
complex relations of animal population and their surroundings and even the large
cycles of evaporation, transpiration and precipitation.
In modifying the environment for our own use, of the disruption of the
population of animals, plants, and so forth, with which the maintenance of our
own ecological cycle is still closely interwoven.
These all modifications resulted in collapse of complex ecosystems in the
nature. The nature of the crisis is such that no local measures can now, n
themselves, be wholly effective or sufficient unless they are considered within the
whole system. The problems like
Global climatic changes
Scarcity of food and drinking water
Degradation of resources
Population explosion
Endangered wildlife
are of main concern all over the world.
Climatic changes
•Industrial development resulted in release of green house gasses.

•These gases raised the global temperature.

•Rise in temperature melted glacial, and polar ice.

•Changed atmospheric conditions are responsible for

floods and drought.
MINING:
 MINING:
The process or industry of obtaining
minerals from a mine.
MINING RESULTS:

Loss of organic rich soil

Loss of wild life
Mining causes soil damage & destruction
Loss of flora
Underground water is also contaminated due
to seepage and infiltration of leached drainage.
Release of harmful trace element e.g., CO, Pb,
Cd etc. leads to the contamination of surface
water.
HOW TO REGENERATE??
-To regenerate the biodiversity of the mining
area it is very important to reclaim the land. -
-Reclamation is the processes of restoring the
land.
-Ecological restoration is the process of
assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that
has been degraded, damaged or destroyed.
LAND RESTORATION:
Restoration of Basalt Quarry,
Timba, Gujarat
by
Professor Prabhakar Bhagwat
Prof Prabhakar Bhagwat

-First landscape architect of India

-founder member of the
Landscape department at CEPT University
• Timba is located about 110 km south east of Ahmedabad, Gujarat India.
• Here the geological track forms the part of Pavagdh basalt deposits and has been in the
past several decades.
• A Completely barren basalt quarry up to depth of 15 to 20m was done on the site.
• The exhausted quarry tract is spread over an area of forty one hectares .
• The quarry operation has not only distributed the natural ecological environment but
also created large unused barren and degraded land.
• The vegetation was in poor condition because of the poor soil strata.
• The forty one hectares Basalt quarry land had deteriorated very badly
• Land owner decides to restore the site.
• The development project starts in 1975.
• A completely barren basalt quarry was restoration landscape design is done by
Professor Prabhakhar P Bhagwat over a period of eight years from 1977 to
1985
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND
• Detailed study of the quarry was carried out
• Analysis of the natural and manmade factors affecting
the ecosystem of quarry
• Technical issues such as the effect of microclimate,
topography, soil characteristics, hydrology & the
pattern of flora and fauna were considered.
• Factors leading to the degradation of the quarry were
identified.
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• SOIL
Make the soil rich in order to sustain further vegetation
cover
• GROUNDCOVER
The ground cover would help in covering the soil
moisture, rain water; keep the soil in summer months
and so help to plant growth
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• SOIL
Was collected from the roadsides of the neighboring
areas.
This soil contains the most indigenous plant varieties.
Rich with plant varieties.
The soil was spread all around the 41 hectares before the
rains.
With the first shower 40% of the land was covered with a
green carpet and by the second year, almost the entire
area.
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• PLANTS
At the same time a list of trees was made and seedlings
raised in the nursery at the site.
These trees were planted in the shallow pits
approximately 30cmx 30cm and available organic matter
was used to fill the pits.
The pits were watered for a very short duration in the
summer months.
Soil working and mulching was done to encourage
growth of plants.
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• PLANTS
By the third the growth was established and more or less
self sustainable.
Other plants grasses and shrubs, not originally planted
made their appearance in the third and fourth year.
By the eight year the process was entire complete and
was self sufficient in all respects.
Several of the trees had flowered and seeded.
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• WATER
Land contours are studied to divert rain water Shallow &
big depressions. The lake formed by rain water was
stoked with popular varieties of fish.
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• TODAY
 Today the entire area has become a natural
environment with several varieties of insects etc.
approximately 140 varieties of birds visit it every
year.
 Economically, the project has become viable with
grass and other minor products paying for its
maintenance and upkeep.
 Efforts to improve soil quality and introduction of
native plant communities attracted butterflies
followed by snakes and other fauna including
migratory birds..
DEGRADED QUARRY TO NATURE WOODLAND: STEPS
• Today the quarry has transformed in to a mature
woodland without any maintenance. The processes
involve commitment and patience as against natural
resources. The time involved is the time needed to
allow nature to recover itself.
Landscape architecture