Landscape Matters Issue 4 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 7
and being in the moment is definitely good for us. If not GoatMan, then perhaps the pandemic has taught us something
about relinquishing control and the true value of empathy, community and nature connection?
Like goats, we live in complex social groups, we are instinctively
collaborative, we all thrive on kindness and affection
Each landscape, constructed or ‘natural’, is unique to itself
and landscape architects – students and practitioners alike
must become immersed in the true feeling of the earth, the
myths, the legends, the echoes, the ghosts, the soul and spirit
of the place in order to appreciate and respond to that which
makes it distinctive. Landscapes hold memories and make
memories. GoogleEarth and the consumer culture are severing
our sensory connection with this profound felt reality and our
willingness and ability to create new stories that inspire rich
new experiences is becoming seriously threatened. We are animals, not computers, and we should intentionally make meaningful places for the enjoyment, enrichment and celebration of
living (and dying); this must be fundamental to the teaching,
learning and practice of landscape architecture. Our collective
intention should therefore be a determined, imaginative and
ethical process of critical enquiry, experimentation, shared
learning, creativity, transformation and reflection. Openness
and open-mindedness should be at the heart of the matter,
along with a sincere, enthusiastic and committed rediscovery
of the pencil, charcoal, collage and hand- made models. We
don’t know what the future holds but one without these essential tools will seriously diminish the quality of our craft.
Like goats, we live in complex social groups, we are instinctively collaborative, we all thrive on kindness and affection,
some of us have excellent memories, others are superb communicators and others still are experts at getting to the hard
to reach places for sustenance. And who can ignore the gaze
of a goat? Perhaps we need to reclaim the goat within and
rediscover our anima loci.
Dare you say ‘bah humbug’ to that, after all,
Landscape Matters doesn’t it?
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