Donald W. Meining ,
”Environment sustains us as creatures; landscape displays us as cultures.”

The relationship between architecture and landscape might be imagined over and over again,in such a way that each is defined less as a quantifiable object and more as an idea,a way of seeing,act of making,and way of engaging culture and society.The course's information and projects collected here offer many interpretations and possibilities for this relationship,with the commom assumption that it should be considered at every stage in the design process,at every negociation between realms of thought,and wherever culture and place are to be incorporated with understanding and meaning.This course is based in a belief that the landscape/architecture relationship is at the center of all the designed environment and will be conducted in both seminar and studio format. The seminar will cover select theoretical issues that have informed the planning, design, management and change of landscapes. Landscape as a cultural representation could been presented as a period, as a new aesthetics, a theory, a philosophy, a new epistemology (by Lyotard), a ”structure of feeling”(borrowing Raymond William’s expression), a “regime of signification”(by Lash), a dominant in the cultural logic of late capitalism(by Jameson), or its fragmented consciousness(by Harvey).As an activity of cultural practice, landscape indeed represents an ongoing transformation of culture. It should be approached modestly, part by empirical part. Therefore, theory here will be defined as a set of principles, a conceptual framework or an explanatory scheme upon which practice is based, maintained or altered. Lectures will explore some select works of landscape architecture as well as theoretical shifts within the discipline rooted in history/precedent, aesthetics, perception, culture/ ideology, competing theories of nature, design process theories, and emergent theories from changing scientific conceptual frameworks. Seminar meetings will be devoted to the introduction of topics, and the discussion of ideas. Besides, the studio portion of the course will examine competing theories in the design of particular landscape or places. Studios will be the site and time for individual and team board critiques, process reviews, group discussions and presentations. Supplemental or in lieu meetings, and field trips may be scheduled throughout the semester. Dates for such meetings will be announced in advance to allow for student scheduling.