Ecology and Art
21st January 2024
In preparation for an introductory local walk for the Appraising Landscapes module, these two stunning images were offered as demonstrating a link between art and science or, in the case of landscape architecture, art and ecology.
The first is a collection of plant pollen grains seen under a scanning electron microscope and the second a thin slice of granitic rock seen in a polarising microscope. Amazing pictures – inspiring visually but also confirming that knowledge of plants and rocks is important to designing landscapes. These are things studied in the module.
Ecology should be seen as including human ecology, and the concern is clearly with applied ecology. The importance of art arises out of the fundamental fine art tradition of landscape architecture, and it establishes the central significance of ideas and meaning; again the concern is with application. With these thoughts, the class went on a short walkabout around the St Paul’s district of Cheltenham, observing interesting features of the urban landscape: the architectural and social context, the parking and litter problems, the advantages of green spaces, the treescape, the former Honeybourne railway line now a footpath, Pittville Park and how Geoffrey Jellicoe was inspired to design a Romantic Classical landscape there. We noticed who were using the park: joggers, dog walkers, fishers, students(!) and wildlife (crows, bluetits, robins and squirrels). And at the lake edge we chatted to a park user about the names she had given the six swans living there!
