History and Theory of Landscape Architecture (BARC0114)

You will explore the critical and theoretical discourses from landscape, architecture, and urbanism that engage with the design, planning and production of cities. These will include the relationship of cities with the countryside and wilderness.

The module has an emphasis on landscape architecture, architecture, and urbanism theory, while aiming to open up interdisciplinary dialogues across design, philosophy, sociology, geography, history and anthropology discourses.

You will deal with a range of theories concerned with the meaning of landscapes and landscape architecture in society. These are contemporary in their importance and are broadly concerned with the desire to give landscape architecture a more secure grounding in modern thought.

From a technical and instrumental view, you will find these challenging and have the opportunity to seek the deeper potential of design and making. You will then address historical influences and topics through the lens of contemporary practice.

Teaching is via lectures and structured seminar/problem groups. Lectures follow a chronological and/or history that situates the development of landscape in the ideas, theories, and structures of feeling in space and time.

The module aims are to:

introduce the diverse contexts of contemporary and historic practices of landscape architecture
	provide an introduction to the theoretical and historical issues embedded in the production of landscape architecture and how critical enquiry of these issues can enrich the position of landscape architecture in contemporary culture
	support your development of a critical position and project narratives in relation to the history and practice of landscape architecture
hone knowledge of the theoretical and historical issues that are embedded in the production of landscape architecture
understand how a critical enquiry into theoretical and historical issues is directly linked to the practice of landscape architecture in contemporary culture