Florent Lévêque

Summary

This module will focus on landscape in the city and will aim to be an initiation, an open door to the design of space through landscape perspective.

It aims to give future architects and urban planners the keys to understanding what landscape is, how landscape designers work and what matters to them, in order to enable these students to subsequently interact better with landscape designers.

Due to the importance of this theme in current debates (climate change, more comfortable city, change of view on the environment...), due to the architect’s position regarding to landscape designer, due to the potential that landscape principles can bring to architecture or urban planning, or whether due to a simple desire of curiosity, the students will get through this introduction, the simple basis and understandable principles of what the design of space by plants consists of, what a plant is, what it likes or does not like, what it brings as eco-systemic qualities or just pure aesthetic etc...

From a Western perspective, what do we call landscape and who are its most important thinkers?

How, when and why did the themes of the city and nature gradually begin to interact with each other?

What are the basic elements of the landscape, its material which makes up the palette of its possibilities?

Objective

This class is not a complete course on the ancient and contemporary history of landscape but aims to present some important figures of landscape from the 18th century to the present day ; then some crucial projects with understandable methods and tools; at last, a simple practical application in a landscape project called “2008-Tempelhofer feld” :

it’s 2008 and Berlin Tempelhof Airport is closing; it is decided to turn it into an urban park

the students project themselves in this perspective and must plan a park on the airport site

An “urban and open park” is the main program ; it can includes small other uses if justified.