1. Write a note on a famous Landscape architect.

(20 marks)
ANSWER:
Martha Schwartz, born 1950, is an American landscape architect.
Her background is in the fine arts as well as landscape architecture, and her projects
range from private to urban scale.
She studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and graduated from the
University of Michigan.
Schwartz currently has firms in Cambridge, Massachusetts and London.
She was married to landscape architect Peter Walker (architect).
Having had over 30 years of experience as a landscape architect and artist, she has
received a number of highly regarded awards.
Projects:
The Bagel garden-Cambridge,Massachusetts-1979
The Stella garden-Pennsylvania-1980
Whitehead Institute splice garden-Cambridge,Massachusetts-1986
Turf parterre garden-New York City-1988
Becton Dickinson-San Jose,California-1990
Snoopys garden-Ito Japan-1991
World Cup-Various locations in USA-1994
Baltimore Inner harbor( competition)-baltimore-1995
Power Lines-Gremany-1999
Exchange Square-Manchester UK-2000
Crawford museum-Ohio-2001
Wakefield-London UK-2002
Doha Corniche-Qatar,2003
Schwartz style includes
Bright colours.
Mocking humour or visual sarcasm.
Unbridled imagination.
Unusual materials.
A limited range of plants.
Surreal scaling of objects.
Design Philosophy:
Introduction of a conceptual or psychic element as a core of her design philosophy.
i.e A single idea based either on the sites history, its context and its intended use was
extrapolated to inform every aspect of the design.
Most of her works are seeking an honest response to what she perceives in the
outdoor environment.
Schwartz has devised a design vocabulary which was literal, visual and symbolic. i.e
based on what she sees as the need and aspiration of human being rather than a
vague concept of nature.
Setting apart from this, as a practicing landscape architect her works have
represented places of utilitarian value and are known to be delightful to people.
According to her the visual component will always dominate first impressions of a
landscape design. She created dramatic impact through the use of unexpected
CLASS NOTES: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
th
5 Semester A Section

(c) Smitha Navda,BMSCE,2013

MODULE 1: A NOTE ON FAMOUS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS.

CLASS NOTES: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

th
5 Semester A Section

(c) Smitha Navda,BMSCE,2013

unusual and sometimes in congruous element which is held in a rigorous formal

design.
Period: Her early solo works could be described as Modernist. Later works such as
Red Bull hanger-Austria-2002 are more exuberant, personal, witty and colorful.
Project:
Whitehead Institute splice garden-Cambridge, Massachusetts-1986
Description:
25 x35 (7.6mx10.7m) Light-weight roof garden capturing the spirit of
experimentation for the biomedical research institute which specializes in genetic
research and gene splicing.
The site was a lifeless rooftop courtyard atop a nine-story office building designed by
Boston architects Goody Clancy Associates.
Its dreary, tiled roof surface and high surrounding walls conspired to create a dark,
inhospitable space, overlooked by both a classroom and a faculty lounge.
The lounge offered access to the courtyard, making it a potential place to eat lunch.
Constrains faced by the landscape architect:
Structure was not strong enough for soil, so there was no opportunity for plant
growth.
There was no water supply; no money was allocated to maintain a garden or its
structure.
Architects interpretation of the space:
It was about the idea of a garden and about what one expects from a garden- quick
cheap and green.
The Response:
The garden was an angry response to the idea of green without wanting to spend
money.
Artificial material and her concept methodology are intended to reveal some hidden
truths of the place rather than it being a pretty picture: All the plants were plastic.
Conceptual realization: If garden was representation of nature. This garden was a re
representation of nature: It didnt weigh anything; it makes no demands and did not
involve having to keep things alive.
The garden is also a cautionary tale related to the work carried out by the institute
and specifically the dangers inherent in gene splicing: the possibility if creating a
monster. So in a sense the garden is a monster.
The resulting garden juxtaposes a French topiary garden and an austere Japanese
Zen garden along a "splice" line. It is a joining together, like Siamese twins, of
gardens from different cultures.
Mutated versions of familiar landscape and garden elements are often used in her
works. Ex: Topiary of French garden was represented as a rock in the Zen garden.
The colour green was seen as emotionally evocative, yet capable of playing a
valuable role in the creation of a strong sense of imposed order on site.
Sense of humour or visual sarcasm-this project will inspire at least a smile if not a
hearty laugh.
Material realization: The intention was to create an environment that can be
enjoyed with no awareness whatsoever of the symbolic scheme that underlines it.
A balance co existence between these twin readings of a single design is difficult but
is achieved in this project.

Learning's from the style:

To question where the teachings and the things happening around us are fundamentally
right?
To value traditions and ecology and not to ape.

To develop an original style that is dramatic, evocative and is intended to reveal some
hidden truths of a place rather than simply existing as an imitation of nature.

(c) Smitha Navda,BMSCE,2013

*Images of this project are in the pdf attached.

CLASS NOTES: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

th
5 Semester A Section