Welcome to blog number four of our “Right Design, right place” blog series. A blog which aims to explore some key aspects of design in the context of landscape.
Today is “Right time, right place”.
This year is 100 years since start of the Bauhaus school back in 1919 and looking back over their legacy has got us to thinking about the impact of time on design.
When people are beginning to self-build a home or garden, often their starting point for design inspiration is to the world of design magazines, blogs and social media. These platforms can (and do) add significant value to the industry in supporting people to establish their preferences from their aversions and their essentials from their wish lists. Many of the better ones also serve as useful guidance for navigating the often complex, world of design.
However, in accessing information via the media alone, there is also danger. Many magazines and blogs often highlight, follow and some even set, the ever-changing design trends for the days, months and years ahead. Just as with clothing, art and music though, these trends often become outdated as quickly as they become fashionable.
The job of a designer, be it interior, architectural or landscape, is to filter the trend from the timeless…Is to be able to identify and design a space to maximise its potential from a spatial, functional and aesthetic perspective. Ultimately designing for trends rather than the character of the site itself is likely to shorten the lifespan of a design. And a shortened lifespan will have a knock-on effect on the often significant financial and time investment it takes to create a space.
When it comes to landscape, there are further pitfalls in designing for time. Landscapes, by their very nature are subject to weathering, softening and the growth of the natural world. Material choice in outdoor spaces can be even more significant to the long-term success of a project than internal spaces. A material like natural stone will weather, wear and soften over time, whilst a clean contemporary material like porcelain is unlikely to show significant change over a similar timespan. Consider now, a landscape with both these materials and how a unified scheme at its inception, may become incongruous over time. Landscape architects need to design not just for now but for the future.
This idea of ‘design for the future’ extends not just to the creative elements of a project but to the impact of that project on the natural world. Is it better to use a sustainably sourced timber which will have a lifespan of perhaps 15 years or should we specify a more hardwearing but perhaps (at source) less environmentally friendly material that will last a lifetime in situ? Do we consider shorter life span materials which are compostable and biodegradable over more hard-wearing ones that do not need replacing? The science to measure sustainability is complex and evolving but as professionals, it is fundamental to our role that we do our best to both understand it and make the most appropriate choices for the design.
Sustainability too needs to extend to the user. A client may commission the design of a space at a time point where they are, for example; a professional couple with a young family. Will the design of their outdoor space extend throughout the many cycles of their own and their children’s lives? The interaction between user and place will change over time and good design will flex and mature with that evolution.
Some design concepts, like Bauhaus have stood the test of time. They aren’t set architectural or artistic ideas but more a set of principles that aim to unify, create and transcend traditional design principles. They offer us a chance to reduce the superfluous and consider the translation of design into practice. ‘Right design, right time’ means helping our clients and our design teams, create spaces that, like Bauhaus, are examples of exemplary design both now and for future generations.
See our earlier blogs Right plant, Right place , Right Line Right Place and Right Light, Right Place.
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