Welcome to blog number two 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 line, right place”. Whether you are talking literature, maps, graphs, roads or Pythagoras’ theorem there’s no mistaking the importance of the humble line. The line is one of the simplest of all forms and yet forms the basis for almost everything we see.
In a design sense lines cannot be overvalued. Consideration of how to use lines within a landscape design is often the difference between the success and failure of a space from both aesthetic and functional perspectives. With projects, very often being architecturally driven, landscape is regularly used as tool in connecting building to setting but in this way usually has to work hard to balance the requests of client, architecture, planner and place. Reflecting or contrasting the lines found throughout both building and wider site can be an important part of achieving this.
Lines can be used to organise, separate, guide the eye, create movement, add texture and mirror. Any combination of these therefore may be helpful in creating a whole design which meets the competing needs of the many individuals invested in it.
Lines can also be used to disguise or reflect functional elements of a design. Well thought out plans will design in or design out practicalities rather than compromising on them. In this way, they can be either used as a feature or cleverly concealed within the overall masterplan.
Taking this one step further, the concept for one paragraph 79 (previously paragraph 55) project we are working on was for the building to have an exceptional ability to blend with the surrounding woodland. Vertical lines here were important throughout both the landscape and architecture in allowing the building to become a part of its setting. The resulting home here, will look both subtle and striking.
The way lines are used within designs is often a driver for the character and emotion of a site, it informs the way a space is used and creates connectivity. So next time you wander through a space, consider the many lines both natural and designed and their connection with both each other and with your experience of that place. You might just be surprised by the way your perspective is transformed.
See our earlier blog Right plant, Right place here.
Photo creditPhoto by James Forbes