Landscape Design

In developing the landscape concept of my design, I have again come to the question of how the building and landscape interact.

Conceptually, the building and the greater landscape exist on a sort of continuum along the experiential trails that run through the site. The building represents the more structured, formal kind of learning environment, while the landscape represents a looser, more discovery-based kind of learning environment. But what lies between?

This is where the idea of interpretive gardens comes into play. The interpretive garden lies between the building and the greater landscape, and is structured to provide a certain learning experience, while beginning to introduce students to the language and materials of their natural world.

Each of these gardens has its own lesson, language, and form. The Forest’s garden is a raingarden, which dramatically collects runoff from the building into a retention pond, which in turn connects to the constructed wetland in the forested habitat of the site.

The Oak Savanna’s garden is more anthropological in nature,  expressing the relationship between Native Americans and disturbance regimes (by fire) that made savanna habitats viable for other species.

The Prairie garden is a display of biodiversity. To many, prairies seem to merely be “empty land,” as devoid of value as they are seemingly devoid of structure. This, of course, is far from the truth. This garden will showcase the many and varied species that thrive in a native prairie; as students learn from this garden, they can begin to see the diversity of the prairie landscape beyond.

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