Constructing An Affordance-based Conceptual Framework For Landscape Architecture

This study is designed to explore the potential of affordance theory to provide a conceptual framework for landscape architecture. Affordance theory is proposed by the perceptual psychologist James J. Gibson in 1960s. Affordances are relational and functionally significant properties or features of the environment taken with respect to a particular organism. Since its introduction to the field of design by Donald A. Norman in 1988, the theory has been widely explored for its contributions for holistic approaches in design. It is also interpreted and applied in various other disciplines. Even though the importance of the theory in landscape architecture is appreciated by some authors in the field, there are no significant efforts to comprehensively explore its significance. With the recognition of this gap, this study attempts to first, conceptually investigate the theory's implications and applications for and in landscape theory and practice, based on a working hypothesis that affordance theory can provide landscape architecture with a consistent conceptual framework that can integrate all its relevant elements and concerns into a coherent whole. The paper reviews the current theory of landscape architecture with the aim of identifying the major concerns in landscape architecture as elements of the conceptual framework that can be used to undertake comparative analysis of the fundamental issues shared by both theories. Building on affordance-based frameworks and tools proposed in other design disciplines, the paper proposes a similar conceptual framework for landscape architecture. It further develops landscape design and evaluation tools on the bases of earlier works by the current author as well as other researchers. Then, the practical application of one of the tools proposed to aid in choosing preferred design concepts and to evaluating designed landscapes, Landscape-Affordance Structure Matrix (LS-ASM), is tested by evaluating two neighborhood open-spaces in Lin'an City, P. R. China. The study then concludes with the emphasis that even though affordance theory can be used as a conceptual foundation in addressing many fundamental issues in landscape architecture to ensure sustainable design, there are a number of aspects that need to be sufficiently explored, discussed, and further refined for a broader practical application in the field.