| In contemporary landscape architecture there is a creative crisis resulting in the absence of meaning in our designed landscapes. This crisis stems from the failure of landscape architects to explore the meaning of a situation through design. Contributing to the absence of meaning, is the disparate relationship between art and nature in contemporary landscape architecture. In light of this art/nature split it is difficult to expect our landscapes to possess and communicate the meaning of their specific context. Contemporary landscape architecture must resolve the crisis in such a way that landscape design makes the meaning of the situation accessible to the everyday spectator.;This project addresses the return of meaning to our landscapes via a theory grounded in hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is a way of thinking based on interpretation and understanding of situations and circumstances. It recognizes the landscape as a text open to interpretation and innovation, and gives strength and validity to subjects, such as the meaning of a situation, which are not completely definable by positivist scientific theory. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
