Design thinking- allocating a landscape architect to design approaches

 Geometry- Fredrick Law Olmstead

North Carolina's Biltmore Estate- Whether it is because it was the 19th century style or his personal preference there is no doubt, Fredrick showcased a formal style in his gardens specifically through the use of geometry.

Archetype- Charles Jenkins 

Archetype, meaning the original model from which something is built. His garden of cosmic speculation includes a mimick of our biological systems of their natural form. 

Narrative- Alexandre Grivko 

The garden of the future; Les Jardins d'Etretat

Alexandre has revived the French actress's Madame Thébault garden. As homage to chapters in her life, he includes forms that replicate her style of acting such as distorted shapes to dramatise the theme of Alice in Wonderland, themes of experimental laboratory, which does not slot into a particular style of garden, but sets out to pioneer a new type of garden based on neo-futuristic ideas. Throughout the planting are emotive sculptures by the Spanish artist Samuel Salcedo – entitled Drops of Rain – which depict expressive faces and a range of moods that reflect her expressionism in her acting. Finally, topiary and plants are sculpted into wave shapes, whirlpools and vortices as homage to the surrounding landscape. 

Allegory- Vladimir Djurovic 

Gebran Tueni was a former journalist and politician who fought for independence in Beirut, Lebanon during the civil war, he was murdered in a car bomb. The memorial uses greenery to commemorate Tueni's life by utilising the landscape of the city to symbolise his life. Unusually it is not as static as normal memorials, instead inscribed at the bottom of his memoir is an oath he delivered shortly before his assassination uding granite bands, these are lit at night to symbolise the defiance of threats which leads to his ultimate death.

 

Symbolism- Ali Mardan Khan 

The garden designer behind the Taj Mahal gardens. 

One of the most fascinating facts about the Taj Mahal is that it is not only a symbol of eternal love, but it is also a representation of Islamic paradise as it is associated with the Last Judgement in Islam. The plans for the monument were made compared to the ‘Plain of Assembly’, which is the concept of the place of the Last Judgement. The Assembly Plain is a rectangular area surrounded on the right and left by two rows of angels, and below by three rows that can be seen as the boundaries of the gardens of the Taj Mahal. The throne of God, which is, according to Islam, carried by eight angels, is on the upper part. It is represented by an 8-pointed star that is closer to the octagon of the mausoleum. The central basin of the plain of the Assembly is near the place where the prophet is, who uses the scales to weigh the souls of the dead. The garden of the Taj Mahal consists of two long channels oriented along with the cardinal points. They form a cross. At the centre of the cross, the canals do not join, the centre being occupied by a square basin. The four channels symbolise the four rivers of Paradise as believed in Islam—namely the river of water, that of milk, that of wine, and that of honey. This description is found in sura 47, verse 15 of the Holy Koran. The central basin is a representation of the possibility for the deceased to refresh.

Metaphor- Lawrence Halprin

This new type of people’s park, where nature is abstracted with a geometric naturalism, was based on Halprin’s studies of the High Sierra’s spring cascades. Halprin saw these plaza spaces as theatre sets for choreographing human movement – and unlike being fountains solely for viewing, these were designed for interaction. The park in itself solves the site's complex grades through the powerful urban waterfall.

To some extent, the corten steel structures are a metaphor for a wider appreciation for natural, geological and hydrological features and are a bridge between urban areas and re integrating man kinds experience with this.