AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO LANDSCAPE DESIGN

There is a special opportunity when developing the transitions between spaces, namely door and gateways.

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The Rite of Passage though differing spaces is transitional, and can be marked by a variety of threshold materials with which we build, providing subtle, experiential, multi-layered moments. 

 

Moving between places is a physical act; an intent to move from point A to point B -

no big deal right, we do it hundreds of times a day.  We cross thresholds in each act.  Your sub-conscious tracks these changes and with it your perception and senses accommodate these transitions.  

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Consider, for a moment, just how abrupt a typical, daily transition can be, if not designed with the above considerations in mind:

Office cubicle to elevator to parking garage to car to road to garage to kitchen; slam, bam, thank you madam.  Or, walking directly into a living room from a outdoor porch.  

 

Transition and nuance of design can soften these abrupt changes.  A foyer, a window along the way, a seating alcove, any design mechanism you can come up with is better than such abrupt change.  Just because our psyche can keep up doesn't mean that it is fully prepared for the next place we are entering. 

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As designers we celebrate this act through structure and ornament.  Tweaking ones perception through nuance of material handling can also heighten the experience of Passage.

 

And, at the end of the day, isn't that what its all about?  Door and Gateways as Threshold are perhaps as significant as are the places and spaces they connect.

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