this post sponsored by montreal tourism board

This is a scene of the Botanical Gardens in Montreal, which we visited a few years ago.

Landscape architecture is still greatly underappreciated and misunderstood, particularly by building architects. I have often taken landscape design for granted, as if it something that usually comes after the planning of the building. A good landscape architect has the paradoxical challenge of creating defined spaces on a field of infinity. I merely have to draw some walls and a door in order to define a space. Whether it creates a good experience for the user is a claim that I can defend if I have followed a few simple principles. The landscape architect has a wider range of tools, but the quality of space is always in a state of flux and transition. The user may not be aware of the coercive techniques employed by the landscaper. A path may by framed by two trees in such a way that the gaze is subconsciously diverted. The landscape architect has the capacity, under some circumstances, to create an artificial landscape purely from scratch, like Central Park. Good landscape planning can feel so natural that we can forget that someone put a lot of thought into making it feel unplanned.