Six articles on the theme of the didactic landscape

What is it about?

The six articles in this special issue discuss the didactic landscape as an artefact from broad spatial perspectives with a particular emphasis on the nineteenth century to the present. The collection originated with a group of design historians who have a common interest in exploring meaning in the design of institutional landscapes. The essays examine how the parks or gardens of institutions express and reinforce their function and agendas. By its very definition, an institution has power over the spaces it inhabits and expresses distinct messages to the users of those spaces – it is a didactic space. The six articles define and explore a typology of institutional gardens and designed landscapes, conceived and designed with agendas, explicit or implicit, to advise, educate, or moralise.

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Photo by Tessa Wilson on Unsplash

Photo by Tessa Wilson on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Scholarship on the designs of institutional spaces is chiefly centred on architecture and has overlooked the role of the garden or landscape in the functioning and experience of the institution.The six case studies from Japan, United Kingdom and the United States, focus on a range of public and private gardens instituted by governments, entrepreneurs, public bodies and community groups, such as a museum, heritage village, public memorial, factories, public houses and community gardens. The articles provide alternative perspectives on the motives and design thinking that underpinned them.

Perspectives