Landscape Architecture Midterm Study Guide

A set of vocabulary flashcards derived from the Landscape Architecture Midterm Study Guide covering foundational definitions, history, spatial design concepts, and notable features.

Landscape Architecture

A professional practice that leads, educates, and participates in the careful stewardship, wise planning, and artful design of cultural and natural environments.

Site Inventory

The step in the landscape design process that typically comes first.

Pastoral Style

A style of landscape design favored by Olmsted, characterized by broad sweeps of greensward dotted with trees or bodies of water.

Agricultural Terracing

A historical land modification technique used to make difficult, sloping terrain productive for farming.

Irrigation Systems

Systems developed in early agricultural civilizations to control and distribute water for crop production outside of regular flooding seasons.

Haha Wall

A feature in historic English landscapes designed to keep livestock out while preserving an uninterrupted visual connection to the surrounding landscape.

Parterre

A formal garden arrangement made from geometrically arranged low planting beds.

Seeing vs. Experiencing a Landscape

Seeing primarily involves vision, whereas experiencing can involve multiple senses, movement, memory, and emotional responses.

Prospect and Refuge

A concept describing a person's attraction to spaces that offer a balance between opportunities to see (prospect) and opportunities to feel protected (refuge).

Selective Perception

The tendency of individuals to notice and interpret certain aspects of an environment based on their personal attention, interests, experiences, and expectations.

Genius Loci

The distinctive character of a place, shaped by physical features, local history, material and architectural character, and patterns of human activity.

Gestalt Principle of Proximity

A perceptual principle stating that people tend to perceive objects as belonging together when they are positioned close to one another.

Human Scale

Designing spatial dimensions and proportions so that elements relate meaningfully to the size, physical abilities, and perception of people.

Abstracting Nature

A design approach that represents natural qualities and essences without necessarily reproducing nature literally.

Desire Line

A worn path across a surface, such as a lawn, indicating where people repeatedly choose to walk rather than following a formal designed path.

Universal Design

The practice of designing environments so they can be accessed and used by as many people as possible without requiring separate or specialized solutions.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Civil rights legislation designed to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life.

Node

A central gathering place or plaza where several pedestrian paths intersect, public transit arrives, and public community activities occur.

Threshold / Arrival

A transitional point in a landscape that marks a shift between distinct spaces and establishes expectations for what follows.

Motation

A technique developed by Lawrence Halprin to graphically record and communicate movement through a sequence of designed spaces.

Freeway Park

A landmark park in Seattle, designed by Lawrence Halprin, that uses landscaped spaces and pedestrian pathways to bridge over an active major freeway.