You're envisioning an urban park project. How do you convey your ideas to a landscape architect effectively?

When sharing your vision for an urban park, start by visualizing your ideas. Create a mood board with images capturing your park's essence—be it a serene Japanese garden or a lively play space. Include colors, textures, and elements you envision. This visual tool will clearly communicate your vision to your landscape architect.

Visualization is a universal and powerful language among designers. It helps convey our thoughts and ideas effectively, so the best way to explain your concept is to visualize it rather than just talk about it. Most people prefer to see your idea rather than hear about it because visuals are more comprehensible. They can imagine themselves in the space you've created and truly experience it

Consider ways of describing how each of the senses will respond to the space. This is especially critical when thinking about the scale of the space. Site visit is extremely helpful to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to allow their senses to respond to the siteand the sites context. This includes view lines, surrounding land uses, wind and Sun direction, topography, and drainage patterns, etc.

A detailed brief is helpful in communicating your needs to the landscape architect. You can prepare a list of activities you want to include in your design area and add specific characteristics for each area to make your vision clearer. For example, if your park includes a playground for children, you can specify details like having seating areas for parents to supervise their children, or describe the playground as a mixed-use area and explain the different activities that will take place there.

The Power of Simple Sketches in Landscape Design As a designer and project architect, I've learned that simple sketches can transform complex ideas into clear visuals. During a community park redesign, stakeholders struggled to envision my concepts. I brought my sketchbook to the next meeting, illustrating pathways, seating areas, and vibrant plant selections. The response was immediate; my sketches sparked enthusiasm and collaboration. This experience taught me that sometimes, the simplest tools can bridge communication gaps and foster creativity, leading to successful designs that truly resonate with the community.

Sketches are always useful, even if you're not good at drawing. Simple lines and shapes can effectively convey your ideas and preferences. You can use these sketches when discussing a specific part of the design area or when presenting your concept. If you're proficient with graphic software, you can also use different programs to prepare and illustrate your ideas. While I personally prefer hand-drawn sketches over computer-generated ones, both methods are valuable ways to express your thoughts and intentions.

Even without artistic skills, simple sketches can effectively convey spatial arrangements and design elements. Use basic shapes to outline activity areas, plantings, and focal points. These sketches don’t need to be perfect but serve as a useful communication tool to ensure alignment with your landscape architect.

Be clear about your goals for the project, and also your values. For example, if you would like historic or cultural significance of the site to help inform the design, clarify this in the brief. If you encourage community input in the project, discuss this with your Landscape Architect who may have experience of how to best perform the process. If you value regenerative design, re-use of existing site features, etc. then collaborate with your consultants on how to align their design process with your values. Be open, honest, respectful and genuinely listen to your consultant’s view points. Yet don’t hesitate to ask questions or air concerns (the earlier, the better) and invite questions. This will help guide a successful collaboration.

collaboration is the main stone in any landscape design through finding the stakeholders needs and imaginations to convert them to reality.

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