Bright Sparks

Landscape architect David Buck, inspired by his long standing interest in contemporary music, saw an opportunity to apply the temporal qualities of music composition to a new method of drawing landscapes which would reflect the durational elements of open spaces. Also exploring the new possibilities for landscapes and landforms derived from using recycled substrates and materials, David’s research sought to create a new design method from a perspective where art meets ecology.

“There have been over 500 new music notation methods developed in the last 100 years, and I wanted to celebrate these possibilities in relation to drawing landscapes. I felt that there was no room to express emotion or temporality in landscape design, and so by drawing on methods used for contemporary music notation, I wanted to create a new way of designing; in a sense, to create a new musicology for the landscape.”

The final research challenges many current orthodox thoughts surrounding biodiversity and recycling, and it explores how to create new landscapes that might allow us to leave our own mark. Focusing on the process of exploration, rather than a final product or design, David has suggested new uses for emerging landscape technologies that tackle the use of “waste” products, while also suggesting how to improve man-made habitats for biodiversity. By investigating these new drawing models which are able to represent both activity and inactivity, and which incorporate aspects of topographic mapping, David’s research has potential applications for both regeneration and new development projects, identifying the possibilities for new landscape materials, and provoking a new way to conceive contemporary landscape design.

David Buck Landscape Architects is a London based practice that pursues a consciously contemporary approach to landscape architecture, offering a unique combination of proven design skills and creative vision that draws out the distinct history of each site, from open urban spaces in Japan to public squares in Liverpool.