Proposals for a residential subdivision and park in Flaxmere, Hastings

Abstract

The brief for this major design study was – “To produce proposals for the sixty-one hectare residential subdivision on the North-Western side of Flaxmere and to produce detailed proposals for Flaxmere Park.”

This report lays out the thinking and research behind the proposals which have been made. It is important to note that without this report, which shows the reasoning through which the design philosophy evolved, the folio of plans and design proposals is incomplete. Conversely, without referring to the plans, where these concepts have been laid out as proposals, this report document is merely a collection of thoughts and data. The reader therefore requested to view both report and plans as each is dependent on the other for explanation of the design principles involved.

This study will deal largely with visual, social and recreational aspects of planning. The aim will be to develop a design philosophy which caters for the needs of a developing community such as Flaxmere, through the process of landscape architecture. This philosophy will then be applied to the two sites in Flaxmere itself - the residential subdivision and the Park.

There tends to be a general misunderstanding of what a landscape architect does. Indeed, to some, his very involvement in the town planning field is a mystery. It may be of value then, to, state his role as I see it, in town planning.

There is no shortage of definitions of what a landscape architect does, but few put it as well as Eckbo does, when he defines a landscape architect as “a designer and supervisor of outdoor development, and a consultant on such problems. In common practice, he fills in the gaps between architect, the engineer, and Nature. He creates outdoor spaces, sequences and continuities of experience and in the process, ties up all loose ends and makes all necessary connections. He improves relations between people and the environment and is the physical liaison between man and Nature.”

The landscape architect's role in town planning should be one of liaison, with design. He must be conversant with the requirements of the other physical planning disciplines - engineering, town planning and architecture. He must have an understanding of the social sciences, particularly sociology and psychology, and be able to turn social requirements into practice through the medium of his landscape design. He must have design ability himself to enable him to put forward a positive approach. And he must be able to “read” Nature's provisions of soils, climate, geology, topography, vegetation and so on, and interpret these in terms of design clues and opportunities. His, then, is a generalist’s role, and his approach to planning is a total one. This is his contribution to the town planning process. He provides an added dimension to the planning - with greatest emphasis on the visual aspects. In this way, the landscape architect's role in town planning is not to supersede or replace the town planner, but to complement him and to widen the scope of his planning, and through this, to provide a more visually pleasing and coherent living environment.

It is not possible in this study, however, to achieve the optimum arrangement with the other planning disciplines, as this is an individual approach, fulfulling individual requirements for a course. It would be being supremely optimistic and ambitious to pretend that these proposals provide all the answers. But it is fair to say that the landscape architecture approach is an essential part of the town planning process. It is one the objects of this study to demonstrate that this is so.