Complexity and spectacle: three American landscapes of the 1980s

Abstract

During the 1980s, American landscape architectural practice renewed its interest in design, opposing—at least in part—the rational analysis that had prevailed during the previous decade. Accompanying this return was an interest in complexity using new materials, forms inspired by contemporary art practices, and involved patterns of planting and paving that at times bordered on the spectacle. Three landscapes stand out as notable, and yet representative, of the state of American landscape architecture thirty years back. George Hargreaves / SWA Group's energetic Harlequin Plaza in Englewood, Colorado, from 1982, demonstrated the impact of postmodern art practices on landscape design and signaled a new direction for designing the office landscape. Peter Walker's 1989 IBM landscapes in Solana, Texas, displayed an understanding and adoption of ideas drawn from minimalist sculpture. Dan Kiley's 1988 NCNB Plaza in Tampa, Florida, relied on an almost mannerist complexity of structure, planting, and form. Sadly, none of these landscapes endures in its original state, raising questions on complexity, ownership, and maintenance.