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Martin Prominski
To cite this article: Martin Prominski (2014) Andscapes: Concepts of nature and culture for
landscape architecture in the ‘Anthropocene’, Journal of Landscape Architecture, 9:1, 6-19, DOI:
10.1080/18626033.2014.898819
Abstract
The effects of human activity have reached every square metre of the earth Nature, ecology, and landscape are important reference concepts for land-
and beyond, such as through carbon or nitrogen emissions, which has led scape architecture. Traditionally, all three have been considered polar op-
Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen to propose a new geological age, the ‘Anthro- posites from culture or humanity, in a dualistic relationship. With regard
pocene’. In parallel to many contemporary philosophers and scientists, this to the latter two, this position has changed_ecology has been conceptu-
notion declares that the traditional, dualistic Western understanding of alized as something cultural that can be designed by humans (e.g. Corner
nature as something independent from human influence is obsolete. The 1997; Johnson and Hill 2002), and a similar shift has occurred with the tradi-
‘Anthropocene’ needs new, unitary concepts of nature and culture. This tional understanding of ‘landscape’; for example, with recent definitions
articlediscusses two inspiring unitary concepts from Japan; Imanishi’s by J. B. Jackson as a man-made, artificial system (Jackson 1984: 156), or by
seibutsu no sekei (world of living things) and Watsuji’s fudo (milieu). In a re- the European Landscape Convention as ‘the result of the action and inter-
flection on two landscape architecture projects, this article comes to the con- action of natural and/or human factors’ (2000: §1). A like integrative un-
clusion that the profession is already capable of designing in a unitary mode, derstanding of ecology and landscape has also been proposed in landscape
beyond simple dichotomies of nature and culture. This asset should be cul- architectural theory (as well as in philosophy) for some decades now (e.g.
tivated, and for this the correct usage of terms is quite important. However, Meyer 1997), serving as the foundation for new movements, such as land-
this is difficult due to the fact that the traditional meaning of nature is scape urbanism or ecological urbanism. Yet nature, the most far-reaching
still very influential in professional communication, and that the terms of of the three concepts, is still mainly understood in the traditional way.
the inspiring Japanese concepts are either too complicated or too abstract. Nature is seen as a counterpart to human culture, as something inde-
Inspired by Kandinsky’s idea of ‘and’, the unitary concept of ‘andscape’ is pendent from human influence_a concept that has dominated the West-
proposed to integrate the ideas of both Imanishi and Watsuji. By using the ern world since Aristotle. But, is this a problem? It would be if this type of
term ‘andscape’, a dualistic, divisive understanding of nature and culture nature_something independent from human influence_no longer exist-
becomes impossible_instead, the focus is on the dynamic relations between ed, which is precisely what many philosophers or scientists propose today.
humans, animals, plants, stones, water, and all other elements in the world. ˇ ˇ
According to philosopher Slavoj Zizek, ‘Today, with the latest biogenetic
developments, we are entering a new phase in which nature itself melts
Concepts of nature and culture / Anthropocene / non-duality / Watsuji / into air: the main consequence of the breakthroughs in biogenetics is the
Imanishi / Japanese landscape architecture end of nature. Once we know the rules of nature’s construction, natural
organisms are transformed into objects amenable to manipulation. Na-
ture, human and inhuman, is thus “desubstantialized”, deprived of its
ˇ ˇ 2008: 49).
impenetrable density’ (Zizek
Proceeding from a similar conception, Paul Crutzen, the 1995 Nobel
Chemistry Laureate, coined the term ‘Anthropocene’, characterizing a new
geological epoch to succeed the ‘Holocene’. Mankind has become the dom-
inating force on the earth; even the planet’s most remote areas and its at-
mosphere have been impacted by elements like carbon or nitrogen emitted
from human-driven processes (Crutzen 2002). This radical notion of a new
geological epoch is increasingly gaining acceptance; [1] one thought-pro-
voking outcome is the ‘Anthropocene Project’, a trans-disciplinary inter-
national project that has run for several years at the Haus der Kulturen der
These are just three of many factors contributing to a specifically Japa- Thus, one foundation of his concept is the inextricable relationship be-
nese, unitary concept of nature and culture. They illustrate the mind- tween living things, e.g. humans, and their environment. The term ‘en-
set for two major theoretical works from the first part of the twentieth vironment’ becomes questionable in the light of such a close connection;
century, which formulate a Japanese perspective of the relationship be- environment suggests a separate world that surrounds a living thing but,
tween nature and culture_one in clear opposition to Western scientific according to Imanishi, the two spheres are inseparable. Due to this con-
and philosophical concepts. Regarding this concept, there are two books ceptual inconsistency, he introduces the concept of ‘field of living’ as a re-
of particular importance, which should be discussed in detail; one is by a placement for ‘environment’, stressing that ‘the field of living does not
biologist and the other by a philosopher. mean merely a space for living but is a continuation, a living extension,
of the living thing itself’ (Imanishi 2002: 27). Each living thing, be it plant,
Kinji Imanishi´s The world of living things animal, or human, extends into a field of living, which in turn also be-
Kinji Imanishi, born in 1902 in Kyoto, had a wide spectrum of interests. comes part of the living thing_a reciprocal relationship. This is a radical
He was a biologist by training, a passionate mountaineer, and a visitor to thought, rendering a dualistic understanding impossible. It has funda-
the circle around philosopher Kitaro Nishida at the Kyoto School of Phi- mental consequences for such basic relations as that of humans and their
losophy. All these interests were formative influences in his seminal book, food, as illustrated in the following reflection by Imanishi: ‘If we are cou-
The world of living things (2002; Japanese original version: Seibutsu no rageous enough to regard food candidly as an extension of our body then
Sekai, 1941), for which the editor of the English translation, Pamela J. As- it is not at all contradictory to think that there is an extension of life in
quith, chose the title A Japanese View of Nature. Imanishi wrote his book in the food. [...] The relationship between food and living things is not one
1940 as a fairly young man_decades before he founded Japanese primatol- of biology or taxonomy, but of direct affinity of body to the living things.
ogy and later became a famous anthropologist_because he was afraid he Because food is an extension of their own body, living things recognize
would die in World War II and wanted to leave a kind of record of his ideas. their own food; this means they, in fact, recognize themselves’ (Imani-
Imanishi conceives of the world of living things as a unified whole shi 2002: 28–29). Such an understanding of a close physical and emotional
of discrete living things, such as humans, animals, or plants. [2] For him, connection between ourselves and our food is highly relevant today_it
the relations between the living thing and its environment are very im- could serve as an urgent call to rethink our contemporary relation to food,
portant, and he concludes that organisms and environment are, on the where plants or animals are often produced by an industrialized agricul-
one hand, different and, on the other hand, the same_something quite ture with questionable ethical standards.
difficult for a Western intellect to grasp: ‘Although an organism is an After proposing this general relationship between individual living
independentsystem, in order to live it must first take in food from the things and their field of living, Imanishi develops the concept of several
environment and find mates there. Thus, it is clear that living things can- layers on which individual living things are organized. He calls them, in
not live apart from the environment. In this sense, living things are not order of growing complexity, species society, synusia, synusial complex,
self-contained independent systems that can exist on their own, but if and, finally, the whole community of the world. These layers need not be
we think of one system that includes the environment, now for the first explained in detail here; the main point is that life is shared in, and in be-
time living things can be understood in a concrete form of existence. Liv- tween, these layers. This leads Imanishi to his crucial conclusion: all life
ing things that are considered apart from the environment are not living is social life and sociality is the structural principle of the world (Imani-
things in their reality. Here again I would like to stress that the outside shi 2002: 42–46). He sees the world as an ‘ultimate society, composed of the
world or environment does not precede the genesis of living things. Even individual, species society, synusia and synusial complex’ and concludes
these environments are part of this world and have grown and developed that ‘this kind of territorial community of all living things is nature as we
from one thing together with living things. In this sense, living things see it, […] it is the only whole community of living things’ (Imanishi 2002:
and the environment are originally of the same kind. […] Our world is 60ff). Within this integrative, societal understanding there is no possibility
such that we cannot conceive of the existence of living things without of separating a human realm from the rest of the world, such as animals
the environment, nor can we conceive of environment alone without pre- or plants. Thus, our focus should shift away from differences towardthe
supposing the existence of living things. This must be our world’ (Imani- relations within a unitary world of living things structured by sociality.
shi 2002: 25).
2004). Humans, animals, plants, stones, rain, etc. exist in a certain milieu_ Confucius emphasized that the correct use of terms is of highest impor-
not the objects themselves but their relationships are the foundation of a tance_language has to be in accordance with the truth of things (Confu-
milieu. Human beings, and all other things, are the producers and, at the cius 1893: XIII). Yet, even if ‘world of living things’ and ‘milieu’ express the
same time, the products of a specific milieu. Each individual is important; new truth of things in the ‘Anthropocene’, it is highly unlikely that these
nevertheless, if it ceases to exist, the milieu changes but continues (Watsu- terms will make it into everyday professional discourse, particularly in
ji 1988: 7ff). Because of this relational character of our temporal and spatial the West. Augustin Berque proposed ‘milieu’ twenty years ago in France,
existence, Watsuji proposes the concept of aidagara (in-betweenness) as a for example; and, although he is widely read by French landscape archi-
central characteristic of human existence (Watsuji 1992: 9 [3]). tecture academics [6] ‘milieu’ has not become an influential term. [7] If we
In summary, the meaning of fudo is not man or culture on one side imagine the term ‘milieu’ in English or German, it is also unlikely that
and nature or environment on the other; together they create a continu- it will have the power to serve as a guiding term for landscape architec-
ously changing milieu. For Watsuji, this condition of ‘being in a milieu’ or ture because it is too abstract. Similarly, ‘world of living things’ is too un-
‘milieu-ness’_fudosei, translated by Berque as ‘mediance’ (2004: 389)_is so wieldy. Russian painter and Bauhaus teacher Vasily Kandinsky addressed
central for us as human beings that he proposes fudosei as ‘the structural an inspiring alternative in a short article from 1927, which he called ‘und’
moment of human existence’ (Berque 2004: 389 [4]). In other words, the dy- (‘and’ in English). Being ahead of his own time, he considered the pre-
namic relations between us and the other elements of the world are the ceding era as dominated by ‘either–or’ thinking and argued for a new era
foundations and drivers of our lives, and these relations happen in a mi- characterized by ‘and’. He criticized the specialization and separation of
lieu, i.e., fudo. professions, and approaches, in the nineteenth century, arguing for an in-
tegrative perspective: ‘A new beginning consists of recognizing relations.
A unitary concept for the relationship between nature and culture More and more it becomes evident that there are no ‘special’ questions
Both Imanishi’s and Watsuji’s concepts offer a unitary perspective on that can be recognized and solved in isolation, because everything is con-
the relationship between humanity and nature. The decisive impulse of nected and interdependent. Moving onwards from this beginning means
each is to shift attention from the opposing pairs to the relationship(s) discovering further relations and using them for the most important task
between them. The milieu or fudo is both natural and cultural, both sub- of humankind_for development.’ (Kandinsky 1927: 107ff; translation M.P.)
jective and objective, and both collective and individual (Berque 1997: 116f; His hope was for a synthetical approach in theory and practice that would
emphases M.P.). This means that the poles are still there, not completely lead to the creation of synthetical works.
blurred as in a hybrid. [5] It is not about opposing, but about connecting. In making a case for synthesis and integration, Kandinsky is very close
The same is true for Imanishi’s world of living things, in which the vari- to the ideas of Watsuji and Imanishi. Transferring Kandinsky’s meaning
ous things have an independent existence, but the distinctions are not as of ‘and’ to a new conceptual term suitable for landscape architecture and
important as are their relationships in the field of living (Imanishi 2002: beyond, I would like to propose the term ‘andscape’ as capable of integrat-
1; 27). In fact, we can say that the central ideas of Imanishi and Watsuji ing the main ideas of Imanishi’s and Watsuji’s unitary concepts of nature
are almost identical_they differ on their key terms, ‘sociality’ and ‘in-be- and culture, for example their non-duality and emphasis on relationship.
tweenness’, but both terms emphasize the focus on relations. These con- Regarding content, it does not add anything new, compared to fudo or
cepts are useful for determining the character the ‘Anthropocene’ Age_ seibutsu no sekei, yet the term ‘andscape’ has two advantages: it is less ab-
from their perspective we can never speak exclusively about nature, or stract and complicated than the ‘world of living things’ or ‘milieu’, and
natural elements, but must consider the whole milieu or field of living its consonance with ‘landscape’ easily connects the concept of relational-
things, including human beings and much more. ity to landscape architecture.
The profession of landscape architecture could also be inspired by The word ‘andscape’ has the potential to serve as a conceptual term,
these two Japanese terms. Fudo and seibutsu no sekei, and their transla- addressing and communicating the synthetical, integrative character of
tions might serve as an alternative to the outdated traditional concept landscape architectural design, while also transcending out-dated dual-
of nature, which is simply no longer valid in the new context of the ‘An- isms. Two landscape architectural projects_one in Japan and one in the
thropocene’. It is also important to use terms correctly; 2,500 years ago, West_illustrate how we can understand ‘andscapes’.
0 100 200 km
Figure 7a, b Situation at the western edge of the Old Fisheries Experiment Station
before (above) and after the transformation (below)
Only the first might be related to shizen, while the other two also include which is hugely popular in the rest of Mizumoto Park but not conducive
the human perspective (the second one is a typically Japanese motivation, to a high diversity of fish life. In the area inside the fence, there is a for-
because the seasons play a very important role in the human–nature re- mal and functional differentiation from west to east; in the western sec-
lationship); thus, a separation of nature and culture was never really an tion the former concrete basins have been completely removed and their
issue. On a tour with Yamamoto through the project, he did not speak of edge replaced by different forms of gabions. In order to increase biodiver-
shizen but rather used the term han-shizen (‘half nature’). Thus, this nature sity, a range of riparian zones have been created, in which the plants grow
conservation project is half nature and half culture_quite paradoxical in organic shapes; however, most of the visible constructed elements, such
from a Western perspective. Analyzing the project, we will see that Yama- as the gabions, are set in straight lines. When asked, Yamamoto explained
moto does not place ‘half nature’ and ‘half culture’ in opposition but in- that he did not use an organic form because the pre-fisheries situation was
tegrates them, so it is reasonable to call the design an ‘andscape’. The use a flat landscape with rice paddies in rectangular shape, and thus, straight
of han-shizen as an alien appropriation of the Western concept exemplifies lines were appropriate for those types of landscapes. In the middle of the
the lack of appropriate terms for synthetic designs, even in contemporary fenced zone, a quadrangular area of 40 x 40 metres, covered by a net, sets
Japanese landscape architecture. a strong contrast; small, elevated concrete basins from the former station
The design of the Old Fisheries Experiment Station is characterized by have been maintained and are used for breeding goldfish, for sale at certain
fine differentiations on many levels. In terms of access, almost half of the events. This is followed by an area to the east with newly constructed con-
area is fenced off and only open for visitors during the day, with a guard crete basins, designed to create situations with different depths of water
at the entrance. This is necessary mainly to protect the area from angling, to present a broad variety of water plants and fishes. These basins are con-
structed for easy accessibility and serve for educational purposes. Directly othergroups are responsible for the management of the rice paddies. This
adjacent, two small rice paddies show how rice can be grown without us- public-spirited involvement shows how well the new park is integrated
ing artificial fertilizer and pesticides. The final elements in this row, in into the surrounding communities.
the eastern corner, are six concrete basins of the Old Fisheries Experiment There is a rich interplay between water, plants, animals, and humans
Station, kept in their original state as a historical reference. Because they with this project; the designers created diverse situations that allow for
are neither beautiful nor have a high ecological value, they express how different degrees of biodiversity, emotional contact, or open space use. In
strongly cultural factors are also valued in this transformed landscape. some areas, plants and animals have priority and human access is limited,
The fenced area is also demarcated to the south by a canal in which sometimes by clear demarcations such as fences, sometimes by more sub-
lotus plants grow. Outside the fence, we find another transition of dif- tle design measures. There are also areas where features resembling the-
ferent park elements. In the west, there is a wildlife area where direct ac- atrical stages have been designed to better enable visitors to study plants
cess has been made difficult. Instead, comfortable viewing platforms with and animals, especially fish. Finally, there are other areas where species
wooden screens and viewing holes at different heights have been designed life is less diverse and open space use by humans has priority.
for watching birds, including kingfishers. South of this, in an area directly Within a fairly small site, we find a highly diverse ‘world of living
adjacent to a sports field in Mizumoto Park, six former basins have been things’. The Old Fisheries Experiment Station is an ‘andscape’, where re-
transformed into a ‘pleasure lake’ with paths and wooden decking, in or- lationships between humans, animals, plants, and other things, rather
der for visitors to be closer to the water. The pleasure lake adjoins the than the objects themselves, are decisive. You cannot separate them_the
central area with a new parking lot and visitor centre. East of that, is a plant and animal life benefits from the human maintenance activities
100-metre stretch of three formally straight basins, in which lotus plants that sustain a high biodiversity, while, conversely, humans enjoy emo-
are to grow. The final two basins, to the east, contain the endangered spe- tional and physical contact with real, living things.
cies of Euryale ferox (fox nut). Interestingly, this plant had already started The Old Fisheries Experiment Station is a successful expression of the
to grow in the Old Fisheries Experiment Station, due to the ideal water unitary Japanese concepts of nature and culture as fudo or seibutsu no sekei.
depths, so the basins have not been changed in the new design. This integrative approach can be seen in a very small ‘andscape’ in the
Construction work on this new part of Mizumoto Park lasted from central area of the project where only native species are allowed (Fig. 9).
2000 until 2006. Concurrently, a complex management and maintenance Here, climbing plants grow close to a guardrail. While in a comparable
structure for the site was established within which the Mizumoto Park nature protection zone in the West, such native climbers should grow
Authority, several citizens groups, and the landscape architecture office ‘naturally’_either they make it by themselves or give way to stronger
of Norihisa Yamamoto as coordinator formed a committee. In terms of plants_members of the site’s volunteer group support them by sticks
maintenance, for example, a volunteer organization controls the some- and weeding around the base: a wonderful expression of sociality among
times excessive growth of plants like Typha angustifolia, or catches all the living things.
fish in one basin every few years to sort out non-native species, while
Figure 11 In the former parking area for military helicopters, the con-
crete was crushed to different sizes. Together with a water spill origi-
nating from a broken pipe underneath and left deliberately uncon-
trolled, a framework of different site conditions was provided to allow
for an unforeseeable development of biotopes.
Figure 12 Many school classes visit the park to learn about ecological
processes and relations.
Conclusion
The notion of the ‘Anthropocene’ calls for a change in our understanding consider the full complexity of ‘andscapes’, instead of relying on conven-
of nature, implying that the human influence has reached every corner tional conceptualizations as exemplified in phrases like ‘This is a natural
of the earth and beyond; there is no nature left in the sense of something area’, or ‘This is kept in a natural state’. We should always address the spe-
uninfluenced by humans. New ideas are necessary for a unitary concept cific elements of an existing, or proposed, open space_the oak, the skylark,
of nature and culture to replace the outdated, dualistic understanding. the child, the granite, the goldenrod, the immigrant, the clouds, etc. This
Japan offers some inspiring concepts in this quest. Due to specific condi- makes the understanding and description of a milieu much more precise
tions in terms of religion, art, or cultural landscapes, Japan never devel- than ways of thinking that follow the lines of a simplistic binary oppo-
oped a dualistic concept of nature and culture like in the West. From this sition of nature or culture. Addressing the elements of a milieu, however,
non-dualistic foundation, Watsuji and Imanishi developed their sophis- is only the first step, because we have learned from Watsuji and Imanishi
ticated concepts of fudo and seibutsu no sekei in the first half of the twenti- that it is the relationships between the elements that are decisive_their
eth century. Both argue that the world should not be seen as an opposi- sociality or in-betweenness (aidagara). Thus, as landscape architects it is
tion of natural and cultural elements, but as an intricate web of elements our task to consider, for an ‘andscape’, the elements as well as their rela-
in dynamic relationships. This integrative conception of the previous an- tionships_in fact, we could interpret landscape architecture as designing
tagonists, nature and culture, could not only prove productive for the ‘An- an adventure of relationships.
thropocene’ in general, but also for landscape architecture in particular.
It should motivate landscape architects to design complex relationships Acknowledgements
between all project elements, keeping in mind Imanishi’s dictum that The research for this article was made possible by a long-term fellowship
sociality among all living things is the structural principle of the world. from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). I would like
In the West, this is still difficult to realize because the word ‘social’ belongs to thank my colleagues at Chiba University: Toru Mitani for introduc-
to the human realm. Sociality in Imanishi’s sense comes close to Kandin- ing me to contemporary landscape architecture projects and offices; Isami
sky’s proposal for a synthetical approach_where ‘and’ replaces ‘either–or’. Kinoshitafor helping me understand satoyama and the Japanese approach
Built on this notion, the term ‘andscape’ is proposed here, a term that is of dealing with environmental impacts; and, especially, Makoto Akasaka,
able to highlight integration and relationships especially with regard to my host professor, for our intensive discussions on Watsuji and Imani-
landscape architecture [12]. shi, our tours through Mizumoto Park and other sites, as well as his warm
The discussion of the two projects from contemporary landscape archi- hospitality throughout my four-month stay.
tecture has shown that the profession is already fully able to operate from
a unitary perspective and to design ‘andscapes’. Although the Japanese
project goes deeper in terms of sociality among all living things, as shown
in the detail of the actively supported native climbing plants, there is no
Notes
fundamental difference in terms of a unitary perspective between East
1 ‘In 2008, the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological
and West_both projects express an extraordinary capability. There are
Society of London decided, by a large majority, that there was
many more projects that could be identified as ‘andscapes’_Lower Don merit in considering the possible formalization of this term:
Lands in Toronto by MVVA, Fresh Kills Park in New York by Field Opera- that is, that it might eventually join the Cambrian, Jurassic,
tions, Parque del Agua in Zaragoza by aldayjover/Dalnoky, Qunli Storm- Pleistocene, and other such units on the Geological Time Scale.’
(Zalasiewicz et al. 2010: 2228) This process will take many years
water Wetland Park in Haerbin City by Turenscape, etc. This performance
and its ambitiousness makes the outcome uncertain.
of a unitary approach to nature and culture is an asset in the ‘Anthro-
2 Imanishi includes also non-living things in the world of
pocene’, where scientists and artists are still searching intensely for new
living things: ‘If you are concerned with differences, then
concepts to replace vanished nature. Landscape architects should promote mankind, animals, plants and non-living things are all dif-
these efforts by using the correct terms in their reflections and commu- ferent. However, if you look at the similarities, then these are
nication. This entails at least two changes in the professional debate, as all part of this world and exist by the same basic principle of
existence.There is then no reason to confine “life” only to liv-
well as in design practice. Firstly, the word ‘nature’, in its oversimplified
ing things, but we can say that there is nothing without life
meaning of something independent from humans, should no longer be and wherever things exist there is always life.’ (Imanishi 2002:
used. This will be difficult to get used to and can only be a long-term goal, 20) Thus, non-living things are alive_a idea hard to under-
especially because nature has so many positive connotations, and we use stand from the perspective of Western philosophy and science.
Yet, it is obvious that minerals or water as non-living things
it very often in our professional communication (a search for ‘nature’ on
feed living things and that they cannot be separated from
the website of the American Society of Landscape Architects alone turns the relational community of the world of living things.
up 4,300 hits, and for ‘natural’ 6,200 hits). However, the disappearance of
3 In certain instances I have referred to the German trans-
the traditional concept of nature is not only unavoidable if we accept the lation because the English one is not accurate. Berque, who
notion of the ‘Anthropocene’; it might also lead to advantages if we per- translated Fudo into French, goes so far that he recommends
form a second change. Once the monolithic notions of nature and culture avoiding the English translation by Geoffrey Bownas
(Berque 2011).
have fragmented into several elements, we shall have an opportunity to