Cultural

LANDSCAPE

LAS616_Cultural Landscape Study

Centre of Studies for Landscape Architecture , UiTM Puncak Alam
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
DEFINITIONS
“…a geographic area,
including both cultural &
natural resources & the
wildlife or domestic
animals associate w/ a
historic event, activity,
or that exhibit other
cultural or aesthetic
values.”
Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
in Honghe, China
 “The cultural landscape
is fashioned from the
natural landscape by a
cultural group. Culture
is the agent, the natural
area is the medium, the
cultural landscape the
result.”

Carl Sauer, “The Morphology of Landscape”, 1925

 Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY

“Cultural landscapes are landscapes that have been

affected, influenced, or shaped by human
involvement…associated with a person or event.
Collectively, cultural landscapes are works of art,
narratives of culture, and expressions of regional
identity.” - Cultural Landscape Foundation, 2018
 Why are cultural
landscapes important?
Cultural landscapes are a legacy for everyone; reveal
aspects of our country’s origins and development as
well as our evolving relationships with the natural
world.

They provide scenic, economic, ecological,

social, recreational, and educational
opportunities helping communities to better
understand themselves.
Why is it important to protect
cultural landscapes?
Neglect and inappropriate development put our
irreplaceable landscape legacy increasingly at risk
due to

“SHORT-SIGHTED DECISIONS MAKING”

It is everyone’s responsibility to safeguard our

nation’s cultural landscapes, thus, improves our
quality of life and deepens a sense of place and
identity for future generations.
Four Types Of Cultural Landscapes
Lincoln Memorial Grounds, Washington, DC

Historic Sites

Designed
Landscape
Fort Tryon Park, New York, NY

Vernacular
Landscapes
Monticello, Charlottesville, VA

Ethnographic
Landscapes
Jamestown, Williamsburg, VA Island
1. Historic Sites: a landscape significant
for its association with a historic event,
activity, or person.

Presidio of San Francisco

2. Historic Designed Landscape: a landscape
significant as landscapes that were
consciously designed or laid out by a
landscape architect, master gardener,
architect, or horticulturist according to
design principles, or by an amateur
gardener working in a recognized style or
tradition.

Balboa Park, San Diego,

California
3. Historic Vernacular Landscape: a landscapes
that evolved through use by the people whose
activities or occupancy shaped those
landscapes. Through social or cultural attitudes of
an individual, family, or a community, the landscapes
reflect the physical, biological, and cultural character
of those everyday lives.
Bodie State Historic Park, California
4. Ethnographic Landscape: landscapes containing
a variety of natural and cultural resources that
the associated people define as heritage
resources.

Timbisha Shoshone Band of California, Death Valley

 ICCROM

IUCN

UNESCO World
Heritage
Convention
Australia
ICOMOS

US
National
Park
Service
(NPS)
• A geographical area that historically
has been used by people,
shaped/modified resulted of human
actv. & that possesses a significant
properties s.a l/use, vege., bldg, struc.,
roads, wtrways & natural features.
-Guidelines for Evaluating & Documenting Rural Historic Landscapes (formerly NRB 30),1995
• NR listed rural historic landscapes as:
• Sites – little acreage & having no
bldg/struc sa orchard, a garden.
• Districts – large acreage & have
number of bldgs/struc sa
community settlement/ farming etc.
Agriculture Industry (mining,
lumbering, milling)

Maritime (fishing, shipbldg) Recreation(hunting)

Transportation system Migration trail

Conservation (nat. reserves) Sites for ceremonial,

religious etc.
• Contain 11 characteristic; 4
process & 7 physical components.
Processes

1. Land uses and activities

Organization, form, & shape
of the landscape in
response to l/use.
Features: pastures, orchards,
terraces, cemeteries,
playing fields, parks, mining
areas, quarries, & logging
areas.
Processes

2. Patterns of spatial organization

• Arrangmnt of ele. creating the ground,
vertical, and overhead planes that define
and create spaces.
Features: Overall ptrn of
the circulation networks,
areas of land use,
natural features, clusters
of struc., and division of
property.
Processes
3. Response to natural env
• Natural aspects that often influence the
devt & resultant form of a landscape.
• Features: orientation of clusters, const.
materials, dsgn of bldgs, & methods of
transportation.
Processes
4. Cultural traditions
• Practices that influence land use, patterns of
division, building forms, & the use of materials.
• Features: L/use
practices, bldg & struc.,
ethnic /religious
institutions, community
organization, const
methods, skills,
craftsmanship, methods
of transportation etc.
Physical components
5. Circulation networks
• Spaces, features, & materials that constitute
systems of movement.
• Features: Paths,
roads, streams,
or canals,
highways,
railways, and
waterways.
Physical components
6. Boundary demarcations
• Bodies of water, & irrigation/drainage
ditches.
• Features: Divisions marked by fences, walls,
land use, vegetation, roadways,
Physical components
7. Vegetation related to land use
• Indigenous/introduced trees, shrubs, ground
covers, etc.
• Features:
Functional/orname
ntal trees & shrubs,
fields for cropping,
treelines along
walls and roads,
native vegetation,
orchards, gardens
etc
Physical components
8. buildings, structures, & object
• 3-d constructs
• Features: Buildings:
residences, schools stores,
community halls, canals,
tunnels, bridges,
monuments,
Physical components
9. Clusters
• The location of bldgs & struc. in the landscape.
• Features: Village
centers, farmsteads,
harbors, and
ranching or mining
complexes.

Lake Landing Historic District, Hyde County, North Carolina, consists

of a wash house, outhouse, buggy house,
harness shed, chicken house, two barns, and wood fences.
Physical components
10. Archeological sites
• Sites containing surface & subsurface
remnants related to historic l/ use.

• Features: Road traces, ruins of mines, irrigation systems,

piers, quarries etc
Physical components
11. small-scale elements
• Elements that provide dtl & diversity
combined w/ function & aesthetics.
• Features: Foot bridges, road markers, gravestones,
isolated vegetation, culverts, foundations etc.