Someone brought up the issue of whoever gets the job is the lead and therefore gets to set the vision for the project. I think this is true and so in that sense we tend to be “at the mercy of architects” for better or worse. But what is more interesting to me is why aren’t more landscape architects the lead on projects?
I look at the Highline project in NYC as an example where the landscape architect was lead and it resulted in a fantastic design and highly valued public space. There seem to be many reasons why it would be valuable to have a LA lead a project – help in site selection and analysis to inform the design decisions early on being just one of them. Is it simply an issue of educating the public? Is it an economic issue – meaning most small to medium projects, especially residential, could never afford to include a design professional from the beginning?
I dream of a day when the first person that is hired when land is going to be manipulated or built upon in some way is a landscape architect. Is there a way to make this day come sooner? Is there a reason I shouldn’t dream of this day?
