Built Landscapes

Architecture and landscape have much in common. Both are constructs of our perception, which is why the properties we attribute to them, like “artificial” and “natural”, say more about our own desire to differentiate than about the true relationship between them. 

Architeture is, for the most part, built landscape, Kjetil Thorsen of Snøhetta argues in our Discussion interview. What he means by this is that tectonic objects and topography are not separate entities, but merge with each other. 

In the December issue of Detail, we have compiled a series of projects that respond to landscape space in quite distinct forms and are integrated in their surroundings by virtue of the constructional solutions and materials they use. The Documentation section, for example, includes the Caminito del Rey through the Gaitanes Gorge in southern Spain and the Wadden Sea Centre on the west coast of Denmark. In addition, we present details of the Mountain Restaurant in Obereggen in the Dolomites and the cabins of the Colorado Building Workshop in the Rocky Mountains. Our theme this month is complemented by a Technology article that explores the different forms assumed by facade planting.