RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Spectrum Matrix
JF Landscape Journal
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 241
OP 260
DO 10.3368/lj.30.2.241
VO 30
IS 2
A1 Terry L. Clements
A1 Sarah J. Dorminey
YR 2011
UL http://lj.uwpress.org/content/30/2/241.abstract
AB Landscape architects are challenged to create places that promote human interaction, involvement, and experience. While there is a growing body of literature providing performance-driven design guidelines, there is a dearth of direction for those wanting to design landscapes for more engaging landscape experiences. This paper addresses this gap by posing a theoretical relationship between an individual’s perception and cognition, and the use of landscape elements and their qualities in site design. The paper posits that Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences relate levels of challenge, intelligence traits, and capacities to an individual’s landscape experience. The article presents a matrix of possible experiences, the Spectrum Matrix derived from Csikszentmihalyi and Gardner, as a generative design tool for use at various points during the design process to enhance a site design’s development to provide more opportunities for engaging landscape experiences. Case study descriptions of built sites demonstrate possible landscape elements, qualities and challenges related to the different ways individual users perceive and interact with and in landscapes.