Date created: 24 November, 1992
Professor: Terry Harkness


Project statement:


"Trees in the Landscape" is a studio expression of how to reveal plants to visitors, workers, and passerby. The plant collections chosen should be aggregated and displayed not only for learning purposes but for the enjoyment and use by others. Carefully consider the organizational themes and circulation concepts to reveal and highlight the plant collection as well as the compositional arrangements of plants with one another.

The plant collections should reveal not only the powerful intrinsic character of various plants but highlight the experiences and drama of the spaces the plants create.

Design concept:


I decided that the best way to merge an arboretum design with Sasaki's proposed native habitats to the east of the site was through a more curvilinear, naturalistic approach. Choosing different geographic regions from around the world, I divided the site into similar sections based upon topographical and micro climactic conditions. From this point, each section was subdivided further into three segments based upon soil moisture, sunlight, and drainage, allowing plants to be sited according to their cultural requirements. The speciments were carefully placed to create walkways and different spatial experiences in a linear fashion from one end of the Arboretum to the other.

The first step in the project involved deciding how I wanted the collections to be displayed. Based upon input from various faculty, gardening societies, and other potential users of the site, I felt that a certain familiarity with geographic regions should be made. Using these geographic regions as my main driving force, I intended to break plants up within these sections according to their cultural requirements and botanical families. Reflecting upon past classes, I decided that most of the plants that will grow in our area can be easily represented by 8 regions of the world. These are the NorthWestern United States, Central Illinois, Eastern United States, Appalachia, Europe, Japan, Korea, and China.

Next, considering the topography of the site, I partitioned various portions so that they would fit into one of three categories: well-drained and moist, well-drained and dry, and poorly drained and moist. North-facing slopes were placed within the first category, south-facing slopes into the second category, and low points or relatively flat land areas were lumped into the final category.

The third step involved the redistribution of the 8 geographic regions based upon the cultural conditions identified in the previous step, as well as creating a detailed list of plants indigenous to the respective regions and fitting their corresponding cultural requirements. Relative sizes for the collections were then based upon the number of plants found for each section.

Next, major woody plants were laid out across the site, creating a variety of spaces. Along the road to the south, a double allee of trees screens traffic and sounds, as well as effectively blocking the Vet Med building across the way. Within the collections, plants are grouped to create open and closed spaces, allowing for traffic circulation in between.

The fifth step involved laying out the pathways within the arboretum. The paths are set back away from the plantings to provide security, as well as giving the viewer an opportunity to see the plant's habit in its relative native context.

Finally, understory beds and plantings were added, giving enough space for smaller collection plants, as well as providing visual points of interest along the paths.

And here's the finished product!