A Musicology for Landscape

Drawing conceptually and directly on music notation, this book investigates landscape architecture’s inherent temporality. It argues that the rich history of notating time in music provides a critical model for this under-researched and under-theorized aspect of landscape architecture, while also ennobling sound in the sensory appreciation of landscape.

A Musicology for Landscape makes available to a wider landscape architecture and urban design audience the works of three influential composers - Morton Feldman, Gyorgi Ligeti and Michael Finnissy - presenting a critical evaluation of their work within music, as well as a means in which it might be used in design research. Each of the musical scores is juxtaposed with design representations by Kevin Appleyard, Bernard Tschumi and William Kent, before the author examines four landscape spaces through the development of new landscape architectural notations. In doing so, this work offers valuable insights into the methods used by landscape architects for the benefit of musicians, and by bringing together musical composition and landscape architecture through notation, it affords a focused and sensitive exploration of temporality and sound in both fields.

Dr. David Buck is founder of his eponymous design practice and is a landscape architect and educator with a special interest in the temporality of landscape. He has designed projects in Asia and the UK and has published widely on a range of design topics.