SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
REPOSITORY
An Archive of Contemporary Thought in Sustainable Architecture
Canal Siren, Venice 2000
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Published by Seadog Press, PO Box 243, Monterey, CA 93942 E-mail laumana@aloha.net
© 2004 Robert D. Hotten, and Dr. Peter Diprose
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrival system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
ISBN 0-9728097-0-8
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Posturbanism and Paradise: Real gardens, vicarious
landscapes or virtual arenas for stillness and spectacle
Peter R. Diprose; Diprose Architects
Robert D. Hotten; Office for Sustainable Architecture
Kelly J. O'Meara; Diprose Architects
Abstract
This paper investigates the paradox of stillness within posturban space, and in particular the garden. Posturbanism is
identified as a synthesis of two principle ideas: the city as an analogue of the mind, and for virtual urban space to satisfy
immaterial human needs. The contention is that for urban theory to be useful and satisfying it must direct the
integration and extension of the real into the virtual. The human need for spectacle is described in an historical context.
Only one element of urban landscape is explored here - the garden. More specifically, the Eastern/Persian paradise
garden is juxtaposed to the Western modernist city and park, drawing on (visual) commentary derived from film, virtual
gaming arenas, and thirdspace hybrid landscapes. The paradox of stillness within the real and digital landscapes is
critiqued. It is concluded that a rehabilitated posturban landscape is required if stillness is to be revealed and embraced.
Keywords
Garden, landscape, posturbanism, spectacle, vicarious
Introduction
This paper investigates the paradox of stillness within posturban space, and in particular the garden.
At least two distinct trains of thought are evident. The first of these focuses on the potential for
recently emergent posturban space to satisfy human needs. This is discussed within an historical
perspective detailing the shift from reality towards virtuality as a primary means of satisfying the
desire for spectacle.
The second train of thought (which cannot be fully detailed here) relates to the design and
interpretation of garden-space as a metaphor for stillness. Trinh Minh-ha defines the paradox of
stillness as "sound or silence, movement or stillness, not opposed to one another" (Minh-ha, 2005).
In terms of the garden, we interpret stillness as ãduration°o. Stillness as duration abounds in Eastern
gardens. Accepting the quantum view of decoherence, there is a flow of information about an
object (for example, a garden) into its surroundings, and since information can be neither created
nor destroyed, the duration of this flow is as timeless as the centuries between the construction of
Eastern gardens and the present and future.
The East°os social paradigm, which is underpinned by near totalitarian capitalism with its singularity
of idea/information, provides a semblance of homogeneity, and thus immutability and durability, at
least to the outside observer. In contrast to this homogeneity that remains relatively undisturbed,
the West enjoys the riches of disaffected/economic immigration, accentuating the paradigm shift
towards diversity and postmodernism.
Many Western gardens do not contain information that is homogeneous enough to be retained
through time. Heterogeniety does not seem to lend itself to duration. Cosgrove notes the ephemeral
nature of postmodern landscape space (Cosgrove, 1997):
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The concept of carnival is frequently employed in discussions of representation and promotion
in postmodern space. In the renaissance city one can observe a parallel significance of
carnival as a significant element in both civic and social lifeÉthe Piazza San MarcoÉ Often
described as a stage set, this celebrated apotheosis of urban landscape design is, in fact, an
eclectic assemblage of architectural stylesÉ It would not be inaccurate to describe this space
in terms now regularly employed for postmodern landscapes: ãan architecture of spectacle,
with its sense of surface glitter and transitory pleasure, of display and ephemerality, or
jouissance°o É
In contrast to the postmodern Western landscape, on a semiotic level the Zen garden is empty;
movement is implied, yet stillness is the reality. Saito outlines ideas behind the placement of
"principle and "subordinater", "pursuer" and "pursued" stones in the Japanese Garden (Saito,
1970). The Persian garden embodies stillness as duration with its reflection pools of infinite
stillness, in counterpoint to the constancy of noise generated by fountain jets. In the Alhambra,
movement from cloister and pavilion, to loggia/veranda, and walled courtyard, varies from
containment to strongly axial: movement through creates spectacle, Grand Tour being the goal.
(These metaphorical/interpretive design ideas are described in the visual presentation).
Posturbanism, human-needs and spectacle
Posturbanism is "identified as a synthesis of two principle ideas: the city as an analogue of the
mind, and for virtual urban space to satisfy immaterial human needs. The contention is that for
urban theory to be useful and satisfying, it must direct the integration and extension of the real into
the virtual" (Hotten and Diprose, 2003). This paper focuses on one aspect of posturbanism, namely
that well-designed real/virtual spaces should satisfy immaterial human needs through their
provision of settings and situations.
The range of needs per se may be few and unchanging, but the ways in which these needs can be
satisfied may vary markedly over time, or from place to place, and culture to culture. The human
requirement for affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity, and freedom can
all be satisfied to some degree by virtual cultural environments. However, some satisfiers are less
satisfactory than they appear at first glance, and may in fact have the potential to undermine the
genuine fulfilment of needs (Max Neef, 1992). For example, internet relationships/sex may
seemingly satisfy the need for affection in the short-term, yet prove merely an addiction (Carnes,
2001). An evergreen satisfier of understanding, leisure, identity, and freedom is that of the
ãspectacle°o. Whether a genuine satisfier, or not, the human desire for spectacle is well documented
(Cosgrove, D. 1997, Hotten & Diprose 2000).
From panoramic view, to cinematic view, to virtual view
More than one hundred years ago the urge for (exotic) spectacle was satisfied by the 360-degree
panorama. Comment states the panorama was one of the most popular phenomena of the nineteenth
century. "A motley crowd in search of wanton, enigmatic and rarely denied pleasure would rush to
see these spectacular paintings" (Comment, 1999).
In general, the panoramic photograph or painting technique records and simulates comprehensive
views of a portion of the earth°os surface, landscape, or built environment (Oettermann, 1997).
Between 1787 and 1900, panorama painting was a medium through which ordinary people could
access and experience the other. Namely, for those living in the large established European cities,
this ãother°o was life beyond typical mundane existence, a reality experienced by others elsewhere at
some other time. Through the panorama, newly discovered exotic colonial landscapes and
architecture were ãcaptured°o by teams of painters for homeland audiences. An example is
"Panorama of the Congo" by Alfred Bastien and Paul Mathieu. The viewer of this period was also
Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth: CADE: Computers in Art and Design Education Conference 12-14 September 2007. Conference Proceedings,
ISBN 1 74067 530 4
able to gaze upon the totality of significant events in time and space through a single work. An
example of this is "Panorama for the struggle for Tyrolean independence in 1809", by Michel Zeno
Diemer. This was the nineteenth century equivalent of "Saving Private Ryan", with the viewer
being transported to a hazardous time and location to experience a situation of spectacular interest
in relative safety and comfort.
At the beginning of the twentieth century the still panorama was quickly displaced by film as the
means of vicarious experience. With the introduction of television, and more particularly the
proliferation of personal computers over the last decade, screen-based media, which satisfy the
(instant) human desire for vicarious experience, have become pervasive (Hotten and Diprose,
2000).
Garden spectacle and movement
The garden can also be located within an historical framework of spectacle. However, the
popularity of the exotic garden has not waveredÉuntil now. With the vicarious representation of
garden in cinematic form together with the potential offered by virtuality to provide (instant)
gratification of landscape spectacle, the future of the real ãgarden°o is now less certain. We suggest
that the garden within human imagination is likely to become the major focus in the future, a state
that Riley predicted ten years ago (Riley, 1997):
É vicariousÉ landscape experienceÉ fantasy landscape or internal landscape narrativeÉ
Landscape scholars have paid almost no attention to this vicarious, internally structured
landscape - despite our fascination with deconstructionism, with its tenets of the
indeterminacy of the text and the open-endedness of interpretation and its common sense -
confirmed contention that such landscape readings will exist and will vary. These internal
landscapes might well be central landscape experiences in a person°os life.
Our consciousness as observers may be vastly more powerful in our construction of visual texts
than ever imagined. Robert Lanza outlines this dualist dilemma (Lanza, 2007):
Éa reversal, of the central mystery of knowledge: that the laws of the world were somehow
created to produce the observer. And more important than this, that the observer in a
significant sense creates reality and not the other way around... We are living through a
profound shift in worldview, from the belief that time and space are entities in the universe to
one in which time and space belong to the living. Think of all the recent book titles - The End
of Science, The End of History, The End of Eternity, The End of Certainty, The End of
Nature, and The End of Time. Only for a moment, while we sort out the reality that time and
space do not exist, will it feel like madness.
From this view are we to expect ãThe End of the Garden°o?
With the above ideas in mind we have created the following historical list of garden representation
for spectacle and stillness. Actual movement to satisfy need for spectacle is noted as well as the
(metaphorical) concept of stillness as duration.
Real Gardens and Landscape:
1. Native landscape / authentic landscape / reality (Historical Eastern and Persian garden);
Stillness and duration; BC to present
2. Exotic landscape / stolen landscapes / altered realities; Extreme movement; 1850s to present
Artistic and Photographic Representations of Gardens and Landscape:
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3. Dreamscapes / artistic landscape / panoramic landscapes in 2D and 3D (for example, sci-fi
drawings); Some movement; Panoramas 1800 to 1900
Cinematic Representations of Gardens and Landscape:
4. Classic vicarious landscape / TV and epic cinematic landscape (for example, The Constant
Gardener); Limited movement and stillness as duration landscape imagery; 1920s -1950s to
present
5. Hybrid vicarious landscapes / blue screen digital landscapes for cinema (for example, House
of Flying Daggers / Matrix / Sin City); 1990s to present
6. Screen-based, virtual arena landscapes ãA°o, cinematic-themed gaming arenas that are spinoffs
from film (for example, Star Wars); Stillness and instantaneous gratification; 1990s to
present
7. Screen based, virtual arena landscapes ãB°o, standard gaming arenas which may have movie
spin offs (for example Final Fantasy / Spirits Within); Stillness and instantaneous
gratification; 1990s to present
ãThe end of the Garden°o &endash; the Posturban future
8. 3D fully immersive arenas / simulated 3D / 360 degree stereoscopic environments; Stillness
and instantaneous gratification; Late 1990s to present
9. Immersive virtual "parallel" realities and communities (for example, the Second Life 'game°o
and addictive dreamlands; Stillness and instantaneous gratification; 2000s to present
Towards posturbanism
The posturban garden is more an illusion, as are film or digital gaming arenas or thirdspace hybrid
landscapes, than a real artefact. One of the strengths of posturban landscape is that it provides
neutral ground: a territory for fusion of peoples (for example, within online communities) beyond
the contested, sometimes over-regulated and typically inequitable landscape reality. We contend
that posturban virtuality can, in part, satisfy an individual°os need for spectacle. That is,
understanding, leisure, identity, and freedom, embodied in examples such as the individual
realising/morphing themselves into a virtual person in Second Life (Sobchack, 2000); or as
character/player within an alternative internet gaming universe (Irvine, 2007); or as the location for
an immigrant to rise above alienation within (an)other place, enabling reconnection to
authentic/native communities.
Physical distance to exotic spectacle has been overcome, and reconnection to distant community is
now instantaneous. Stillness is the result. So what of the garden? Should real landscapes be
reinterpreted with this in mind, seeking out timeless, authentic, and still places of sanctuary?
Should real space be informed by new environments derived from film, virtual gaming arenas, and
thirdspace hybrid landscapes? In schools of architecture this has been happening for many years as
a regular aspect of the pedagogical instruction, directing students away from naïve reproduction of
standard/functional types and towards creative processes informed by the realm of vicarious
landscape and idea (Diprose and Hotten, 1999).
At one end of the spectrum the result may be (real) recreations of authentic still and timeless
gardens reminiscent of the Generalife garden. This approach can be identified in the rusticmodernist
gardens of Fernando Caruncho. Caruncho notes that "in order to travel into the future, it
is necessary to walk towards the pure clarity of the past" (Cooper and Taylor, 2000). This
authentic/recreation garden type may be considered as a site of contemplation and of stillness, in
which the mind is free to travel. In contraposition to this, our ãdeath of the garden°o proposition
suggests the rise of a posturban thirdspace - a place of dazzling speed and diverse garden spectacle.
This posturban landscape may include globalised gardens of varied phosphoric movement
Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth: CADE: Computers in Art and Design Education Conference 12-14 September 2007. Conference Proceedings,
ISBN 1 74067 530 4
embracing the viewer - electric displays of instantaneous gratification resembling Eros (Piccadilly
Circus). While the need for spectacle may be satisfied in this realm, the garden is recreated as a
restless and uneasy site, inevitably overwhelming the mind. The desires of the designer and the
gardener respectively are likely to be expressed and fulfilled within and between these spatially
schizophrenic realms. "In today°os electronic space of computerized realities, the sage°os words
would fare quite well, for one can hear in them all at once: the practical voice of ancient wisdom,
the dissenting voice of postcoloniality, and the visionary voice of technology." (Minh-ha, 2005).
Posturban space is likely to be a world colonised by architects and all those that seek designs and
dreamscapes for stillness and spectacle. If that°os the case, we will see you there.
References
Bukatman, S. (2000) "Taking Shape: Morphing and the Performance of Self", in
MetaMorphing: Visual Transformation and the Culture of Quick Change, Sobchack, V. editor,
Mineapolis, University of Minnesota
Carnes, P. Delmonico, D. Griffin, E. Moriarity, J. (2001) In the Shadows of the Net: Breaking
Free of Compulsive Online Sexual Behavior, Center City Minnesota: Hazelden
Comment, B. (1999) The Panorama, London, Reaktion
Cooper, G. and Taylor, G. (2000) Mirrors of Paradise. The Gardens of Fernando Caruncho, New
York, The Montacelli Press P. 11
Cosgrove, D. (1997) Spectacle and Society: Landscape as Theater in Premodern and Postmodern
Cities, in Understanding Ordinary Landscapes, Groth, P. editor, New Haven, Yale University
Press, pp. 102-103.
Deleuze, G. (1991) Le Pli, Paris, Editions de Minuit
Diprose, P. and Hotten, R. (1999), From Paris Texas to the Road Warrior. Proceedings of ACADIA
Computer aided landscapes and the road movie - the place of film and television media within
architectural education, Snowbird Utah
Hotten, R. and Diprose, P. (2000) From Dreamtime to QuickTime: The resurgence of the 360-
degree panoramic view as a form of computer-synthesised architectural representation.
Proceedings of ACADIA Eternity, Infinity and Virtuality in Architecture, Washington
Hotten, R. and. Diprose, P. (2003) Posturbanism: Eco design from norm to formlessness, San
Francisco Institute of Architects, Eco Wave Conference, Berkeley, California
Irvine, D. (2007) Virtual worlds, real money, CNN Future Summit
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/03/12/fs.virtualmoney/index.html
Lanza, R. (2007) A New Theory of the Universe: Biocentrism builds on quantum physics by putting
life into the equation, American Scholar, Spring 2007, VOL. 76 Issue 2, p. 18-33
Max-Neef, M. (1992) "Development and Human Needs", in Real-life Economics: Understanding
Wealth Creation, P. Ekins and M. Max-Neef (Eds), New York, Routledge
Minh-ha, T. (2005) The Digital Film Event, New York, Routledge
Oettermann, S. (1997) The Panorama: history of a mass medium, translated by D. Schneider, New
York, Zone Books
Saito, K. (1970) Japanese Gardening Hints, Tokyo: Japan Publications
Riley, R. (1997) "The Visible, the Visual, and the Vicarious: Questions about vision, landscape, and
experience", in Understanding Ordinary Landscapes, Groth, P. and Bressi, T. W. Editors, Ann
Arbor, Edwards Brothers Inc, p. 207
Searle, J. (2006) Dualism Revisited, online paper, UC Berkeley course information.
Virilio, P, (1991) The Lost Dimension, New York, Semiotext
Biographical Notes
Robert D. HOTTEN was most recently a guest "Professeur Associe" in Paris, and formerly a
Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland. With a Joint Program in Urban Design Masters
from the University of California, Berkeley, he has practiced and taught architecture, landscape,
Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth: CADE: Computers in Art and Design Education Conference 12-14 September 2007. Conference Proceedings,
ISBN 1 74067 530 4
urban design, film, and CAD/CAE/CAM/GIS as a Registered Architect. He presented a paper
"From Dreamtime to Quicktime: Panoramas" at the ACADIA conference in Washington, October
2000. Recent work included papers at the SFIA Eco-Wave Conferences, 2001 - 2005, Berkeley,
California. He continues to develop sustainable alternatives at his eco living community project in
Hawaii and has a highly rated web site in "sustainable architecture", www.aloha.net/~laumana. His
personal interests include toying with a "virtual professor" status.
Between 1990 and 2002 Peter balanced his time between architectural practice in Whitford and
teaching/research. Over those years he taught architectural design at the University of Auckland and
landscape design at Unitec. His theoretical interests include: Design for sustainability; the zone of
mediation between interior and exterior, veranda and outdoor room architecture; computer
visualisation and landscape including panoramic representation and virtuality and film art and
animated imagery.
Peter is past chairperson of the New Zealand Institute of Architects Environment Task Group and
was involved in writing and reviewing the NZIA Environmental Policy
More recently Peter has devoted his energy and enthusiasm to architectural practice and specifically
to the integrated and sympathetic design of landscapes and architecture.
Kelly O°oMEARA joined the practice as a Landscape Architect / Architectural Assistant, after
graduating from UNITEC in 2003. His strong design ability and software skills - including the use
of ArchiCAD, Artlantis and Photoshop - add yet another facet to the office's presentation abilities.
Kelly's Whitford background gives him an intimate understanding local rural development, heritage
and planting. His knowledge of soft landscaping is as extensive as his plant obsession.
Illustrations
Figs. 1 & 2. Reflection Pools, Alhambra and Generalife Garden, Granada, Spain, P. Diprose, 2005
Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth: CADE: Computers in Art and Design Education Conference 12-14 September 2007. Conference Proceedings,
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Fig. 3. Jets and Pool, Alhambra, P. Diprose 1995. Fig. 4. Rock garden, Kyoto, K. O°oMeara 2006
Figs. 5 & 6. Zen Garden - Ryoanji, Kyoto, K. O°oMeara 2006
Figs. 7 & 8. Contrasting landscapes from "The Constant Gardener", UK Film Council, 2005
Fig. 9. Panorama of the Irwin Garden at the Getty Center Los Angeles, Robert Hotten, 1999
Figure 10. Rosales Garden, Madrid 1988, F. Caruncho Figure 11. Caruncho Garden, Madrid 1989
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Figure 12. Caruncho Garden, Madrid 1989, F. Caruncho
Fig. 13. Eros, Piccadilly Circus, London Fig. 14. ãHolodeck°o, CAVE Fakespace Systems 2007
Virtual Tour Gallery, Biennale di Venezia 2000
aloha.net/~laumana/susarcdesindex.html Index. catalogue
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