Landscape design for different cultures

Landscape architecture is a profession that is exposed to many different and diverse factors. Culture is one of the most influential elements in landscape design. All that we do and surrounds us is culture. A landscape architect throughout his/her career may be part of a design team consisting of people with different cultural backgrounds and must be able to adapt in any case. Some examples of the above mentioned is a private garden designed for a foreign client and two examples of designing luxury resorts.

In Athens, some residences are not Greek and have different cultural background. In this case, a private garden in Palaio Psihiko was designed having in mind the everyday living habits of the clients as well as the symbolic meaning of some elements like earth and fire according to their religion.

In Peloponnese, the Costa Navarino resort was designed by a team of architects and landscape architects with different culture but with a common concept: to retain and respect the "genius loci" of the place and to make the resort part of it.

In Marrakesh in Morocco, the Jawhar Resort was designed by the influence of the eastern culture. The architecture and also the landscape architecture have followed the needs of the users therefore places for praying, tearooms and hamam areas were constructed.

Projects like these demonstrate that we do not need to worry about globalization but to take advantage of it and be part of a world exchange of ideas which leads to the enhancement of existing design approaches and the creation of new ones.

by Eleni Mente

Eleni Mente is a landscape architect and an agriculturist. She holds an MA Master's degree from the University of Sheffield, UK and she has studied Agriculture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She has worked in private practices as a landscape architect and she is a co-founder of the office PM:Landscape Architects since 2010 (www.pmlandscape.gr). The office is representing the French landscape architecture company Jean Mus & cie. in Greece.