Objective Landscape architecture criticism is a process in which scholars as third-party reviewers review the established practical works through specific academic perspectives and create knowledge in practice. This process is independent, critical and constructive. The specific knowledge generated by landscape architecture criticism can effectively expand the knowledge breadth and theoretical depth required by the design practice of scholars and practitioners in the field of landscape architecture design. Landscape architecture criticism can also enhance the cognitive understanding of the whole society on landscape architecture design, and serve as a bridge between landscape architecture design and the community that can help the two sides reach a consensus. Landscape architecture criticism can relate history and theory to the current practice, and thus promote the current design practice. With a focus on landscape architecture criticism, this research aims to carry forward the landscape architecture culture, guide the values of landscape architecture design, prosper the landscape architecture design and creation, enhance the understanding of the society on landscape architecture, and benefit the ideological discussion of contemporary Chinese landscape architecture through landscape architecture criticism. Finally, the research proposes to further create and cultivate a critical and experimental environment for contemporary landscape design practice.
Methods There are different methods and paths for landscape architecture criticism. Taking Zhu Yufan’s recent works, “Linka Space in Jiuzhai Scenic Area”, as research object, this research, by means of drawing restoration, designer interview and field experience implements a landscape architecture criticism on the aforesaid works with the two issues of everydayness and ritual as criticism path.
Results Different from Zhu Yufan’s previous works, the works of “Linka Space in Jiuzhai Scenic Area” establishes a balance and interaction between everydayness and ritual, which is a special design strategy of Linka space, making Linka space a place not only for daily recreation of local aborigines, but also for stimulation of visitors’ imagination. In the conventional practice of landscape architecture design, the research finds that the two methodologies are more likely to be singly rather than simultaneously applied to designs at different scales. The distinction between ritual and everydayness will make the site present two different trends: “Ritual creating” separated from everydayness is likely to transform the originally complex site problem into a formal problem, and even simplify the site problem into an abstract symbol. This simplification means a one-sided understanding of site complexity, and also means the loss of site possibilities. However, in the landscape design of “Linka Space in Jiuzhai Scenic Area”, the research finds a special design strategy. This strategy makes the relationship between ritual and the everydayness not a linear representation, but an interaction and complementation, which further nurtures the spirit of place in Jiuzhai Scenic Area without blocking other site possibilities. The research further discusses Linka Garden and Prayer Flag Square in an effort to, starting from the three pairs of relations of moving line, form and material, explore the implementation of the design strategy of “everydayness seeking” and “ritual creating”. Although Linka Garden and Prayer Flag Square have different spatial attributes, they are not isolated “plots”, and can associate uncertain behaviors with site development under specific circumstances. Imagine that if we only have Linka Garden here, it seems that we can’t feel the final surprise, but if we only have Prayer Banner Square, we will also feel a kind of inexplicable abruptness. The point that the research wants to make clear here is that Linka Garden and Prayer Flag Square are not only complementary in function, but also intertwined in atmosphere formed by everydayness and ritual. In the end, the research concludes that the sharp capture of the spirit of place in Jiuzhai Scenic Area and the restrained design language make Linka space the unity of reality and necessity and activity and reactivity, and the complex of daily life and spiritual imagination.
Conclusion On the one hand, domestic landscape architects face a lot of practice opportunities, while on the other hand, they fail to present either in-depth thinking or creative practice. The prosperity of landscape architecture practice reflects the infertility of landscape architecture design ideas. Obviously, the lack of landscape architecture criticism is one of the reasons for this, which entails landscape architecture criticism with in-depth thinking based on current practice. The emergence of such landscape architecture criticism can not only form an in-depth thinking and critical summary of the current landscape design practice within the discipline of landscape architecture, but also, more importantly, enable practitioners of landscape architecture design to regain practical creativity and spiritual freedom from routine and stereotyped operations by virtue of speculative and critical thinking.
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