Material Matters

Material Matters is an excerpt from Landscape Theory in Design. The intent of Landscape Theory in Design is to introduce theoretical ideas to students without the use of jargon or an assumption of extensive knowledge in other fields, and in doing so, link these ideas to the processes of design. Material Matters is one of five chapters in the book. Each chapter explains the theoretical groundings of the theory, why it matters to design, an example of the theory in landscape architecture from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, debates surrounding the theory (particularly as they elaborate modern and postmodern thought) and primary readings that can be read as companions to the text. There are also questions for students to consider. First, you will be introduced to Materiality and its employment in design through the theories of Dialectical Materialism, Medium is the Message, Material Practices, and Encoding. Second, you will be introduced to Truth of Materials and its use in design through the theories of Tectonic Expression, Geomorphic Agents, Aspects of Stone, Material Allusion, and Fake, But Not Artificial. Third, you will be introduced to Palimpsest and its employment of in design through Residuality, Palimpsest Revealed, Future Palimpsest, and Fictional Palimpsest.