A Landscape Inventory

‘A Landscape Inventory’ is a richly illustrated and elegantly designed manifesto on landscape experimentation, the work of the internationally renowned architect, Michel Desvigne. As an “anti-monograph,” this publication is not comprehensive and projects are not discussed in depth. Instead, it features a composite view of elements such as tree pattern and density across scales, from diminutive urban courtyard to territory, to reveal the weight of planting and material choices in shaping landscapes, irrespective of design language. Highly idiosyncratic, ‘A Landscape Inventory’ offers a broader reflection on how to present and represent landscapes, organized in two parts – equally casual and purposeful. The first discusses Desvigne’s trajectory, influences, and design method; the second is an inventory of elements, a contact sheet of details to be assembled and reconfigured without prescribed order. Both focused and panoramic, Desvigne’s antipathy for “recognizable design” is revealed with his ambition to resist political shifts and master planning with a panoply of landscape strategies such as pilot, demonstration garden, and prototype. Intended to be of great interest to those concerned with the shaping of the environment, this publication can be used as a thesaurus of landscape components – a quick reference to trigger the design imagination of students and other curious individuals.