Cultural Landscapes.

’Cultural properties of a landscape represent the combined works of nature and man’

This definition of the World Heritage Committee refers to cultural landscapes as an entity where man and nature are present together, next to each other. At LandSpekt we like to think differently about landscapes we create, where man is part of the landscape, and by enhancing natural habitats in human-faced urban environments, we can work towards this vision.

In each project we work on, we follow a design philosophy of revealing the traces that previous land users left in the landscape, creating references to the natural and cultural history of the site. These references are left as footprints from previous communities, and form an integral part of the cultural landscape, even if these references are subtly placed in a natural setting. We believe in the necessity of an authentic and credible presence of expressive cultural elements in landscape and urban design.

At LandSpekt we are dedicated to work collaboratively with Mana Whenua and other partners to reveal the potential of cultural landscapes across New Zealand. We believe that landscape and urban design projects play an important role in transforming the whenua and these projects provide a great opportunity for cultural expression. The reflection on the history of each individual site can form a tight bond between the past, present and future communities, and our aim is to create open spaces where the stories of the landscape can be shared and new stories can be created.