Creativity and Education
Ignacio F. Bunster-Ossa, ASLA discusses learning and
creativity and the future of education in landscape architecture.
"There are forces at work that are straining the link
between what we learn and what we need to do. Information technologies,
computerization, mobility, increased longevity, and global regionalization, to
name a few, are demanding a constant updating in professional skills and
approaches to practice. Under such fluidity, what should future landscape
architects be learning?
A complex world should be viewed as our greatest asset
and perhaps our best source of future relevance. Someone, after all, has to make
sense of the societal forces at work, of the technology, of the flow of information,
of the development of programs, of the political and economic processes,
and-through planning and design responses-draw out the poetic latency of it all.
I, for one, would rise to the challenge. But are we collectively prepared to
accept it?
Three societal factors will fundamentally impact the
identity and practice of landscape architecture: the expansion of the world's
population; the widening purview of sustainability; and the individuation of
local communities. These are the factors that should trigger a reevaluation of
what is taught, in the hope that new thought can propel the profession's
continued creation.
The plea is for practitioners and educators to mobilize
in concert to ensure that the profession retains a relevant voice in defining the
quality and content of human settlements."
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