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I am a delusional landscape architect,

Over the years, my work and thinking in landscape architecture have taken few turns and generally things have plateaued. The valley sides have plateaued and the mountains have dropped to flat moorlands. Woodland to grassland

What once seemed like a field grounded in creativity and purpose had evolved into something that was controlled and stagnant. I sat down to discuss a design with my lecturer of whom I mildly respected and it was soon apparent he also was on a similar level of dissolution however masked with the usual stuff you talk about when looking at some ideas. I wonder to myself why am I say hee doing this without any clue of the reality of the situation. It continued and Nothing was inspiring or it was hard to show I terrstdue to the marketed approach to everything the practice was set up for. Even before I finished my studies of excitement I became delusional in the practice. I became a delusional landscape architect.

now, don’t get scared that this is going to be all negative. It’s isn’t, it will be all daisies and butterflies from here on. No. This will be a critique and realistic to what I believe is really happening and how the value in what we do is currently missing, but can be captured potentially woth some minor changes.

Climate change, rewinding reconnecting, housing crisis, all meaning less without understanding what’s going on beneath them. Rewinding very nice sounds good animals coming back wealthy people having a nice time and feeling good about themselves in the world.

clinate crisis housing crisis. Build more houses and fix our shit for the climate. So let’s look at these from the beginning and how they connect into a wider.

Whilst being dulusional and trying to find where the value existed I ventured discovered something far more elusive: the unknown. sparked by the writings of philosophers like Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, who challenge us to view the world as a constantly evolving, interconnected network of forces—what they refer to as “The Machine.”

The delusional landscape architect

so to be delusional is to accept that your not really an expert but just pretending to be within a system of much bigger pretending. I guess you could say you are doing it for real but it’s a fairly

The more I design, the more I realise that our work as landscape architects often feels like an attempt to tame or organize the unpredictable. We celebrate ourselves as experts and professionals. That we may be however We rarely acknowledge the fact that the world—and nature, in particular—rarely behaves in ways we cannot fully anticipate and potentially does not connect from a professional lens.

accepting that there are always things we don’t know, and that the natural world will always retain some element of mystery. Whether it’s an ecosystem that responds in unexpected ways, a sudden cultural shift, our understanding will always be incomplete. And that’s where things get interesting.

Designing for the Unknown
So, how do we respond to this? I’ve come to believe that the future of meaningful landscape architecture lies in designing with an openness to the unknown. Instead of forcing order, our work should make space for change, growth, and adaptability. Landscapes should have the flexibility to evolve, to respond to forces we can’t predict, and to invite interactions that we didn’t see coming.

the Mystery the spirits
At the end of the day, this approach requires us to shift our mindset. We’re not just creators shaping the land; we’re participants in a vast, evolving conversation with the world around us. The unknown isn’t a barrier—it’s an invitation. It’s a reminder that there is always more to discover, more to explore, and more to embrace as we continue to design in ways that are resilient, meaningful, and alive with possibility.

By allowing for the unknown and welcoming it into our work, we open the door to a richer, full fat approach to landscape architecture.