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Bas Smets explains the difference between land and landscape and how this theory is inspiring his landscape designs. He recounts that Flanders’ landscape, with its minimal topographical differences, forced him, as a designer, to analyse his subject matter very carefully.
When approaching a design Smets searches for the structuring elements of the landscape in aerial photographs. This way he discovers ‘an exemplary landscape’ that captures the organisation of the new landscape he has to design.
Time is another essential component taken into account by the designer. Landscapes are subject to cycles, to the rhythm of seasons, to day and night, growth and rest. These variable aspects are incorporated in his analyses of and his design for contemporary landscapes.
This kind of approach in not limited only to Flanders, but can be utilized elsewhere as demonstrated by Smets’ approach to his designs in France. (5'55")