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In this article, I will give a brief overview of the development of teaching and research in landscape architecture in Wageningen by studying the relationships between practice, education and research over the past 50 years. The purpose of this article is to provide a first explorative overview. So far, few – if any – publications exist on this issue in an international context. The research method is based on the principles of case study research, logical argumentation and comparative analysis. The research material is largely Dutch; publications, projects. The outline is made up of three main sections, based on development over the last 50 years of landscape architecture education in Wageningen. New design knowledge and work domains for a growing number of landscape architects have emerged over the last 50 years. The academic environment of Wageningen University has strengthened the position of landscape architecture in meeting the new challenges of climate change; the combination of knowledge of the landscape as a natural system and conceptual ways of thinking seems to be a unique and solid basis for the future. L’article dresse une synthèse du développement de l’enseignement et de la recherche en architecture de paysage à Wageningue, au prisme des relations entre pratique, éducation et recherche au cours des 50 dernières années. L’objectif de cet article est de donner un premier aperçu exploratoire. La méthodologie est basée sur les principes de la recherche par étude de cas, de l’argumentation logique et de l’analyse comparative. Le corpus de recherche est en grande partie néerlandais et comprend des publications et des projets. Le plan s’articule en trois sections principales, basées sur l’évolution chronologique des grandes étapes de l’enseignement à Wageningue. De nouvelles connaissances en conception et de nouveaux domaines de travail pour un nombre croissant d’architectes-paysagistes ont émergé au cours du temps. L’environnement académique de l’université de Wageningue a renforcé la position de l’architecture de paysage face aux nouveaux défis du changement climatique ; la combinaison de la connaissance du paysage en tant que système naturel et des modes de pensée conceptuels semble être une base unique et solide pour l’avenir.

This communication aims to bring to the foreground something academic discussion can’t ignore: rather than emulating other disciplines, why can’t architects rely on a methodological approach to doctoral practice that makes its own praxis central to its research? Why can’t the enduring making of design speculation be embedded as pivotal to critical and prospective qualitative enquiry? My questions allude to the necessity of transdisciplinary approaches to architectural doctorates—concerned with relevance above verification, subtly tacit as well as explicit forms of knowledge. I advocate a methodological path that attempts to build a bridge between architectural theory and practice—disconnected, I argue, by conventional modes in academia. This communication delineates context and precedence in this field of research, before using the close experience of a PhD case study, to present research through designing as a projective journey valuable in grasping ambiguous yet fundamental aspects of architectural knowledge. Esta comunicación quiere traer al centro del debate académico algo que no podemos dejar pasar: ¿en vez de emular otras disciplinas, por qué los arquitectos no permitimos que la praxis devenga una herramienta central en la investigación doctoral? ¿Por qué algo tan familiar como la especulación proyectual no puede formar parte de una crítica y prospectiva indagación cualitativa? Estas preguntas aluden a la necesidad de aproximaciones transdisciplinares a los doctorados arquitectónicos. Prácticas concernidas por formas entrelazadas de conocimiento tácito y explícito, que anteponen lo relevante a lo verificable; un sendero metodológico que trata de construir puentes entre teoría y práctica. Esta comunicación empieza delineando desarrollos previos en este campo de investigación y sigue explicando la experiencia cercana de un doctorado en curso, con el objetivo de sugerir la investigación a través de la especulación proyectual como una herramienta valiosa para acceder a ambiguos aun vitales sustratos de conocimiento arquitectónico. This research was started thanks to a two-years scholarship by La Caixa Fellowship.

Architects historically devote their analytical and critical attention to architecture as an object, as a monument, separate to its context. Consequently, this thesis explores how architecture can create intimacy in public space. This proposition is investigated through a design through research approach, where action and reflection focuses on creating design knowledge. In combination with an iterative design process, film was used as the primary method, to design for the body. This thesis follows a linear structure where the literary and physical context of the research precedes the design explorations. Three scales were used from the installation, house and public building, each increasing in complexity. The aim was to allow the smaller scale explorations to inform the larger scale work; to challenge the historical hierarchy between large and small scale spaces. In the process, the explorations developed an architectural language and series of qualities which can be used to create intimate public spaces. To conclude, public intimacy is achieved by designing from the inside out, scaling up and down to create a series of small scale spaces within a larger space, which give form to qualities of edge, depth and atmosphere, which afford a sense of intimacy.

Collaboration between classrooms, in a digital environment, was explored using the self-identifiers of connectivity, constructivism, and collaborative comforts to partner teachers. The research question investigated was, how might emerging research on connectivity, constructivism and collaboration within the digital environment inform the design of an interactive website that enhances the ways in which teachers are able to collaborate with colleagues around the world based on the development of a more complex partnering system? The Design as Education Research Framework was used to implement the ‘design as research’ method and resulted in the design of the research object, an interactive website, TeachersConnecting.com. Multiple data sources that informed the design process were: the research object, a development journal, feedback from a development panel, and academic literature in the field. Reflection via a virtual convener, practical applications of connectivism and constructivism, as well as the impact of a development panel on ‘design as research’ were described. Cross-classroom collaboration projects were organized into a matrix that was developed based on the comforts.