Summary

"Narratives . . . intersect with sites, accumulate as layers of history, organize sequences, and inhere in the very materials and processes of the landscape. In various ways, stories 'take place.'" --From Landscape Narratives

Narrative offers fascinating ways of knowing and shaping landscapes not typically acknowledged in conventional documentation, mapping, surveys, or even in the formal concerns of design. This book establishes a comprehensive framework for understanding the elements, processes, and forms of landscape narratives. Illustrating specific narrative practices that can be applied across a range of design projects, it bridges the gap between theory and practice by tracing the narratives of specific projects and places, including the restoration of New Jersey's Meadowlands and the road stories of Highway 61 in Mississippi.

Drawn from insights in literary theory, cultural geography, and visual art, Landscape Narratives traverses a broad range of disciplines and practices concerned with the social identity, history, and nature of place. Revealing exciting possibilities for preservation and heritage planning, public art, sustainable design, and other areas, Landscape Narratives is important reading for landscape architects, planners, and other designers involved in historic preservation, public art projects, and community and park design.