Massachusetts-based firm speaks at Landscape Architecture Series

02/29/08 - Richard "Skip" Burck, the owner of Richard Burck Associates, a Massachusetts-based landscape architecture firm, explained guiding principles behind his business's practices last night at the University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute.Burck said environmental sustainability and dynamic viewpoints were two of the chief elements he and his associates consider when working on a landscape project.

Citing two textbooks, he pointed out that the three objectives of design were to provide the subject a rich, coherent view, clarify and strengthen the viewpoint, and deepen the subject's grasp of the environment.

"We use this information in all of our large-scale projects," Burck said, later adding that the principles are also used in small-scale ones.

"An Introduction to the Study of Landscape Design," written by two Harvard University professors in 1917, offered more specific advice. "A road serves other purposes in landscape design than mere providence for ease of traffic," Burck read, explaining that roads can be manipulated to take advantage of scenery.

To accomplish these principles, Burck said his company will employ constraint points, or points where the subject's view is restricted by a wall, fence or two buildings. Burck Associates also uses layouts with elevation points, similar to theatrical designs, in many of their projects.

"I think the most important thing in urban lands in particular is people," Burck said. "People are the changing elements. What that does is put all that on display in a dynamic way."

Theatrical layouts also provide unique vantage points, Burck said. Other architectural techniques Burck Associates use come from Ancient Roman houses, which Burck found intriguing while living in Italy for a year. When visiting a house called the "house of the little bull" in Italy, Burck noticed different features of the house, such as fountains or gardens, while standing in certain places. The architectural feature is called "procession."

"I had always thought that Greek and Roman architecture was pretty simple," Burck said. "But I started to run into these very angular views."

Burck said that when entertaining, Romans would designate seating through their invitations and certain guests were given better viewpoints of the house.

Another element of procession in Rome is the strategic layout of the city, Burck said. A medieval pope placed churches at high points in the city and centered them on a road that went through the city so pilgrims could visit them all, he explained.

Burck decided to incorporate these techniques into some of his company's projects, which include a garden installation in a graduate housing complex for Harvard graduate students, a quadrangle-like space at Georgia Tech University and an outdoor layout for a historic area of Beirut, Lebanon. The area has relics from the Crusades, Burck said.

The Harvard graduate housing complex, Burck said, was a low-budget project to beautify a weight-sensitive roof. A pre-project picture showed a grimy, unattractive roof.

The post-project picture showed a garden with several kinds of shrubs, benches and walkways. Burck said that to keep weight concerns minimal, the soil on the roof was only about five inches thick and the shrubs were specially selected to be able to grow in low-soil conditions.