Although referring to the structure of a poem, consider the following in regard to the development of a landscape design. “The formal analysis of a poem is [for the reader] largely a demonstration of probability through all the parts. Or better, in the [poem’s] beginning anything is possible; in the middle things become probable; in the ending everything is necessary” (Goodman, 1954, 14).
Pouillon’s “contingency” speaks of a certain causality in the sequencing of words chosen to express a story. Designers refer to this kind of development as flow. This is the connectivity between the words making up a narrative, or maybe points, lines, planes making up a painting, or the spatial character of activity settings comprising a landscape “depending for [their] existence, occurrence, character, etc. on something not yet certain.” (Chatman, 1980, 47.)
Alexander again helps us understand the role of contingency when he recognizes the sequential nature of working through the patterns making up A Pattern Language (1977), “moving always from the ones which create structures, to the ones which embellish those structures, and then to those which embellish the embellishments…” (Alexander, 1977, xviii). Alexander’s recognition of the sequential ordering of patterns is both an application and an exploration of the idea of context found in storytelling.
Alexander, C. 1977. A Pattern Language: Towns, Building, and Construction. New York: Oxford.
Chatman, S. 1980. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
Goodman, P. 1954. The Structure of Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago.