Some of you may have already questioned and played with just the how a landscape narrative unfolds. When I say “landscape narrative unfolds” I refer to the sequence of messages as one moves through a series of landscape spaces. Just to be sure, here are a number of considerations: how a landscape narrative is read (as a choreography of the five senses) while moving through a sequence of spaces; what to consider if your landscape participant is walking toward and then up or down a flight of stairs, an overlook’s crest, or an apartment or home’s balcony railing. Numerous city blocks in Wellington, NZ have alleyways that cut through the block and in the middle open up to a small courtyard. This kind of spatial narrative shows us (yes, I know, I have to say it) in plan view how a narrative would unfold.
Gibson’s (1979) diagram below helps us here. Just walking down an alleyway toward what can be seen up ahead, as the initial introduction to a courtyard, the sequence of what comes into view. The sequence in which the narrative unfolds is what can be seen first straight ahead. With a wall to your left, the long view down the alley and across a part of the courtyard opens up step-by-step from right to left. As you cross the courtyard, walking toward the next alley with a building corner defining the right side of the alley opening, the narrative sequence unfolds from left to right.
Gibson, J. J. 1979. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.