The Sensual Qualities of Plants
Art and design are, as many would describe them, the manifestations of the internal cognitive and emotional senses of the artist and designer to make sense of the surrounding environment (Storr, 1992, 1990). Many would agree that the majority of the great works of art and designs in the world are in many ways inspired by either natural phenomena and/or natural elements within the environment. While the exact ways in which this inspiration and what maybe the mental processes involved in the individual observing the phenomena or element is still unclear. Furthermore, the answer to the question why are some people inspired more than others and why they are expressing the phenomena and/or element in such a way still remains one of the more ambiguous areas within psychology.
However, no element in nature has captured the imagination of poets, artists, designers and writers more than plants (Storr, 1990). Even in the Holy Books of The Great Religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism many citations can be found of plants and/or their parts.
Descriptions, Metaphors and Abstractions have all been used to describe Heaven, Life and Situations. In art and design, the descriptions, metaphors and abstractions are more personal and complex.
It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make men better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day Is fairer of a day Is fairer far, in May, Although it fall and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauty see, And in short measures life may perfect be.
(Ben Jonson, English Poet)
The poem above illustrates the depth of the argument that through careful observations and internal manifestations of the different plants and their characteristics he was able to create a work of art. Thus plant material are not to be considered in the field of landscape architecture as a building material that has form, color, texture, size and so forth, but rather they are unique in the sense they are alive.
This quality is a very important fact, for growth and change are always present. Furthermore, with these changes different emotions, sensations and thought are provoked by the person or persons experiencing a landscape.
For hope grew round me, like the twining vine, and fruits, and foliage, not my own, seemed mine.
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English Philosopher)
We can thus come to the conclusion that while the physical attributes of a plant material should be considered for the classic design qualities of form, size, color, texture, etc.; we must also consider the senses and the emotions that the plant will evoke in the human being.
Sensual and indeed physical understanding of the world will take place in the human mind by the information that the brain receives through the main senses the human being has (Hardy etal., 1990; Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989). Namely, Mobility, Vision, Sound, Touch, Smell and Taste. In all the senses plant material of a different kind can evoke a certain sensation, feeling, reflection and/or a higher and finer human trait. As such, in the outdoor environment and in landscape architectural projects the designer of these space (landscape architect) has a unique role to play in evoking these higher human traits. In other words, using the unique sensual qualities of this most unique of building materials, plants, the landscape architect can design for a higher human experience. One that rouses in the user of the outdoor space images, thoughts, reflection, sweet tastes, sound and music, perfume and mirth.
It is our intentions in this research to identify the native plant material in the Jeddah area that may be most beneficial for design purposes. Of course, the notion or idea of "most beneficial"
is a subjective issue. What may be considered as beneficial for design purposes may vary from person to person and indeed from designer to designer. However, there are general and widely accepted qualities a plant should have in a particular design or situation. These qualities are both physical and sensual.
Thus, we shall choose those native plants that offer to the designer certain and unique
physical attributes. These physical attributes are in the most part categorized in the following categories (Krieg, 1999).
1) Size: the most physical of features which will distinguish a plant from another and the type of plant from others (i.e. Palm, Tree, Shrub or Groundcover).
2) Habit: this physical feature is what distinguishes a certain plant type from one another and it describes the shape of the plant.
3) Texture: this physical trait is a relative one, in general it describes the foliage of the plant and the tactile projection it projects onto the observer. It is a relative trait due to the comparison of one plant's texture to another besides it or in the same field of vision.
4) Color: this physical trait describes not only the color of the foliage but also that of the different parts of the plant i.e. branches, trunk, flowers and fruit.
5) Other: there are some plants which have unique and special physical traits that are attributed to them and do not fall in any of the above categories. These plants and their traits will be described in this category.
We shall also make choices to the sensual attributes of the plant. These sensual attributes will be categorized according to the most obvious sense they evoke in the observer. While it is true that the sense stirred in one person may vary to another, nonetheless, we shall try to be as objective as possible in our evaluation and the more obvious sense will be chosen.
Furthermore, some plants will evoke more than one sense, for that purpose, one plant may fall or have the ability to stir one and/or all the senses. In addition, some plants will conjure a sense on a seasonal or indeed a day cycle basis, i.e. during flowing, fruiting, growth and the different times of the day and night. The different senses that will be categorized are as follows.
1) Vision: The most important of all the senses in terms of observation and registration of traits. While it is true that for the most part all plants are visually pleasing, one can not deny that certain plants will capture the attention of the eye a little more than others.
Furthermore, some plants with special physical traits will also force the viewer to prolong the observation of them. It is these types of plants that will be categorized in this category.
2) Touch: This category will describe plants that conjure a tactile sensation. Meaning, plants that either make the observer wanting to touch the plant or to the contrary, plants that make the observer repelled by their physical traits fearing an unpleasant tactile sensation.
3) Smell: This category will incorporate plants that have a unique smell either in their flowers, foliage and/or any part of them. For our purposes, we shall include plants that have a unique and pleasant odor. Reasons being, that unpleasant odors will most likely not be desired in their inclusion in design projects.
4) Sound or Hearing: This category will include those plants that make sounds due to their physical traits or due to their interactions with the surrounding environment (e.g. wind, heat, and wildlife)
5) Taste: This category will describe and include native plants that incite the observer to taste either the plant, its fruit or any part of it. This category may also include plants that have a very strong smell due to the nature of the human senses and the close relationship between taste and smell.
6) Movement: This category may prove to be the most difficult one to work with. On the one hand, the plant may only be moving and thus encouraging movement in the observer due to the presence of wind or other environmental factors that are not a constant. In another example, perhaps the seeds of the plant become air born and moving during a season.
Furthermore, a tree may invoke a child to climb and an elderly person to stand still. Thus the dilemma of this sense. We shall try to categorize in this sensual property only those plants that will summon movement in the observer with minimal environmental
interference, for the majority of the time and in an average adult with no physical handicaps.
All of these qualities are to assist the designer and landscape architect in designing a pleasant environment that responds aesthetically and functionally to the users of that space and their needs. However, design is not only based on the above categories and traits. Design is a discipline based on certain principles. As Krieg (1999) states,
All design principles that apply to architectonic elements apply to the utilization of plant materials. Mass, scale, proportion, juxtapositioning, and above all composition allow plants to delineate space. Foliage and floral color infuse life into and evoke attention towards the design. Visual and tactile textures of leaves and stems can be employed as design tools. (pp.193)
Thus, we shall also recommend for the different native plants certain ideal design situations.
Where we will recommend for the different species that have the suitable traits for use in landscape design projects and spaces a certain scheme based on the four main principles of Massing, Juxtapositioning, Scale and Proportion. As for the composition that is to be written and painted in the landscape with the native plants we shall examine and study, that remains
in the realm of the subjective. Meaning, it is the individual landscape architect that make his own manifestation of the knowledge and the information and then composes a new piece of art for others to enjoy and maybe to be inspired by.
References
Hardy, M.; Heyes, J.; Crews, J.; Rookes, P. ; and Wren, K.; (1990) Studying Child Psychology. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Kaplan, R. and Kaplan, S. (1989) The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective.
Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge Press.
Krieg, J.C. (1999) Desert Landscape Architecture. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.
Storr, A. (1990) The Dynamics of Creation. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
Storr, A. (1992) Music and The Mind. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
