The Art of Places (Midterm Inspiration!)

Welcome to Midterms! Balancing homework, studying, sleeping, and eating as a student at The Academy does not only include coffee, books, and Microsoft Word. Art is not born from Red Bull, flash cards, and 6 hours of free time. AAU midterm projects must be inspired and revolutionized, balancing color, space, concept, medium, legibility.

To quote the famous impressionist painter Edgar Degas: “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”

So what keeps a landscape architecture student inspired during late nights, when the .3 fine line pens are dulling and the “Acacia” green trees start looking too similar to the “Acid Yellow” shrubbery? We’ve found the answer!

A recent article titled “Well-being enhanced more by places than objects,..”, explains how the emotional receptors in the brain are “fired up” when a person visits a place connected with memories. According to their studies, places provide feelings like “safety,” “belonging”, and even a sense of “magnetic pull”.  For example, swinging on the swing set at your family’s favorite childhood park could invoke much more emotion about your mom than holding a pair of her socks in your hand.

Landscape architects have the ability to create generations of emotion through memories created inside their art piece. So, if you’re an aspiring architect, if you’re out there revolutionizing landscapes, buildings, and rooms, remember the power your art has to change a person’s life path.

Finally, if an artist looks to invoke emotion, it could be argued that emotion is needed to create the art piece. The answer?

Dear Art Students,

Find the right place to work on your project. There’s a good chance the right place will inspire you even more than the Copic Sketch Marker in your hand.

On behalf of the AAU School of Landscape Architecture, good luck on your midterms!