ABSTRACT
In its broadest sense, “The term language designates any signifying whole (system) be it verbal, musical, visual, gestural, etc. We speak a language of architecture, a language of music or a language of landscape.”1 This chapter concerns theories of design as a language, as a means to communicate through design. The idea that landscapes could be designed to communicate ideas prompted speculations that landscapes could be read or interpreted as texts, which in turn spurred debates on interpretation and meaning. If a designer can communicate ideas, how do people interpret these ideas from the landscape? What if their interpretation was different from the designer’s intent? Can landscapes mean or must they? If landscapes can mean, what are the rules structuring this meaning? As the philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) notes,
If it is true that there is always more than one way of construing a text, it is
not true that all interpretations are equal and may be assimilated to so-called
rules of thumb . . . It is always possible to argue for or against an interpreta-
tion, to confront interpretations, to arbitrate between them, and to seek for an
agreement, even if this agreement remains beyond our reach.2
