Layers of land
the palimpsest concept in relation to landscape architecture
StrataLayeringSuperimpositionUrban developmentBrownfield renewalLandscape urbanismUrban designLandscape processUrban morphologyLandscape analysisDesign tool
This paper researches how the palimpsest concept is used in relation to landscape, and how it can function as a tool within landscape architecture. Palimpsest originally refers to old parchment handwritings, where new text has been applied on top of effaced, but still discernable, earlier writing. Superimposition of information is the core of the palimpsest concept, used within a range of scientific as well as cultural fields. The purpose of this paper is to find how a landscape palimpsest can be distinguished among the many different layers of landscape, such as historical or cultural, and to examine the potential use of the concept in theory and practice of the landscape architecture field. The study is conducted as a literature survey, examining the use of the palimpsest concept within academic works related to landscape. Examples of use of the palimpsest concept within archaeology, urban morphology, cultural geography, architecture and landscape architecture are analyzed in their respective context, based on their relation to landscape layers and potential use for landscape architects. The results indicate a range of uses within different disciplines. For landscape architects, the concept is concluded useful primarily as a method of landscape analysis and as a design approach. Using the palimpsest concept as a means to both verbalize in theory and implement in practice the diverse layers of landscape, has potential to enhance the inherent values of a site in analysis and design.