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This question was posed to me and my fellow degree students as we neared the end of our studies (some years ago now!). Overwhelmingly, the answer given was ‘communication’. Apparently our response was typical of landscape architecture students in the UK. We differed from students in the US, who were more preoccupied with the dreaded ‘drainage and grading’ which features as a knotty problem-solving task in their professional exams, so the slant towards this more technical skill is perhaps understandable. And of course mastering drainage and grading certainly is vital.
But then so is designing with plants and hard materials in a way sensitive to the character and context of your project site to achieve a scheme that meets client and stakeholder aspirations and needs, within the given constraints. Equally important is a good understanding of soil science, horticulture, ecology, construction techniques, to mention a few more.
Overarching and underpinning all these aspects of the landscape architect’s role is communication. After more than 10 years of practise I believe more strongly than ever that communication is the most important skill of all.
Landscape architects communicate on many different levels, in a wide variety of ways. We interact with a wide cross-section of the population, from school children to chief executives and from barristers and mayors to bus drivers and allotment holders. We talk on the phone, on conference and video calls, face to face, in formal and informal situations. We scribble sketches on envelopes and produce polished computer-generated plans. We deliver succinct but critically important one-liner emails and agonise over lengthy technical reports. Occasionally we send letters and even faxes! In addition we now have a bewildering variety of digital communications media. As well as generating these, we are also on the receiving end of all manner of communications from others and need to be skilled in interpreting these.
In my experience, the realisation of a successful project will be much more likely if communication has been effective throughout the life of the project, from concept to completion (and beyond). What they famously had in the 1967 film ‘Cool Hand Luke’ was, “a failure to communicate”. While the kind of communication the brutal Captain was referring to is not quite what we are aiming for, this phrase is one that immediately occurs to me when project problems occur – poor communication is nearly always to blame.
So, while my life-long learning continues and my technical skills and understanding develop, I shall never rest on my laurels when it comes to communication and hope that in years to come I will look back at this, my first ever blog, and not be too embarrassed!
