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What is interior
landscaping?
Interior landscaping is the practice of designing, arranging,
and caring for living plants in enclosed environments. Planterra
calls this 'interior landscaping' even though land is not literally
being reshaped. 'Interior landscaping' is an appropriate term
because indoor environments contain plains, angles, and horizons
that are softened, accentuated or altered by the addition of
plants and planters-thus landscaping the interior. Similar to
outdoor landscapes, interior landscapes provide spaces with
ornament, color, sculptural elements, focal points, and an overall
pleasant environment.
In the trade, interior landscaping is also known as plantscaping
and interiorscaping. Interior landscape firms will use one of
the three terms or a combination. While interior landscaping
is an accurate description of this specialty, plantscape and
interiorscape are words that were invented at the birth of the
interior landscape industry to define the trade. Plantscape
and interiorscape may have originated in the early 1970s as
the name of interior landscape companies but have since then
become generic phrases that describe the specialty.
Academics and authors tend to be aligned with one term set with
their own definition. Richard Gains, AIA the author of Interior
Plantscaping (1977), says he uses the term plantscapes to "differentiate
from interior landscape office planning." Gains' plantscape
definition is restricted to plants within enclosed structures.
Nelson Hammer, ASLA author of Interior Landscapes: An American
Design Portfolio of Green Environments (1999) features gardens
inside buildings defined as 'interior landscapes'. Interestingly,
Paul Cooper landscape architect and author of Interiorscapes:
gardens within buildings (2003) extends his definition to include
gardens that are "open to the air, as well as gardens that,
although not contained by the architecture, are intrinsic to
it." 'Interiorscape' is also the name of a trade magazine for
the interior landscape community. In contrast of the tendency
to favor one term, the cover of Interiorscape magazine bears
the slogan "interior plantscaper's most read, most awarded information
source since 1981." While the definitions differ, Interior landscape,
plantscape, and interiorscape are synonymous. |
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