Touched on here on two critical factors in both urban and rural landscape intervention – how we perceive what we see is not at first intuitive and designers need to have a framework for referencing what others perceive who are not trained in visual literacy and secondly – how far is the “natural landscape” actually “natural” if as it now seems , even ancient landscapes were modified by their nomadic inhabitants through fire and clearing to facilitate hunting and to assure security of views to prevent ambush etc.
Also interesting reference to early cognitive perception research of landscapes

Take a look at the painting above. It’s one of Thomas Cole’s most famous works, commonly known as The Oxbow.¹ It’s got a little something for everyone. A twisted old tree. A menacing thunderstorm. Soaring cumulonimbus clouds. A spot of sunlight. A meandering river. Well manicured farm fields. I could go on and on. Part of the genius behind Cole’s Oxbow is that it appeals to various cognitive processes that draw us into a landscape. There have bee … Read More

via Per Square Mile