The idea of environment is foundational to landscape architecture as backdrop, as surround, as something to help save.
But what is the environment, or an environment? First and foremost, it is a word that is so pervasiveand its meaning taken for grantedthat it is easily forgotten how recently the term has proliferated, particularly as a qualifier for myriad disciplines, institutions, and activities: environmental history, environmental studies, environmental science, environmental justice, environmental art, environmental planning, environmental protection, environmentalism. In our upcoming issue, LA+ ENVIRONMENT, designers and scholars illuminate the wide range of interpretations, histories, and projects that engage with this elusive idea.
