The discipline of landscape architecture in South Africa has been covered in five main popular printed media in the form of trade related journals and magazines. South African Landscape Architecture: A Reader is however the first collection of papers written by academics actively involved with landscape architecture research. The Reader serves as a platform for current South African landscape architecture research and theory to be locally and internationally distributed, making it widely accessible to peers involved with research. Publishing through Unisa Press (the largest local academic publishing house) is for these reasons an appropriate choice. All the papers have undergone editorial review and every paper was double-blind peer reviewed (a process independently facilitated by Unisa Press). This book provides an accessible vehicle for the dissemination of this research. While the longer papers are more theoretical, the shorter project descriptions focus more on the application of theory to design projects and are usually more comprehensively illustrated. Several of the authors are involved in practice and supplement their research with results from inquiry undertaken through practice - design as research. These project descriptions add tremendous value to the discipline and to an integration of academia and the profession. This book will significantly add to the dialogue on the developing discourse of South African landscape architecture and enhance the reciprocal dynamic between praxis and academia.

This publication is a collection of professional landscape architecture projects which have received awards of merit from the Institute for Landscape Architecture in South Africa. This represents some of the most significant landscape interventions the profession has produced over more than 25 years. Over the last three decades only five publications on South African landscape architecture are available in print. These form the only source of written material for research purposes on many topics related to the profession in South Africa. If such resources are not conserved in some way, it will inevitably become increasingly fragmented and ultimately very difficult to collect. The Compendium thus collects this published material on the 63 Merit Award projects in its original form, in order to document this resource, given its historical and cultural value.

South African landscape architecture: A compendium is a ground-breaking publication, celebrating 64 of South Africa's outstanding landscape architecture projects. Influential design, environmental, cultural and scientific professional practice projects, spanning more than 25 years, are documented in full-colour. Since 1985, the Institute for Landscape architects of South Africa (ILASA) has recognised landscape architecture projects worthy of merit awards. These renowned projects are chronologically ordered in articles, many of which have previously been published in journals (several of which are no longer in print). The merit award projects, as published in the original journals, are collected here to preserve them as a set of historically significant (and landmark) projects in one consolidated publication, while showcasing the best professional work of South Africa's prominent landscape architects. As an invaluable all-in-one resource to contemporary practitioners and scholars, the Compendium presents those key projects which led to the profession becoming a cornerstone to the creation of outdoor space. Moreover, the inspired leadership reflected in these projects has contributed towards cultural and environmental stewardship in South Africa. This retrospective study advances the knowledge of rigorous local practice on an international level, and confirms the vital role of quality outdoor public and private spaces. The Compendium publicises the great achievements of South African landscape architects and assists in creating a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the discipline of landscape architecture. It serves, too, as a benchmark, locally, for peers and multi-disciplinary design and environmental teams. South African landscape architecture: A reader consists of long theoretical research papers as well as shorter, focused and applied research articles presented with full colour illustrations. Each paper in the Reader was subject to editorial review, internal review at Unisa Press and thereafter external double-blind peer review facilitated by Unisa Press as an academic publisher. As such, it represents excellence in academic rigour. It is a publication of definitive works by leading researchers in a contemporary method. The academic writings are diverse, supporting the expression of sub-disciplines within a larger context. This book provides an accessible vehicle for the dissemination of the research. Research in landscape architecture has passed a threshold in this publication. It represents the advancement of local scholarly outputs within an international academic fraternity. These outputs are based on the latest research within the fields of theory, culture, heritage, science and design. The studies in the Reader heighten the academic stature of innovative collaborative research. The Reader serves as a platform for current South African landscape architecture theory to be published in the academic domain, making it widely accessible to local and international peers. The Reader provides an opportune medium for the publication of research which has created a focused and pronounced view of landscape architecture in South Africa. The editors trust that it will provide a platform for future investigations in extended academic research in the discipline.