The Post-Modern Analytique

Abstract

The 'analytique' is a Beaux-Arts approach to teaching design principles through an 'order problem' which relies on the analysis and representation of built work. The term 'analytique' refers to the product of a student's study: a carefully composed and drawn expression of the solution, emphasizing the relationship of parts to the whole, and of details to overall proportions. This paper presents a post-modern approach to the analytique. The post-modern analytique expresses the nature of current practice in landscape architecture: pluralistic in meaning, expressed through layered references and materials, and focused upon 'ideas, not authors.' This paper first presents an overview of the Beaux-Arts analytique and then defines 'post-modern.' Examples of student analytique projects, made using both traditional and digital media, illustrate the post-modern approach to the analytique.