CULTURAL

LANDSCAPES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Define the cultural landscapes
Describe the characteristic of cultural landscapes
Explain how landscapes features and land and
resources use reflect cultural beliefs and
identities.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

The cultural landscapes is a blended work of

nature and culture and offers some of the best
evidence of human-environment interactions.
In other words, the everyday landscapes – farms,
gardens, suburbs, cemeteries, trailer parks,
shopping malls and more.
LANDMARKS

Landmarks come to symbolize a city in the mental

imagery of residents and tourists alike.
Example:
• Big Ben
• Paris Eiffel Tower
• New York Statue of Liberty
• Sydney’s Opera House
Time is an important element in the creation of
cultural landscapes. Both urban and rural
landscapes, especially those in Europe and Asia,
bear the imprint of human reshaping over thousands
of years of use. Today’s largest cities are often
located on the site of ancient settlements. The
sequential occupation of the landscape by different
groups of people always leaves behind visible traces,
some of which influence future humans uses of the
land.
2 Major Elements of the Cultural Landscape

1. System for surveying and dividing land

2. Houses built in different times and places
Settlement Patterns reflect ways different
cultures understand the relationship between
the individual and the wide group. In some
cultures, the extended family is the basis for
the settlement systems.
Houses are among the most important material
expression of a culture and most visible features of
the cultural landscape.

Vernacular house styles – those built in traditional form

but without formal architectural plans or drawing.
Throughout the world, folk societies established types of
housing appropriate to their economic and family needs,
available materials and technologies, and local
environmental conditions.
Types of Cultural Landscape

1. Vernacular -A vernacular landscape is known as the

combination of natural and human structures in the
context of ordinary people's lives.
2. Agricultural – are territories shaped by agricultural
production.
3. Ethnographic - A landscape containing a variety of
natural and cultural resources that associated people
define as heritage resources.
4. Historical - a landscape that was consciously designed
or laid out by a landscape architect, master gardener,
architect, or horticulturist according to design principle,
or an amateur gardener working in a recognized style or
tradition.
TYPES OF FOLK HOUSING

The Mongol or Turkic yurt or ger, a

The traditional Zulu hut in Africa
movable low, rounded shelter made of
felt, skin, short poles, and rope, is a
housing solution well adapted to the
needs and materials of nomadic
herdsmen of the Central Asia
TYPES OF FOLK HOUSING

Stone house of Nepal Icelandic sod house (turf)

TYPES OF FOLK HOUSING

This indigenous group originally chose to live on

the lake as a defensive tactic and consider Thatched house in Zimbabwe
themselves as the owners of the lake and its
waters. The Uros people of Lake Titicaca also
claim to have black blood and not to feel the
cold. They are an indigenous people of Bolivia
and Peru.
Native American Housing
Dutch Colonial Houses

SALTBOX HOUSE
Built during the 17th and 18th centuries,
American saltbox houses were named after
Georgian houses are characterized by their: Rigid
commonly used wooden salt containers
symmetry in building mass as well as window and
from the colonial period. Historic saltbox
door placement. Brick, stone, or stucco (brick is most
houses are easily identified by their signature
predominantly used) Hip roofs, sometimes with
one-sided sloped rooflines and simple
dormers.
colonial facades. They often include a
symmetrical brick chimney, too.
Dutch Colonial Houses

Upright and Wing, also referred to as Temple and Wing or Gable Front
and Wing, is a residential architectural style found in American
vernacular ..
The dogtrot house type is one of the
more romanticized vernacular house
types in Georgia, yet at the same
time one of the least represented in
recognized material form. Once one
of the most important house types in
Georgia, the dogtrot’s reputation for
adaptability earned it high status
among the pioneer cultures that
populated the inland forests of
Georgia, as well as the rest of the
eastern United States.
 National Housing Styles

The Pueblo people are well-known for building cliff-

dwellings, apartment-like complexes built from stone, adobe,
or mud, into or near cliffs or canyon walls that overlooked
open spaces or plazas.
Neoclassical Houses
Neoclassical architecture is
characterized by grandeur of scale,
simplicity of geometric forms,
Greek—especially Doric (see order)
—or Roman detail, dramatic use of
columns, and a preference for
blank walls.

There are three main variations of

Neoclassical architecture: Classic
block, Temple, and Palladian.
Building Styles Around the World
• Scandinavian countries prefer wood houses
• Britain prefer brick houses or duplexes
• China’s newfound prosperity, middle class home builders have
sometimes borrowed the styles of other countries, creating the
sub-urban communities that imitate the look of Canadian ski
towns, alpine villages and sub-urban housing of Orange
County, California.
• The International style uses industrial construction materials of
glasses, steel, and concrete
International style is an architectural style that
is characterized by rectangular structures and
forms, simple exteriors with large glass panes
and open interiors.
 Heritage Landscapes
More than 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains,
Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist destination in Peru. A
symbol of the Incan Empire and built around 1450AD, Machu
Picchu was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983
and was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in
2007.
Hallstatt is a village on Lake Hallstatt's western
shore in Austria's mountainous Salzkammergut
region. Its 16th-century Alpine houses and
alleyways are home to cafes and shops. A funicular
railway connects to Salzwelten, an ancient salt
mine with a subterranean salt lake, and to Skywalk
Hallstatt viewing platform. A trail leads to the
Echern Valley glacier garden with glacial potholes
and Waldbachstrub Waterfall.
Why are cultural landscapes important?
Cultural landscapes are a legacy for everyone. These
special sites reveal aspects of our country’s origins and
development as well as our evolving relationships with
the natural world. They provide scenic, economic,
ecological, social, recreational, and educational
opportunities helping communities to better understand
themselves.
Why is it important to protect cultural landscapes?
Neglect and inappropriate development put our
irreplaceable landscape legacy increasingly at risk. Too
often today’s short-sighted decisions threaten the
survival and continuity of our shared heritage. It is
everyone’s responsibility to safeguard our nation’s
cultural landscapes. The ongoing care and
interpretation of these sites improve our quality of life
and deepen a sense of place and identity for future
generations.