De-centering the Human within a Virtual Environment: Creation of the Occular Oddity

Humans have become the single most defining force on the planet placing themselves at the center of life on earth at the expense of other life forms. Landscape modification, of which landscape architecture is part of, is thus normatively composed to satisfy the needs, comforts and experiences of the human. How might landscape architecture challenge such a norm?

This exploratory digital research asks how landscape architecture can foreground and prioritize nonhuman needs in the creation and visualization of modified landscapes. It furnishes this ambition with the development of a Virtual Reality tool to be used by landscape architects in the design process. Intention here is to initiate ways that move towards overturning anthropocentric bias within landscape architecture. The landscape of Porirua is explored as a case study site to determine parameters from which to create testable conditions for the tool. A virtual environment is created to represent the selected non-human species scale and movement. The research develops, tests and critiques the tool development by creating a landscape design for the chosen non-human.

The result is a working visual assessment tool that decenters the human and creates an empathic link to the non-human, aiding the landscape architect within their design process. The research makes a contribution to an under-interrogated area of digital design in landscape architecture.