What part does technology have in good landscape design? From a designer’s point of view, be they amateur or professional, there is now wealth of online information to take advantage of. Resources such as Google Images, Google Earth Pintrest ,  Youtube designer blogs, supplier sites and many more  online resources can provide a host of inspirational and practical information.  

Moving off the drawing board what I find more exiting are the practical applications of using the latest technology to enhance a landscape designs. High quality outdoor audiovisual equipment is almost a given these days but responsive lighting is emerging as the next growing trend. Its certainly appearing more in public spaces and so should be transitioning to private ones soon. By responsive lighting I mean lights that react to your presence. This means they’re in standby mode when no one is around emitting low levels of light ( and so using less energy ) but then wake up when they sense someone approaching and brighten accordingly only to fade once you’ve passed. There was a product out a few years ago that was a lit paver, which was charged by kinetic energy. It would store energy during the day based on the action of people stepping on it only to release this in the form of light once it became dark. I don’t know how successful it was but it’s certainly a principle that could be applied in other circumstances. And if I were to try and predict a possible future direction for technology in landscape design I’d suggest we could see the emergence of responsive kinetic sculptures. If you’ve never seen a good one in action then I’d suggest searching out some video, when done right they’re mesmerising. Imagine walking into a landscape, lets say its at night, and a piece of sculpture slowly comes to life, lit and moving for your entertainment. Ok so it could be scary if done wrong but if done right it would memorable.