Wilderness

What we perceive to be wilderness is in fact just a product: a physical manifestation of the force of wildness. Attempting to manufacture wilderness while bypassing this primary element (the force of wilderness) is why ‘emulated wilds’ often feel uncanny, fake. This thesis contrasts these forces, necessitating a new negotiation between people and the environment.  The Kapiti Coast has seen substantial growth in the last 50 years, resulting in sprawling suburban and commercial development across the region. While areas of landscape close to the historic ecologies of the region remain, much of it has been lost around the town centre, where development has focused in recent decades.  This thesis will explore historic representations of wilderness in picturesque and romanticist painting, drawing on both previous views of the wild, more modern interpretations as well as my own personal perceptions.  The aim of this design-led research is to understand how to bring a sense of wilderness back into developed areas of the Kapiti Coast. In order to do this, I will explore how designing using digital painting can create a stronger sensory understanding of wilderness. I will use this medium of digital painting to explore what the picturesque means within the discipline of modern landscape architecture. Within the specific Kapiti Coast context, I will identify the elements of suburbia that are underperforming in the context of the larger landscape setting and finally establish a scenario-based methodology to explore site-specific definitions of wilderness within Kapiti.