Regulating Lines: Making Use of Imaginary Lines and Design Principles in the Studio

Regulating lines are visible or implied lines used to compose and construct artifacts, buildings, landscapes or other objects. In landscape architecture, regulating lines have been used from antiquity. During the renaissance, for example, many French formal gardens were organized with symmetry and Euclidean geometry as organizing elements. These formal gardens often had visible or implied regulating lines. Contemporary use and asymmetrical use of regulating lines can be observed in the works of Dan Kiely, Peter Walker, Andrea Cochran, Marth Swartz and others. In landscape architecture, the use of regulating lines and the articulation of a method to design with regulating lines is not well-developed. There are several introductory textbooks in landscape architecture education which mention regulating lines, but these references lack detail regarding how regulating lines can be observed or used. This paper explores a case study example of how regulating lines were used as a teaching tool. As an exercise in the design studio, landscape architecture students were given assignments to make a landscape design with the use of regulating lines. One case study is presented to demonstrate how regulating lines can be used by students and faculty in the design studio. Regarding application to professional practice, the design of some informal designs may not be aided by regulating lines such as meandering designs or highly irregular properties. This paper aims to encourage dialog and critique of using regulating lines as a teaching tool, and to demonstrate their potential appropriateness or usefulness.