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Propositional writing

Propositional writing sets out a plan of action or design intent. It presents clearly what the project or idea is, outlines why certain actions or design elements are significant (the reasoning behind the project) and how they can be achieved.

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a short piece of writing which relates to a larger body of work or writing. It can be written as a reflective summary after a larger work, or as propositional abstract to articulate the intent and vision of a current or future work.

The abstract should outline what you are intending to address, how you will do this and why you are doing this (why it is important).

Keywords should be used to express and build the concepts or themes that run through a given framework. These themes give structure to your work and describe the ways you have used them.

Structure

This example demonstrates how the writer has analysed a specific site, using a Modernist framework. The key words develop the concepts and themes that are outlined in the abstract and the drawing.

The example below uses the RMIT Library Harvard referencing guide.

Amid growing populations and expanding urban sprawls, it is essential for logical, functional design to supersede a merely aesthetic, classical approach to landscape architecture. By examining the intersection site using modernist principles outlined in Marc Treib’s (1993), Axioms for a modern landscape architecture, latent, modernist, spatial arrangements embedded within the site are revealed and drawn out.

The most significant element to consider is the circulation of people as they move through the site and their reasons for doing so.
Using a rational approach, the lines, spaces and forms of the site are selected to emphasise them. ‘Form [is] derived from the accommodation of the program’ (Treib 1993:62) to include the specific requirements of the client, the site and its uses. The layout of the plan is developed and the spaces between are formed. The hierarchy of circulation is represented through tonal variation; the darkest tone relating to the dominance of the tramline, and the lightest pertaining to the pedestrian traffic. Identification and representation of this rational hierarchy of separated programs indicates an inherent order within the site, as the modernist landscape ‘ultimately concerns making outdoor places for human use’ (Treib 1993:55). The absence of a central axis in the site allows for an omnidirectional use of the space, accommodating both formal and informal occupation. All elements of the site follow modernist principles. Even the trees are positioned rationally; they appear in isolation rather than in naturalistic clusters, to heighten their sculptural qualities. This is a clear break from a formal, classical style as Tunnard (cited in Treib 1993:56) explains, ‘selection, not massing for picturesque effect is the requirement’ of an ordered, modernist approach.

By adopting tools and techniques from modernist principles, the intersection site is reordered and redrawn in plan, revealing a rational, underlying ordering of space.

Reference
Treib M (1993) ‘Axioms for a modern landscape architecture’, in M Treib (ed) Modern landscape architecture: a critical review, MIT Press, Cambridge.

Further resources

See also

Critical writing

Critical writing involves analysis and review, supported by evidence. In design, it may take the form of an essay, visual analysis or journal article.

Keywords