I have a piece in May’s issue of Landscape Architecture Australia where I interview with Thomas Chapman, of LandArchTools and McGregor Coxall as well as Nikki Scwhabe of DocoLab and Bush Projects. We talk about software development as an extension of a personal or collective practice before considering the broader state of digital tools across the industry.
Philip: Both of these toolkits seem deeply connected to your professional experiences. How can tools reflect a person’s or a practice’s expertise and values?
Thomas: A person puts a part of themselves into the tool, and the tool in turn emits its qualities into the work. I think it is really important, when building software, to allow the designer to have agency, while also understanding that your program will always have an impression on the work. That has a big influence in terms of how I design tools. I want them to stand aside, to leave decision-making to the professional. Consequently, [as a tool-maker] I try to keep my own biases to a minimum.
Nikki: Bush Projects’ philosophy is always a design-first approach. We’re not interested in labouring documentation and we are pretty adamant about being able to make changes right up to the last minute before submitting tender docs or during construction – whether that be changing planting schemes or altering grading or quantities or layout. We feel there should never be an impediment to changing something if it’s better for the design. Our tools all work to this end and have enabled the practice to remain agile. This translates to an operational advantage in a very competitive environment.
You can read the article online or grab a copy in print.