7 Gaze into the Landscape: Can Sensory Immersion, Landscape Reading and . . .
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value, although it can help scientists suggestively locate the sites of their action. This
is the case today at the STARESO research station near Calvi in Corsica. On the
contrary, it has an aim that exact bathymetric modelling cannot necessarily achieve,
with its excessive accuracy and lack of physical perception: it aims to share the
full wealth of a site, making it fully readable and giving real direction through
simplified representation of things. A terrestrial block diagram is generally cut into
a three-quarter view, from an angle “plunging” down onto the surface of the ground
represented. It also clearly shows the ground section in profile, allowing geological
data to be integrated. Above ground level, the axes “in air” are generally softened
or removed: there is nothing material, no concrete portion of land to be cut out and
framed in the air forming the sky above the land. Although drawn, a block diagram
thus works like a mock-up; in fact, where possible, it is often based on a mock-up
(either made of clay in a workshop or of sand on the beach). It is a “bird’s eye” view,
an old, metaphorical phrase once used for methods of representing strategic military
ground. But how appropriate is a “bird’s eye” view for the underwater landscape?
Whether it’s a view from the eye of a seagull, a shearwater or an albatross makes
no difference. Flying over the seas and oceans is possible and even a widespread
practice. But a problem of surface, or rather double surface arises: there is the sea
bottom—the topographic relief—, and the water’s surface. We could disregard the
surface like we disregard the representation of air on dry land, if we are aiming to
show the seabed landscape. But what if the aim is precisely to show the foreshore,
a coastline, the position and sides of an island or a reef? Or even show the site of
a wreck without any land surface, for example? The graphic challenge therefore
lies in the transparency: representing the surface without distorting the underwater
landscape to be read below (Fig 7.6a).
So, how do we develop an underwater block diagram? How have methods been
adapted and tested to date? One method has gradually emerged from comparing the
experiences of Fabien Garoste, manager of the Torra Plongée diving club, an experienced diver and expert on the underwater sites found along the Corsican coast in
Propriano bay and the Sartenais, and those of Alain Freytet, an artist, diver and landscape designer familiar with block diagram representation of terrestrial landscapes,
the subject he teaches at the Landscape School of Versailles. The representation is
developed in seven steps:
1. A general presentation of the site is provided by the “pilot fish” who knows the
area well. The description is sensory and presented orally, drawing connections
between the relief’s major structures and the terrestrial landscape. This gives a
basic idea of the landscapes likely to be found. Some place names are included
and will be used throughout the process.
2. A first survey dive gives a feel of the atmosphere and determines the overall
volume of the site. Singular spots—both mineral (caves, walls, overhangs, cracks)
and living (gorgonian wall, groupers’ valley, Pinna Nobilis grass beds, etc.)—
are identified. Sketches are made of these places on site, in the water, and are
completed with notes once back on dry land. Through discussions about these
spots we begin to outline the overall plan.
107
value, although it can help scientists suggestively locate the sites of their action. This
is the case today at the STARESO research station near Calvi in Corsica. On the
contrary, it has an aim that exact bathymetric modelling cannot necessarily achieve,
with its excessive accuracy and lack of physical perception: it aims to share the
full wealth of a site, making it fully readable and giving real direction through
simplified representation of things. A terrestrial block diagram is generally cut into
a three-quarter view, from an angle “plunging” down onto the surface of the ground
represented. It also clearly shows the ground section in profile, allowing geological
data to be integrated. Above ground level, the axes “in air” are generally softened
or removed: there is nothing material, no concrete portion of land to be cut out and
framed in the air forming the sky above the land. Although drawn, a block diagram
thus works like a mock-up; in fact, where possible, it is often based on a mock-up
(either made of clay in a workshop or of sand on the beach). It is a “bird’s eye” view,
an old, metaphorical phrase once used for methods of representing strategic military
ground. But how appropriate is a “bird’s eye” view for the underwater landscape?
Whether it’s a view from the eye of a seagull, a shearwater or an albatross makes
no difference. Flying over the seas and oceans is possible and even a widespread
practice. But a problem of surface, or rather double surface arises: there is the sea
bottom—the topographic relief—, and the water’s surface. We could disregard the
surface like we disregard the representation of air on dry land, if we are aiming to
show the seabed landscape. But what if the aim is precisely to show the foreshore,
a coastline, the position and sides of an island or a reef? Or even show the site of
a wreck without any land surface, for example? The graphic challenge therefore
lies in the transparency: representing the surface without distorting the underwater
landscape to be read below (Fig 7.6a).
So, how do we develop an underwater block diagram? How have methods been
adapted and tested to date? One method has gradually emerged from comparing the
experiences of Fabien Garoste, manager of the Torra Plongée diving club, an experienced diver and expert on the underwater sites found along the Corsican coast in
Propriano bay and the Sartenais, and those of Alain Freytet, an artist, diver and landscape designer familiar with block diagram representation of terrestrial landscapes,
the subject he teaches at the Landscape School of Versailles. The representation is
developed in seven steps:
1. A general presentation of the site is provided by the “pilot fish” who knows the
area well. The description is sensory and presented orally, drawing connections
between the relief’s major structures and the terrestrial landscape. This gives a
basic idea of the landscapes likely to be found. Some place names are included
and will be used throughout the process.
2. A first survey dive gives a feel of the atmosphere and determines the overall
volume of the site. Singular spots—both mineral (caves, walls, overhangs, cracks)
and living (gorgonian wall, groupers’ valley, Pinna Nobilis grass beds, etc.)—
are identified. Sketches are made of these places on site, in the water, and are
completed with notes once back on dry land. Through discussions about these
spots we begin to outline the overall plan.