Landscape Design:A case Study of the Governors office,Akure Ondo State.

Introduction
Landscape design as defined by Garret Eckbo in 1964 as the art and science of design, planning management of the land, arrangement of natural, man-made element thereon through the application of cultural and scientific knowledge with concern for resource conservation and stewardship to the end that resultant environment serves are useful healthy and enjoyable purpose.
In most cases plantation of trees and shrubs are mistaken for landscape design, but landscape design is mire than that, it actually deals with the arrangement, the localization, and even the viability study of the plants to be planted and above all the aesthetic view.
The type of building and the function it is been put to determines the type of landscape and howit is been arranged. The type of landscape used such as flowers, trees, lawns and even car parks are decided on by certain functions such as the topography, climatic condition of the area nand above all the financial status of the owner.
Site visited
I visited the office of the Ondo State governor and the surroundings for my assignment with the help of one of the officers who actually gave us a formal permission to snap the environment of the office complex but not the inside the governors office and the interiors, which he said was done on the basis of internal security.

I quiet appreciate the landscaping of the area because of the method that was applied in the landscaping. I later tried to imagine each of the buildings without any landscape, not until then I did not know what I actually was appreciating to the fullest.
Mission and objectives
The complex was actually constructed on the following basis
To serve as the administrative seat of the governors.
It houses the office of the other government personal workers and
Special meetings are held in the complex.
It denotes the state capital and center of attraction.
State meetings are held in the complex.
Application of landscape on the site.
The site like the name implies (The office of the governor), is really the office of the state governor where the number citizen of the state seats.
So many landscaping features were present at the complex which they will be touched briefly in this note, trees are also used to sheild street noise, provide ceiling over the terrace and an eviable example of living sculpture
TREES
Trees were used on the site for different basis to achieve different goals, at different location in time.
As wind breakers

Tree are planted around the buildings to prevent the direct striking from the wind which over the period might succeed in destroying the house .Effective trees meant to break the velocity of the on coming wind are placed at about 15 to 20 meters from the building.
As shade
There are so many type of trees used as shield in landscape design.
At the Governor’s office complex, there are trees planted around, but their is a particular one of interest that didn’t only serve the workers alone but it was a a means of economic viability to some. Because I met a woman selling so me edible materials for the inhabitant of the


For demarcation
Trees are used to demarcate land area and even in most cases, they are used in splitting plots of land. They are majorly used when boundaries are shared.
Like explained by the picture , the trees were used in demarcating the drive in from the car park so that the in coming vehicle can know where and how to park their vehicles.

Breaking of monotony
Tress with nice and interesting branches is often used as accent in certain areas. They are also used in the direction and pointing of attention to a particular area of notice. Repeated use of flowers might bore the nature, and even the sense organ that appreciate. Therefore trees are planted in between plants to avoid this monoty or repetition.





FLOWERS
Flowers are also valuable elements in the facility and they are in difference colours, fragrance, and seasonal tones they naturally possess. They are grouped in masses rather than placed as individuals.



Flowers are used for road alignment
Flowers are used in between roads to divide the road and even to determine the road width.
Majority of the flowers used are the bright colored type that can be spotted afar by the fast moving vehicle and even the night travelers.



LAWNS
Lawns or grass can be walked on and is pleasant to sit and lie on. And it does not reflect heat from the ground to cause discomfort and keeps itself dean while providing a surface for play. It is the most commonly used carpet for the outdoor rooms is the turf grass lawn



OTHER FACILITIES PRESENT AT THE SITE
CAR PARKS
In every good landscape design a standard parking space is required. Parking spaces varies from sizes to sizes based on the type of cars, but in this cases it was actually designed for cars.



PATHWAYS
Path ways are used in connecting two or more places that are not accessible by vehicles. Car owners are advised to park at the parking lot/area and walk across to their respective offices.
Briefly pathways are used to connect the parking lots to the building and the building to other part of the compound.

OPEN SPACES
Open spaces are landed areas not built upon, they ranged considerably from purely natural landscapes to definitely cultural, artificial designed areas, from huge areas to almost entirely enclosed small outdoor rooms. They are also differentiated by the frameworks of various human activities performed in the spaces




CONCLUSION
I have seen practically the applications of landscape and the importance of these designs. The importance of trees, shrubs, underlay can not be under estimated.
No wonder the whites will always plant around their house to give them the desired taste of nature.
Landscape design can always be used in the face lifting of buildings and complexes without reference to the function or the structure.


REFERENCE
Ecko Garrett,
Field information
Wikipedia