LHSA Museum

The Landscape Museum

This is a novel idea that at present is more of a label about a possible concept or an idea than anything else. We are inclined to think of museums housing historical materials and collections related to different themes but how exactly do you host a Landscape Museum? Surely this should be outdoors.

In this day and age of multimedia and hybrid events, which has very much come to the fore in the digital age of the 21st Century, it seems possible that we may well be able to launch some kind of online Museum of Landscape that can be accessed either from the comfort of home or in the field. Imagine that, not just Google and Wikipedia, but a dedicated resource of Landscape Heritage information at your disposal on your mobile, tablet or whatever genius device is next, your spectacles!

Imagine being able to look out over a landscape and journey through its history from an online resource not unlike our concept-becoming-reality Landscape Map and Landscapedia Compendium. This really is a conceivable possibility that can become a virtual reality using digital technology and solid research. Too much information is stored in books never to be open to the general public or seen in situ where you might like to use it most.

If you can conceive of doings some desktop research at home using real books and a computer, visiting site, or travelling some place new and wondering about its past and present, we can conceive of creating digital information that is built up in exactly the same way but presented more immediately. Unlike so many glossy magazine articles or the old forgotten reference library, yesterday's knowledge can be regathered and presented with specific reference to landscape heritage, the natural, cultural and desirable, and taken along anywhere.

This is the idea behind The Landscape Museum. One day, when this enterprise gets that far, a real Landscape Museum can perhaps be built; but for now what is more real than the Landscape itself?