A landscape architecture archive and plant library.
The Landscape Archive Foundation publishes TLA-185 (185 documented elements) under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 for project records, and TLA-VIS (330 terms) under CC BY 4.0 for how a plant reads. TLA-185 records what is cited. TLA-VIS names how a plant reads.
Foundation Updates
Open specification and draft governance milestones.
Field Notes
All Field Notes-
Digital Infrastructure Layer for Landscape Practice
An institute governs the professional. The Archive can keep the knowledge. This note sets out six layers, what already exists, and the order in which the rest can be built.
-
Bridge over troubled water: Dual Economics in Landscape Practice
Institutes publish a subscription. A company can publish a record, and later a cabinet. This note sets out the public figures, and it does not speak for the institutes.
-
Further holdings
The Archive record today is the plant. The same shape could hold a material, a medium, or a fitting. None of that is published, and none of it is a Foundation standard.
-
Ethics of Landscape Practice
The institutions that formed this profession were made by groups of founders who would not leave a reality as it stood. An ethical founder now has a further task: to hold a sequence that an older generation still experiences as its own belief.
-
Above the record and the plant
TLA-185 describes what is true about a taxon. TLA-VIS describes how one plant looks when drawn. A rendered planting (many instances on a site) sits above both. That composition layer is a product gap, not more species fields.
-
Just the tip of the iceberg.
A long change is gathering in how landscape work is made, examined, and kept. Technology, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, psychology, and what society expects of a professional record are meeting in the same years. The meeting was not planned. A different way of working is already forming inside it.
-
Further holdings, as potential
The public site names hardscape materials, and a short list of other records the commercial Archive could hold. None of them is published. Specification systems and manufacturer catalogues already cover parts of this work.
-
TLA-VIS published
The Foundation publishes TLA-VIS, a plant visualisation grammar: 330 terms across eight modules. Sibling to TLA-185. Vocabulary and specification under CC BY 4.0.
-
Creative Commons inheritance
The Foundation heralds Creative Commons for the future of landscape architecture: keeping the open metadata grammar public so practitioners seventy years from now can still cite and check honest project records. Stewardship succession.
-
Foundation mission and digital twin potential
The Landscape Archive Foundation centres labour, liability, visibility, and dignity — and explores the potential that, once incorporated, it could help steward a digital twin commons for landscape architecture. EBDA and ELDX remain two distinct institutional instruments.
-
Landscape-native software initiative
Foundation programme under consultation: innovative in-studio coding knowledge and landscape architectural native software for the future of the industry, with open grammar so records stay citable across practices.
-
TLA-185 registry integrity (SHA-256)
Public integrity registry for the open field-dictionary JSON: published SHA-256 digests so anyone can confirm they have the authentic snapshot.
-
Institutional asks: EBDA and ELDX
The Foundation asks for two proposed instruments beside TLA-185: EBDA (ecological & built-environment data stewardship gravity) and ELDX (cross-border land/landscape interchange).
-
Draft orbit pages (SYN / EVID / ML)
Public draft HTML for TLA-SYN, TLA-EVID, and TLA-ML with golden JSON examples.
-
Evidence Checker wired to TLA-EVID (upload paused)
Evidence Checker recognises Draft TLA-EVID audit-pack JSON. Upload remains unavailable while stewardship arrangements are clarified; the open specification remains under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
-
Foundation Approved vs Archive Seal
Counsel-ready distinction page: open-spec conformance (when criteria publish) is not a commercial Seal. Draft posture stated honestly.
-
Standards constellation (draft orbits)
TLA-185 remains the published spine. Draft orbits TLA-SYN, TLA-EVID, and TLA-ML are named for consultation.
-
Dictionary & schema in plain language
Short Foundation explainer for practices, students, and procurement: what a term, the field dictionary, and the schema pack are.
-
Dictionary term proposals (no GitHub required)
Form for TLA-185 dictionary changes: structured rationale and evidence links, steward review only — nothing auto-merges into the field registry.
-
Draft consultation — request a review pack
Critique invite for the open TLA-185 schema pack: governance and awards CTAs, on-site review-pack form, and Evidence Checker.
-
Industry & practice education path
Clear path: open field dictionary → Studio Pilot → Evidence Checker → draft consultation, with thin learning modules for studios and practices.
-
Procurement / RFQ checklist
Printable one-pager for RFQs and studio briefs citing the open TLA-185 grammar — Evidence Checker, validator, and published procurement sentence.
-
Studio Pilot Kit
Practice citation loop on the adoption guide: open field dictionary, validator, Evidence Checker, and procurement sentence.
-
Studio Pilot outreach pack
Copy-paste cohort tracker (3–5 studios) plus invite email for one mandated TLA-185 deliverable.
-
Technical reviewers & registry contributors
Curated volunteer intake to stress-test field-dictionary corners. Email and pack review welcome while GitHub access remains limited.
-
Foundation downloads & Evidence Checker
Open artefacts index and a browser inspector for TLA-185 JSON and Archive Audit Packs (.tlaa). Commercial Landscape Archive Packages (.tla) and encrypted .lapkg are out of scope for Foundation tooling.
-
Founding charter consultation
Draft constitution for The Landscape Archive Foundation (proposed CLG). Consultation draft for founding-alliance review.
-
Open standard adoption guide
Reference adoption path: download the open pack, cite the registry, and add the procurement sentence to one deliverable (self-serve validators paused). Documents why a mandated pilot deliverable precedes governance outreach.
-
Awards and the data architecture
Category rubrics now describe how peer assessment references the field registry and published interchange profiles across architectural, civic, and engineering delivery streams.
-
Built environment export profiles
Interchange bindings for IFC property sets, GeoJSON civic registries, USD metadata sidecars, and spreadsheet crosswalks — JSON schemas and worked examples on the schema portal.
Archive Seal
Open TLA-185 grammar stays free to cite. Where a brief requires Landscape Archive attested deliverables, ask for a licensed Archive package from an authorised organisation, and an Archive Seal when the brief specifies one.
Archive Seal is a renewable commercial attestation from The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd (period-bound marks and manifests). Authenticity checks are performed by Landscape Archive administrators on the commercial Archive site. Foundation Approved and Evidence Checker remain separate from Archive licensing.
- Purchase Seal and compare plans on the Archive site
- Authorised organisations directory lists who may deliver licensed packages
- Founding member applications follow Archive pricing status (currently closed on the commercial site)
- Seal authenticity is admin-verified by Landscape Archive
Mission
The Landscape Archive Foundation is a landscape architecture archive and plant library, with visualisation learning, teaching, and Teaching Studio.
TLA-VIS stays free under CC BY 4.0 without membership. Field Notes are published on this site. Planting factory, Studio+, and Plant Store are commercial Archive products.
The Landscape Archive Foundation stewards the open plant-model, BIM, and landscape digital-twin standard. Long-term operation of that standard at global scale requires physical infrastructure the Foundation owns or directs: a secured local processor network, and connectivity that holds quality of service. Rented cloud alone does not meet that requirement. No such network is claimed to be in place.
- Archive and plant library — field grammar and citation on this site; filled Library on the Archive site
- Visualisation learning — TLA-VIS under CC BY 4.0, no membership required
- Teaching and Teaching Studio
About
The Landscape Archive Foundation is a landscape architecture archive and plant library, with visualisation learning, teaching, and Teaching Studio.
TLA-VIS stays free under CC BY 4.0 without membership. Field Notes are published on this site. Planting factory, Studio+, and Plant Store are commercial Archive products.
The Landscape Vault holds proprietary IP and, in the interim, stewards and powers the Foundation. The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd is the commercial operator (products, subscriptions, support), with landscapearchive.com.au as the Australian commercial hub. The Foundation is not yet incorporated. EBDA and ELDX remain two further, separate institutional asks.
This work is authored by The Landscape Archive. Intellectual property is held by The Landscape Vault Pty Ltd and commercially licensed by The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd. It is not the property of any professional institute, association, or working group.
The Landscape Archive Foundation stewards the open plant-model, BIM, and landscape digital-twin standard. Long-term operation of that standard at global scale requires physical infrastructure the Foundation owns or directs: a secured local processor network, and connectivity that holds quality of service. Rented cloud alone does not meet that requirement. No such network is claimed to be in place.
Use of TLA-185 beyond the published Creative Commons citation of the open grammar, and use of compiled plant kits, Library fill, and Studio+ catalogue models, is by licence or purchase. Citation, contribution, or institutional interest does not assign ownership.
Further holdings
The record the Archive keeps today is the plant: identity, measured traits, sources, and a model. A further holding would use that same shape for a material, a medium, or a fitting. Nothing in this section is in the Library.
Specification systems and manufacturer catalogues already describe much of this work. They specify a task, or a product as it is sold now.
Potential products of the commercial Archive. Not published. Not a Foundation standard.
- Australia. NATSPEC BUILDING Landscape and AUS-SPEC: paving, concrete pavement, granular surfaces, walling and edging, and decking.
- New Zealand. Masterspec Landscapes, a clause library that can cite branded products from miproducts.
- United Kingdom. NBS Source keeps structured product data, literature, and digital objects from manufacturers, including paving.
- Manufacturer files. CADdetails and ARCAT host CAD and Revit families for exterior improvements, including unit paving.
- Pictures and samples. Render libraries store surfaces. Sample services move physical swatches.
- Hardscape materials
- A holding would be the material record: identity, measured performance, provenance, a dated source, and a model, kept beside the plant. The Archive does not hold one today.
- Site furniture and fittings
- The same manufacturer catalogues already list benches, edging, drinking fountains, and similar fittings. A record would keep the fitting after the SKU is withdrawn.
- Growing media
- Specified blends, structural soils, and green-roof substrates are products. Broad soil maps already exist and stay cited: ISRIC SoilGrids globally, and national surveys such as ASRIS and USDA SSURGO.
- Drainage assemblies
- CIRIA’s SuDS guidance and the Benefits of SuDS Tool (United Kingdom), and water-sensitive urban design as written into Australian specification, describe the work. The units, media, and tanks inside an assembly are closer to a product record.
- External lighting
- Photometric files and fittings are manufacturer libraries. A record would keep the fitting, the file, and the date it was current.
- Drawings and practice papers
- These already have custodians, including the Landscape Institute archive at The MERL (United Kingdom), the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and university collections such as the Environmental Design Archives at Berkeley.
- Tree valuation
- Methods already exist: i-Tree (United States Forest Service; used in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia) and CAVAT (United Kingdom). A plant record can cite the method. The Archive does not need to become the calculator.
- Nursery availability and price
- Lists change by region and season. Keeping them as a durable record would state a fact that has already moved.
Truth-telling
Implicit claims such as “native,” “climate resilient,” “sustainable,” and “culturally appropriate” are stated precisely through documented fields: taxon IDs, banded climate context, evidence links, sensitivity classes, and synthetic-asset lineage.
The Foundation defines how disclosure is encoded. Substantive verification remains with project teams and the institutions that govern them.
Specification
TLA-185 documents 185 elements across taxonomy, site context, climate screening, risk, sustainability, cultural sensitivity, and BIM interchange. TLA-169 remains supported for legacy exchange. The open field dictionary is the gravity well: free public grammar under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; populated inventories and client records stay in licensed datasets.
The public validator and Evidence Checker inspect files locally in the browser. They do not issue Archive Seal, Foundation Approved, or government approval. Draft dictionary and registry remain available for citation.
Canonical specification, JSON Schema modules, and examples are on GitHub and the schema portal. GitHub is authoritative.
Governance and licence
The Landscape Archive Foundation is intended as an independent digital-infrastructure steward that may, upon incorporation, help hold a digital twin commons for landscape architecture. In the interim the open grammar remains published here, stewarded and powered by The Landscape Vault Pty Ltd.
TLA-185 / TLA-169 specification and schema documentation: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. TLA-VIS, the plant visualisation grammar: CC BY 4.0, with the name and conformance mark retained. Library, Hub, Landscape Archive Tools desktop apps, Archive Seal, Studio+™, Data API, the plant engine, and populated datasets are licensed separately and are not under Creative Commons.
Commercial implementation
The field dictionary stays free to cite. Seats, Library depth, Landscape Archive Tools desktop apps, BIM / Hub delivery, Seal attestation, Evidence and compliance paths, and (when cleared) Data API / OEM redistribution are licensed through The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd under Archive Terms. See Archive Terms for free versus paid posture.
Foundation Approved will denote open-specification conformance when criteria and validators are published. It is not a live self-serve product today. It remains distinct from Archive Certified, a paid vendor credential, and from Archive Seal.
Support the standard
The Landscape Archive Foundation publishes and stewards an open plant-model, BIM, and landscape digital-twin standard: a public specification and catalogue grammar for inspectable landscape records. The Foundation is not yet incorporated as an independent entity.
Voluntary support sustains specification maintenance, catalogue integrity, documentation, hosting, and governance preparation. Support is optional. It is not required to reference TLA-185 / TLA-169 under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, or to implement TLA-VIS under CC BY 4.0.
Contributions do not transfer ownership of TLA-185, TLA-VIS, Studio+, the plant catalogue, or related Archive work. Those assets remain held by The Landscape Vault Pty Ltd and licensed by The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd.
Financial contributions, invoicing, and institutional sponsorship are arranged through the Foundation enquiry desk. Contributions received on an interim basis are processed by The Landscape Archive Pty Ltd and are not tax-deductible unless and until an independent Foundation entity is established and any applicable deductible gift recipient registration is obtained.
Professional and technical contributions to specification stewardship may be offered through the same enquiry route.
Foundation Standards
Five domains of public reference work. Shared definitions and open governance mark the boundary between the public specification and commercial implementation. The standards constellation (TLA-185 spine, TLA-VIS sibling, plus draft orbits) is listed under Governance.
- 01
Botanical truth and reference standard
The Foundation stewards the information architecture for precise, auditable taxonomic claims in project interchange. TLA-185 is the records spine. TLA-VIS is the published visualisation sibling. Plant-form labelling (TLA-ML, draft) remains an orbit, not a second records grammar.
- 02
Climate and environmental disclosure
TLA-185 defines the metadata shape for site context, climate screening, and sustainability disclosure in project records. Evidence packaging (TLA-EVID, draft) profiles how claims point at method notes — Archive Seal stays commercial.
- 03
Open research infrastructure
The Foundation maintains the open specification, schema artefacts, and validation tools for teaching and citation. Named orbits extend the suite without diluting the field registry.
- 04
Public-sector and digital twin interface
TLA-185 is published as an openly documented reference layer for procurement and digital twin programmes.
- 05
Ethics of synthetic nature and attribution
The Foundation defines how lineage, sensitivity, and synthetic marking appear in project records. TLA-SYN (draft) is the named provenance orbit for that work.