Carrying Evidence into Design: Translation Infrastructure for Water-Centric Landscape Architecture

Climate responsive landscape design should be drawing heavily on landscape driven analysis (i.e., climate projections, ecological assessments, spatial modeling, etc.). But analytical findings often stop short of design specification, making implementation difficult. An earlier review of 123 studies on coastal landscape interventions found that five (4.1%) documented an explicit link between sea level rise projections and quantitative design parameters. This suggests a disconnect between landscape analysis, design and design implementation. In this study, we develop a provisional translation infrastructure framework through an abductive comparison of four published studies on water-centric landscapes from one research program, covering sites in the United States, China, and several world regions. For each case we record the evidence inputs, the processes or artifacts that received them, the design forms, and the limits the authors report. The pipeline runs through five stages. It traces the scientific evidence, its use within a procedural framework, the translation artifacts, the design specifications, and the testing or evaluation. We read cross scale operability and temporal decision translation as diagnostic gaps, drawing on the limitations and documentation the authors report. We propose evidence to delivery as a theoretical extension. Procedural organization, parameterization, and typology development move work between stages. The framework offers a way to examine whether evidence supporting water sustainability goals remains traceable in landscape specifications and evaluation. The complete pathway has not been independently validated.