Green Typologies: Researching Voids is a research-oriented, experimental seminar aimed at developing methods for analysing and representing the invisible yet palpable phenomena of landscapes. We will investigate which datasets are available on invisible, ephemeral, and continuous phenomena, such as scent, cool air, heat, and pollution, and represent them digitally. What does the air tell us about our landscapes? Building on the urbanist concept of "smellscapes", it explores the ephemeral conditions transported by the medium of air as an analytical framework in landscape architecture. While the discipline of landscape architecture has traditionally prioritised visual perception, intangible phenomena are nonetheless experienced every day, yet remain largely underexplored and misunderstood. Where landscape architecture and architecture tend to plan "volumes" and "objects" in space, we will focus instead on what the "in-between", or the voids, can tell us about a given exterior space. Working in and around Munich, students will peel back these invisible layers to understand the socio-economic and spatial nuances they hold. 

This seminar is the second part of Green Typologies; the first, Scented Landscapes, ran in the summer of 2026, and taking part in it is not a prerequisite. In the summer, students delved into experimental analogue and digital representations of landscape scents, informed by their own fieldwork. This winter, students turn to green and grey infrastructure and their influence on the in-between spaces, namely, the air. To do so, students will look for existing datasets and represent these data in space and time using digital methods, such as D3.js. In a second step, students will analyse their findings by formulating a hypothesis about the space and identifying other underlying factors to consider, to see if any correlations can be drawn.

While what the air holds is recorded unevenly — interestingly, nuisance and pollution far more often than benefit or pleasure — students will face the challenge of finding and compiling datasets. With dynamic maps, they will explain the story behind the dataset: why does this data matter? And to whom?

Readings, guest lectures and workshops, and interdisciplinary perspectives broaden the methodological scope. The seminar emphasizes experimental, data-driven approaches and critical reflection, culminating in the development of a dynamic map corresponding to their dataset. Knowledge of programming, the functionality of the D3.js library, and other code-based digital visualisation methods, as well as QGIS, is recommended but not compulsory. 

The seminar is aimed at students of landscape architecture, architecture, and urban design disciplines (BA/MA) with an interest in transdisciplinary approaches. Participation is limited to 20 students, who will be selected after successfully completing an introductory task.