The Landscape Archive Foundation
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TLA

Open digital infrastructure for landscape architecture.

Steward of the open landscape metadata specification.

The Landscape Archive Foundation publishes TLA-185 (185 documented elements) under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0: field registry, schemas, and conformance criteria for botanical, climate, sustainability, cultural, and synthetic-nature claims in project records.

Governance Field registry Archive Seal Licence & scope Field dictionary Adoption

Foundation Updates

Open specification and draft governance milestones.

  • What automation replaces in landscape practice

    AI absorbs repetitive hygiene and generic drafting so the profession keeps judgment liability and the open systems that make records trustworthy.

  • Consequential data, time, and the infrastructure we cannot postpone

    Landscape records do not become consequential because they are digital. They become consequential when time, infrastructure, and professional obligation meet, and that meeting is no longer optional.

  • 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)

    Inspector recognises Draft TLA-EVID audit-pack JSON. Upload UI stays paused pending stewardship clarity; CC BY-NC-ND KEEP is settled.

  • 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.

  • Meaning between data and computation

    Raw records and generative models face opposite directions on the same coin; neither yields consequence without interpretive work. A note on art, overclaim, labour, and the profession landscape architecture must become, not merely automate.

  • 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 Field Notes / Evidence Checker links.

  • 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.

  • Four things: land, art, technology, data

    A short Field Note on the Foundation’s cultural frame — why land, art, technology, and data hold together.

  • Founding charter consultation

    Draft constitution for The Landscape Archive Foundation (proposed CLG). Consultation draft for founding-alliance review.

  • Institutions, standards, and the infrastructure gap

    Field Note on how governance and endorsement roles relate to sustained botanical and BIM pipelines — and how open definitions plus automation can widen access to citable infrastructure.

  • Open standard adoption guide

    Reference adoption path: download the open pack, validate an example bundle, and add the procurement sentence to one deliverable. Documents why tooling and a mandated pilot deliverable precede 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 / 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 membership remains available for eligible practices
  • Seal authenticity is admin-verified by Landscape Archive
Purchase Archive Seal Authorised directory Founding offer Seal information RFQ checklist

Mission

Draft public purpose: steward open, citable digital infrastructure for landscape architecture so institutions and companies can keep honest project records over time. Botanical authenticity, climate disclosure, cultural-protocol metadata, and synthetic-nature provenance are encoded in the public TLA-185 / TLA-169 specification.

Four consultation commitments: human stewardship of that infrastructure; a published structure for storing and citing landscape metadata internationally; renewal paths that respect institutional budget limits; and treating landscape project records as registerable professional assets. This is not a securities offer or endowment prospectus.

Incorporation, grant programmes, and any future capital structures remain forward work. Live publishing today is the open specification, adoption language, and related trust tooling. Commercial seats and Archive Seal renewals on the Australian hub fund ongoing labour separately.

The Foundation asks for two proposed instruments beside the open grammar: the Ecological & Built-Environment Data Authority (EBDA) for public-interest data stewardship gravity, and the International Land-Data Exchange (ELDX) for cross-border land/landscape interchange under open metadata.

  • People — support labour that keeps shared digital infrastructure usable
  • Structure — citable grammar and storage-facing shapes beyond one vendor cycle
  • Renewal — paths so institutions are not forced off shared infrastructure by price shock alone
  • Records as assets — open grammar, integrity digests, renewable Seal attestation where required
Full mission (governance) Mission boundaries Foundation Approved vs Archive Seal Institutional asks

About

Landscape project records must remain legible after handover: species, site context, evidence for claims, restricted cultural material, and custody of synthetic assets. The open specification supplies a shared vocabulary for those declarations.

Three entities separate roles. 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 live Australian commercial hub; the Foundation (once incorporated) stewards the public specification internationally at landscapearchive.org. Additional regional hubs are planned and not live. We do not claim ownership of landscapearchive.com. Populated datasets and client records remain licensed separately; the field dictionary and conformance rules stay citable under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Governance

Truth-telling

Implicit claims — “native,” “climate resilient,” “sustainable,” “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.

Truth-telling charter

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.

Self-serve validators and package inspectors are paused while licence and stewardship clarity is completed. Draft dictionary and registry reference remain available.

The public GitHub repository is temporarily unavailable while we review access controls and security posture. The TLA-185 specification remains documented on this site and through the schema portal.

Open field dictionary Field registry Adoption Licence & scope In plain language

Governance and licence

The Landscape Archive Foundation is the intended independent steward of the public specification. In the interim it is stewarded and powered by The Landscape Vault Pty Ltd (IP holding company) pending an independent entity.

Public specification and schema documentation: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Library, Hub, Landscape Archive Tools desktop apps, Archive Seal, Studio+™, Data API, and populated datasets are licensed separately and are not under Creative Commons.

Governance Licence & scope

Commercial implementation

The field dictionary stays free to cite. Seats, Library depth, Landscape Archive Tools desktop apps, BIM / Hub delivery, Seal attestation, Evidence/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 vs paid posture.

Foundation Approved denotes open-specification conformance. It is distinct from Archive Certified, a paid vendor credential, and from Archive Seal.

Commercial licensing Licence & scope Responsibility split

Support the standard

Due to our incorporation status, voluntary contribution intake has been taken down.

The Foundation is not yet an independent incorporated entity. We are not accepting bank transfers, donations, or public fundraising on this site until that structure is in place.

Referencing TLA-185 or TLA-169 under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 remains free and requires no payment.

  • Donation and bank-transfer details are withdrawn for now.
  • Tax-deductible treatment, if any, would apply only after independent entity formation and any applicable DGR registration.
  • For institutional partnerships or funding conversations after incorporation, use a foundation enquiry.
Status on Support page Foundation enquiry

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 plus draft orbits) is listed under Governance.

  1. 01

    Botanical truth and reference standard

    The Foundation stewards the information architecture for precise, auditable taxonomic claims in project interchange. TLA-185 is the spine; plant-form labelling (TLA-ML, draft) is an orbit, not a second grammar.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 04

    Public-sector and digital twin interface

    TLA-185 is published as an openly documented reference layer for procurement and digital twin programmes.

  5. 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.

Full standards text Standards constellation