How is visual impact assessed in landscape design?

The assessment of visual impact in landscape design is primarily focused on how a design appears from various viewpoints. This process involves analyzing different perspectives, distances, and angles to understand how elements of the landscape communicate with their surroundings. The goal is to create an aesthetically pleasing and functional space that integrates well within its environment.

Considering the visual experience from multiple vantage points helps designers anticipate how people will interact with the space, ensuring it enhances the landscape rather than detracts from it. Factors such as sight lines, scale, color, and texture all play critical roles in how a landscape design is perceived visually.

While the other options highlight important aspects of landscape architecture, they do not directly contribute to the assessment of visual impact. For instance, evaluating construction costs may influence budgetary decisions but does not inform visual quality. Assessing sound levels and reviewing wildlife populations pertain to acoustic and ecological considerations, respectively, rather than the visual characteristics of a landscape. Thus, the focus on viewpoints is what solidifies this choice as the correct method for assessing visual impact in landscape design.