Rock-Paper-Scissors is a game usually played by two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. These shapes are ‘rock’ (a closed fist), ‘paper’ (a flat hand) and ‘scissors’ (a fist with the index finger and middle finger extended, forming a V). It is a zero-sum game with three possible outcomes: a win, a loss or a draw. As you probably know, the rules are inexorably simple: ‘rock blunts scissors’, ‘paper covers rock’ and ‘scissors cuts paper’, complemented by a fourth kind of situation, where gestures cancel each other out or meet on equal terms.

Is landscape architecture becoming a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors? A game where the very basic elements are being played out against each other in an off-the-drawing-board game, in turn cut to pieces by commercial interests? A game where gains never exceed losses and the best outcome to hope for is a tie?