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What we perceive to be wilderness is in fact just a product: a physical manifestation of the force of wildness. Attempting to manufacture wilderness while bypassing this primary element (the force of wilderness) is why 'emulated wilds' often feel uncanny, fake. This thesis contrasts these forces, necessitating a new negotiation between people and the environment. The Kapiti Coast has seen substantial growth in the last 50 years, resulting in sprawling suburban and commercial development across the region. While areas of landscape close to the historic ecologies of the region remain, much of it has been lost around the town centre, where development has focused in recent decades. This thesis will explore historic representations of wilderness in picturesque and romanticist painting, drawing on both previous views of the wild, more modern interpretations as well as my own personal perceptions. The aim of this design-led research is to understand how to bring a sense of wilderness back into developed areas of the Kapiti Coast. In order to do this, I will explore how designing using digital painting can create a stronger sensory understanding of wilderness. I will use this medium of digital painting to explore what the picturesque means within the discipline of modern landscape architecture. Within the specific Kapiti Coast context, I will identify the elements of suburbia that are underperforming in the context of the larger landscape setting and finally establish a scenario-based methodology to explore site-specific definitions of wilderness within Kapiti.

The Kapiti Coast is changing. The long awaited expansion of the state highway will see rapid growth along the coast and with it, the rural landscape will face a new set of challenges. As the demand for rural land increases, so does land-use tension. Productive land, which was once converted from an extensive wetland network, is slowly being redeveloped into residential subdivisions in order to fulfil an increasing demand for the country lifestyle. However, lifestyle blocks usually have little productive value and subdivisions fragment natural habitats and ecological systems. The typical method of dealing with land-use is the district plan, which designates the most appropriate land-use to the most appropriate area. However, despite good intentions, it has become increasingly apparent that this planning process is no longer reaching its desired outcome. This thesis will explore new strategies for designing rural-residential subdivision, aiming to address land-use issues through increasing diversity. Set in the beach hamlet of Peka Peka, the design investigates one of the last undeveloped areas of private coastal land in the district. This area is prime real estate, but also holds a high capacity for production. It is situated on the remnants of the Great Swamp, a large network of interconnecting wetlands that used to span the length of the coast, providing the potential to significantly increase the ecological value of this land. The design embraces the opportunity to use the residential development as an economic driver to help this degraded landscape and turn these investments into something that is not only beneficial to its residents, but beneficial to the larger region.