The landscape speaks many different languages and we all hear a different one. To communicate our different perceptions and interpretations of the landscape it is necessary to translate those different languages into one of our own. That language could be an artistic language, a historical one or a formal one. At the Faculty of Architecture in Delft, at the Chair of Architecture and Landscape, we have developed a method to understand the formal language of the landscape. The systematic unravelling of the formal characteristics results in a design toolbox. This toolbox enables us to address present problems of urbanisation, de-urbanisation, restructuring of agriculture, water management, etc.