This project is part of a larger research proposal aimed at developing first, a digital repository, and in time – a lexicon of terms and illustrations relating to public open space and landscape design in South Africa. While the ultimate goal is about understanding the links between human-nature relationships (HNRs), cultural inclusivity, and an ‘Afrocentric’, or locally relevant, language of design for landscape architects, in the interim, it is also about gathering knowledge and developing sensitivities to how people relate to and use places – which is relevant to all designers.