Generating Landscape Architecture Competition Boards with Nano Banana Pro
In the high-stakes world of architectural and landscape design competitions, the presentation board is your final pitch. It doesn’t matter how brilliant your concept is if the layout is cluttered, the hierarchy is unclear, or the visuals feel disjointed.
However, figuring out the perfect composition often takes hours of trial and error.
Enter Nano Banana Pro.
Today, I’m showing you how to use Nano Banana Pro to generate stunning layout concepts and visual inspiration for your boards. We will use a specific prompt for a Resilient and Sustainable Park Design to show how AI can help you brainstorm visual hierarchies and color palettes before you even open InDesign.
> Important Note: The outputs generated by Nano Banana Pro are intended for inspiration, storyboarding, and layout reference only. Design competitions require your unique, original work and technical accuracy. Use these prompts to visualize how to organize your data, test color schemes, and block out your board structure—do not submit raw AI outputs as your final entry.
Why Use AI for Board Layouts?
When preparing for an international competition, you aren't just designing a building or a park; you are designing a narrative. The layout needs to guide the jury's eye from the big picture to the technical details without friction.
Nano Banana Pro is an incredible tool for prototyping this narrative. It helps you answer questions like: “Does a top-down masterplan look better than a bird’s eye view here?” or “How can I balance technical diagrams with atmospheric renders?”
Key Benefits for the Design Process:
- Rapid Storyboarding: Test 10 different layout configurations in the time it takes to sketch one.
- Visual Hierarchy Checks: See how different zoning arrangements impact legibility.
- Mood & Palette Inspiration: Experiment with "nature-evoking greens" or "monochrome linework" to find the right aesthetic for your own renders.
The Case Study: Resilient & Sustainable Park Design
Let’s look at a practical example of how to generate a layout mock-up. The goal was to visualize a vertical A1 board structure that tells the story of a park designed for climate resilience—handling floods, increasing biodiversity, and serving the community.
I used the following detailed prompt to generate a reference image to guide my final board composition.
The Prompt
Here is the exact prompt I used in Nano Banana Pro to generate these layout ideas:
Generate a vertical A1 landscape architecture presentation board for a resilient and sustainable park design competition. The board should clearly and beautifully present the full design process and concept, from large-scale strategy to detailed elements. The layout should follow a clean, professional visual hierarchy suitable for an international design competition.At the top of the board, include a title section with the project name, a brief concept statement, and a subtle background graphic or site imprint. Below that, show a masterplan of the park in top-down view, with realistic vegetation textures, clearly defined paths, water features, planting zones, and park amenities. Overlay annotations or icons to highlight key spaces and programmatic zones.In the middle section, include a series of conceptual and technical diagrams: site analysis (sun, wind, water flow), zoning, user flow, planting strategy, and ecological layers. Add resilient landscape strategies, such as floodable zones, bioswales, rain gardens, native planting, and habitat creation. Use color-coded diagram layers and simple visual icons to communicate systems thinking.Integrate a bird’s-eye rendering showing how the park fits into its urban or natural context. Add sections or cutaway perspectives to illustrate spatial experience, topography, hydrology, or structural systems like retaining walls, decks, or shade structures.Include material palettes, stormwater management diagrams, and planting typologies, using clean graphic keys and minimalist legends. If applicable, show phasing or adaptive design strategies to demonstrate long-term sustainability and climate resilience.Use a light background, soft shadows, and consistent font families. Color palette should evoke nature—greens, earth tones, water blues—balanced with monochrome linework for legibility. Maintain visual clarity, generous margins, and a sense of breathing space between panels.The final board should feel calm, detailed, and inspiring—ready to be submitted to a high-profile competition jury. It should tell the story of a resilient landscape that is ecologically sound, socially inclusive, and beautifully designed.
More ideas: 
Deconstructing the Layout: What to Learn from the Output
Once Nano Banana Pro generates the image, don't look at the specific "fake" architecture it creates. Instead, analyze the structure to improve your own presentation:
1. Analyze the "Top-Down" Narrative
Notice how the AI interpreted the instruction to place the Title and Masterplan at the top. Does this anchor the board well? Use this as a reference for where to place your actual site plan to grab the judge's attention immediately.
2. Study the Diagrammatic Flow
The middle section of the AI generation often shows a grid or band of information. Use this as inspiration for how to organize your own site analysis (sun, wind, water). It serves as a great reminder to separate your "emotive" renderings from your "logical" systems diagrams.
3. Observe the "Breathing Space"
One of the hardest parts of layout design is managing white space. Look at how the generated image handles margins and gaps between panels. If the AI result feels calm and legible, try to mimic that same spacing ratio in your InDesign file.
Ready to Streamline Your Design Process?
Using AI for layout generation is about enhancing your workflow, not replacing your creativity. It allows you to visualize the "skeleton" of your presentation board instantly, so you can spend more time detailing your actual design and less time fighting with empty canvases.
Would you like more prompts for whole process of landscape and architecture design? Check out my "The Ultimate Nano Banana AI Prompt Guide for Architecture, Landscape, Urban, and Interior Design"
