Lauri Macmillan Johnson

Professor

Office Address School of Landscape Architecture and Planning

College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

P.O. Box 210075

The University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona 85721-0075

(520) 621-8790

ljohnson@u.arizona.edu

LAR 540a: Contemporary Landscape Architecture: Syllabus

Description The first five weeks of this 1-credit course begins with an introduction to the

profession and an overview of the history of landscape architecture. Throughout the

course students are exposed to readings, lectures, and information on 20th and 21

st

century prominent design figures that have shaped the profession. The UA Desire

2Learn website presents this material in the following categories: design theory and

processes, methods of design inquiry, ecological design, cultural heritage, and

design communication. The website includes recommended links, for example, to

professional firms, American Society of Landscape Architects, Cultural Landscape

Foundation, and Projects for Public Places. Students use these and other sources to

develop and present case reviews of significant built works including gardens,

urban designs, recreational areas, corporate landscapes, restored natural or

industrial sites, heritage sites, waterfront projects, resorts, et al. In-class discussion

is a key component of the class.

Instructional Objectives: Learning Outcomes

Write and orally present a working definition of the profession of landscape architecture.

Write thoughtful responses to reading material; demonstrate appropriate use of landscape

architectural design vocabulary and ability to compare readings and draw conclusions.

Describe and analyze the major contributions made by landscape architects during the past 50

years as these relates to contemporary practice.

Identify, describe, and compare project types, styles, and movements or periods in the growth and

development of landscape architecture.

Explain the evolution of landscape architecture and suggest new trends within the profession.

Articulate ethical parameters for the practice of landscape architecture.

Find, evaluate, and present examples of professional projects created by landscape

architects in order to extract design principles, theories, and technical information for

application in design.

Formulate an effective presentation strategy by selecting appropriate content for case

reviews, organization of content, and media.

Find and modify principles of sustainability, aesthetic and artistic value, socio-cultural

importance, and functional requirements for analysis, evaluation, and critique of built works.

Note: Attendance is required.

Required Text

Swaffield, Simon. 2002. Theory in Landscape Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania

Press.

Additional Recommended Readings

Appleton, J. 1996. The Experience of Landscape. New York: John Wiley.

Bacon, Edmund N. 1967, 1982 (revisited edition). Design of Cities, New York: Viking Press, and London: Thames

and Hudson.

Beardsley, John. 1984. Earthworks and Beyond: Contemporary Art in the Landscape, New York: Abbeville Press.

Birnbaum, Charles A., and Christine Capella Peters. 1996. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the

Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes, Washington,

D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource Stewardship and

Partnerships, Heritage Preservation Services, Historic Landscape Initiative.

Birnbaum, Charles A., editor. 1999. Preserving Modern Landscape Architecture: Papers from the Wave Hill

National Park Service Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Spacemaker Press.

Birnbaum, Charles A., and Robin Karson, editors. 2000. Pioneers of American Landscape Design, New York:

McGraw Hill.

Carr, Ethan. 1998. Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture and the National Park Service, Lincoln:

University of Nebraska Press.

Crandell, Gina, and Heidi Landecker, editors. 1998. Designed Landscape Forum 1, Washington, D.C.: Spacemaker

Press.

Dramstad, Wenche E., James D. Olson, and Richard T.T. Forman. 1996. Landscape Ecology Principles in

Landscape Architecture and Land-Use Planning. Washington D.C.: Island Press and the American Society

of Landscape Architects.

Eckbo, Garrett. 2002. Landscape for Living. Santa Monica: Hennessey & Ingalls.

Godron, Michel. Richard T.T. Forman. 1986. Landscape Ecology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Dubos, Rene. 1972. A God Within. 1972. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Fletcher, Banister. 1987. A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, London, 1896; as Sir Banister

Fletcher’s A History of Architecture, 19th edition, edited by John Musgrove, London and Boston:

Butterworth Group.

Francis, Mark, and Randolph Hester. 1990. The Meaning of Gardens: Idea, Place, and Action, Cambridge,

Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Frankel, Felice, and Jory Johnson. 1991. Modern Landscape Architecture: Redefining the Garden, New York:

Abbeville Press.

Haskell, Barbara. 1999. The American Century: Art and Culture, 1900-1950, New York: Whitney Museum of

American Art.

Hunt, John Dixon, and Peter Willis, editors. 1975. The Genius of the Place: The English Landscape Garden, 1620-

1820, New York: Harper and Row, and London: Elek.

Imbert, Dorothee. 1993. The Modernist Garden in France. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Jellicoe, Geoffrey, and Susan Jellicoe. 1995. The Landscape of Man: Shaping the Environment from Prehistory to

the Present Day, New York: Viking Press, and London: Thames and Hudson, 1975; revised and enlarged

edition, New York and London: Thames and Hudson, 1987; 3rd edition, New York: Thames and Hudson.

Jencks, Charles. 1987. Post-Modernism: The New Classicism in Art and Architecture, New York: Rizzoli, and

London: Academy Editions.

Jencks, Charles. 1990. The New Moderns: From Late To Neo-Modernism, New York: Rizzoli, and London:

Academy.

Johnson, Lauri Macmillan. 1999. Class Notes.

Johnson, Lauri Macmillan. 2001. “Burle Marx, Roberto 1909-1994.” In Encyclopedia of Gardens: History and

Design, edited by Candice Shoemaker. Chicago: Chicago Botanical Garden, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers,

212-216.

Johnson, Lauri Macmillan. 2001. “Design Fundamentals.” In Encyclopedia of Gardens: History and Design, edited

by Candice Shoemaker. Chicago: Chicago Botanical Garden, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 355-357.

Johnson, Lauri Macmillan. 2001. “Rose, James 1910-1991.” In Encyclopedia of Gardens: History and Design,

edited by Candice Shoemaker. Chicago: Chicago Botanical Garden, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1136-

1138.

Johnson, Lauri Macmillan. 2001. “United States.” In Encyclopedia of Gardens: History and Design, edited by

Candice Shoemaker. Chicago: Chicago Botanical Garden, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1339-1355.

Johnson, Bart R. and Kristina Hill. 2002. Ecology and Design: Frameworks for Learning.

Washington: Island Press.

Kaplan, Rachel, and Stephen Kaplan. 1998. With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature.

Washington D.C.: Island Press.

Karson, Robin. 1989. Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect: An Account of a Gardenmaker’s Life, 1885-1971, New

York: Abrams/Sagapress.

Kassler, Elizabeth B. 1984. Modern Gardens and the Landscape, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1964; revised

edition.

Kiley, Dan, and Jane Amidon. 1999. Dan Kiley: The Complete Works of America’s Master Landscape Architect,

Boston: Bulfinch Press

Kostof, Spiro. 1987. America by Design, New York: Oxford University Press.

Landecker, Heidi, editor. 1997. Martha Schwartz: Transfiguration of the Commonplace, Washington, D.C.:

Spacemaker Press.

Laurie, Michael. 1986. An Introduction to Landscape Architecture, New York: American Elsevier, and London:

Pitman, 1975; 2nd edition, New York: Elsevier.

Lassus, Bernard.1998. The Landscape Approach Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Leszczynski, Nancy. 1999. Planting the Landscape: A Professional Approach to Garden Design, New York: Wiley.

Leopold, Aldo. 1949. A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press, Inc.

Lynch, Kevin and Gary Hack. 1985. Site Planning, Third Edition, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Lyall, Sutherland. 1991. Designing the New Landscape, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, and London: Thames

and Hudson.

Mann, William A. 1981. Space and Time in Landscape Architectural History, Washington, D.C.: Landscape

Architecture Foundation.

McHarg, Ian L. 1969. Design With Nature, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.

Lippard, Lucy R. 1983.Overlay: Contemporary Art and the Art of Prehistory, New York: Pantheon.

Matilsky, Barbara C. 1992. Fragile Ecologies. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

Moore, Charles Willard, William J. Mitchell, and William Turnbull, Jr. 1988. The Poetics of Gardens, Cambridge,

Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Mosser, Monique, and George Teyssot. 1991. L’Architettura dei giardini d’Occidente: dal Rinascimento al

Novecento, Milan: Electa, 1990; asThe History of Garden Design: The Western Tradition from the

Renaissance to the Present Day, London: Thames and Hudson.

Newton, Norman T. 1971. Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape Architecture, Cambridge,

Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Page, Robert R., Cathy Gilbert, and Susan Dolan. 1008. A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports, Washington D.C.:

U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships,

Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscaps Program.

Pregill, Philip, and Nancy Volkman. 1999. Landscapes in History: Design and Planning in the Western Tradition,

New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993; as Landscapes in History: Design and Planning in the Eastern

and Western Traditions, 2nd edition, New York: Wiley.

Prigann, Herman and Heike Strelow and Vera David. 2004. Ecological Aesthetics.

Boston: Birkhouser.

Profiles in Landscape Architecture, Washington D.C.: American Society of Landscape Architects, 1992.

Reed, Peter. 2005. Groundswell. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.

Robins, Corinne. 1984. The Pluralist Era: American Art, 1968-1981, New York: Harper and Row.

Rutledge, Albert J. 1971. Anatomy of a Park: The Essentials of Recreation Area Planning and Design. New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Simo, Melanie. 1999. 100 Years of Landscape Architecture: Some Patterns of a Century, Washington, D.C.:

American Society of Landscape Architects Press.

Simo, Melanie, and David Dillon. 1997. Sasaki Associates Integrated Environments, Washington, D.C.: Spacemaker

Press.

Simonds, John Ormsbee. 1961, 1983. Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site Planning and Design. New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Steele, Fletcher, “New Pioneering in Garden Design,” Landscape Architecture 20, no. 3 (April 1930)

Thacker, Christopher. 1979. The History of Gardens, Berkeley: University of California Press, and London: Croom

Helm.

Tishler, William H., editor. 1989. American Landscape Architecture: Designers and Places, Washington, D.C.:

Preservation Press.

Tobey, George B. 1973. A History of Landscape Architecture: The Relationship of People to Environment, New

York: American Elsevier.

Treib, Marc, editor. 1993. Modern Landscape Architecture: A Critical Review.Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT

Press.

Trieb, Marc, and Dorothée Imbert. 1997. Garrett Eckbo. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Trulove, James G., editor, “Looking Back,” Landscape Architecture 80, no. 10 (1990)

Van Valkenburgh, Michael R., curator. 1984. Built Landscapes: Gardens in the Northeast, Brattleboro, Vermont:

Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.

Van Valkenburgh, Michael R., Margaret B. Reeve, and Jory Johnson. 1986. Transforming the American Garden: 12

New Landscape Designs, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Walker, Peter, and Melanie Simo. 1994. Invisible Gardens: The Search for Modernism in the American Landscape,

Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Ward, Alan. 1998. American Designed Landscapes: A Photographic Interpretation, Washington, D.C.: Spacemaker

Press.

Whyte, William H. 1980. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Washington, D.C.: The Conservation Foundation.