L ARCH 498D/598D: A Non-Chronological History of Landscape Architecture Spring 2015

L ARCH 498D/598D: A Non-Chronological History of Landscape Architecture
Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30-5:00 (3 Credits), Spring 2015
SLN#s 20698 (LA 498D) and 20699 (LA 598D), GLD 100
Instructor: Daniel Jost

How have changing ideas about the value of play and concerns about safety affected how playgrounds are designed? How has the creation of memorials both united and divided communities in the aftermath of traumatic events? What historical baggage affected the native plants movement? And why were the pedestrian malls created in many American downtowns during the 1960s and 1970s ripped out in the decades that followed? This class will explore these questions, and many other historical questions that have relevance to designers today.

Landscape architecture is a diverse field that encompasses a broad array of project types and design problems. We will explore some overarching themes that can be traced through much of landscape
architecture history as well as more specific design issues and project types that have a history of their own that can get minimized when history is told chronologically.

Many of the examples we study will be 20th century examples, though we will also frequently focus on how people in an earlier period were dealing with some of the same sorts of issues we face today. A single class may touch on landscapes from Ancient Rome, 18th century Japan, and 20th century America, while zooming in more deeply on a project in 18th century England.

Class time will be split between lectures and discussion of readings. Enrollment is open to both aspiring landscape architects and students in other majors who are interested in learning about the
field.

About the Instructor: Daniel Jost spent five years as a full-time writer and editor for Landscape Architecture Magazine before leaving to pursue graduate studies at the University of Washington in
2013. He has written over 80 articles on a variety of topics and edited many more for veracity, clarity, and style. For the magazine's 100th anniversary in 2010, he and Linda McIntyre scoured all 100
volumes of the magazine, curating quotes and imagery for a special commemorative issue, which was one inspiration for this class. That same year, he won the Bradford Williams Medal for the article
"Homeless Haven." Before focusing on journalism, Jost earned a landscape architecture degree from Cornell University. He worked for various non-profits in Buffalo, New York, and for a landscape
architecture firm in Las Vegas.