Space/Time/Place/Duration (review)

Sometimes seen as little more than a vehicle for peer-reviewed publication by tenure-seeking aspirants, the annual Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Conference (CELA) has a track record of generating a relatively large number of relatively short and sometimes unconvincing papers. This year it was in Texas and it was, perhaps unsurprisingly, bigger than normal—475 delegates; 270 (Warholesque) 15-minute presentations (selected from 457 submissions); 51 poster presentations; 17 panels, and three keynote speakers. The event was admirably hosted by the School of Architecture under Dean Frederick (Fritz) Steiner. The conference committee, chaired by Allan W. Shearer, choreographed the event seamlessly. The Event Sponsor was Landscape Forms. Fellow sponsors were Akadamie für Internationale Bildung, Hunter Industries, Island Press, Routledge/Taylor + Francis Group, and the University of Texas Press.

Opening sessions comprised the Administrators Workshop (including a panel of landscape architect Deans telling us that a Dean’s life is easier than an administrator’s); a Publishing Workshop from landscape architecture-friendly publishers Routledge/Taylor + Francis; Research Methods Workshops on Nature, Landscapes, and Public Health—a theme that re-emerged (albeit obliquely) from keynote speakers Richard Haag and John Stilgoe—and on Public Participation; and an all-day downtown sketching ramble that culminated in an excellent Thursday evening gallery exhibition (with the work of James Richards—who also presented a commendable paper “Freehand Sketching in a Digital Age”—being one stand-out). The keynote speakers were sponsored by the CELA Fellows (of which there are now 53) and the University of Texas School of Architecture. First up was the evergreen Haag under the title “The Sooner the Better”—a scattershot of his views and values. He started with a list of these before veering into Q + A format and regularly reminding us of the value of trees. Snippets included describing presentation drawings as “the fine art of the visual swindle;” noting “we were biophilic before they started inventing words like that;” that “landscape experience is buried in the DNA of all cultures in all times;” and that “trees are right down there in our DNA.” Haag lamented that, unlike wetlands, “trees do not have legal standing” and argued that “we should plant a billion trees … or a billion billion trees…” and concluded that “we can become the alpha profession—but you’ve got to work for it and you’ve got to teach for it.” The second keynote, Amy Weisser, Director of Exhibition Development at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, was the one of the three who stayed on message. Noting that memorials are “promises that we make to the future” and “reminders that the past is never dead,” she informed us that six million visits have been made to the exhibition since it opened on 11 September 2011. And, as if to respond to Mr. Haag’s plea, she noted that 400 oaks—chosen for their longevity, were planted in the eight-acre Peter Walker-designed project. Third keynote John Stilgoe, Professor in the History of Landscape at Harvard, provided a highly entertaining excursion through a cumulation of concerns—nature/analog cameras/cities as wicked places/wilderness being wicked/harmony in music and the perspective of Prince Charles/a more detailed documentation of adverts showing women in fashion magazines—“women look at fashion magazines when they’re tired … all female models look miserable or frightening”—and arguing that they are generally posed against backgrounds of stone/hair/wooden boats—and a range of writers—Emerson/Spencer/Flesch/Pratchett—concluding, sagely, that “landscape architecture should discover itself before it is discovered by others who will use it for other purposes.” In the end, not a million miles away from Haag’s conclusion.

The 270 fifteen-minute papers and 17 panels were distributed under seven themes—Design Education and Pedagogy/Communications and Visualization/Urban Design/LA CES—Continuing Education/Research and Methods/People-Environment Relationships/History, Theory, and Culture. It is, of course, impossible to give an overview or even...