Jeremy Merrill, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

Proposal Type: Structured Conversation

Seeking:  Specific Expertise, General Feedback and Interest

Abstract: Contemporary landscape architects use historical sites as design inspiration, as gold standards of design principles, and as a way of capturing the style and philosophies of past generations. These historical sites are more often than not, experienced through the distant, glossy, privileged, portal of professional photographs. In terms of written accounts, the lives and pastimes of the earls, kings, and railroad barons are presented as meaner individuals did not have access or means to many of the iconic sites studied today. Rarely are these landscapes experienced in situ where all their imperfections, maintenance, and people are available for enriching the understanding of the student.

Living history sites offer landscape architecture students the opportunity to observe how the design of historic sites not only affected the owner and invited guest but how women, children, and men who worked the land were impacted the intentional shaping of the land. The main question is where and how living history could be incorporated into the educational pedagogy of landscape architecture students. This discussion will explore the current potential of using living history sites into landscape architectural history education. The use of living history offers a great opportunity for the contemporary student to contextualize the voices of underprivileged users in past works and a rich retelling of history. Such education will go far to complete our understanding of historic sites that will that will translate into design practice today.

Seeking: I would like to invite other landscape architects, both in practice and education, to discuss how landscape architecture currently presents historical sites and what we can do to better enrich our educational practices for the benefit of field involved.

If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Jeremy Merrill,jmerrill71499[at]gmail.com

If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.

All feedback, and offers of assistance, should be submitted by July 3, 2015.

Related Topics: Place, Theory

 

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