Dispatch 27: Claude Cormier

This episode was originally broadcast in May 2009. Stefan Rotzler studied History of Art at the Zurich University before becoming a gardener. Following this hands-on experience, Rotzler opted to study landscape architecture at the ITR Technical School in Rapperswil, Switzerland where he graduated in one of the first classes of the newly-created professional program. After graduation, he worked with the town planning office of Zurich for a few years and then opened his own office. In 1989 he began his collaboration with Matthias Krebs. Together, they have made projects for gardens, public spaces, sports facilities, infrastructure primarily in Europe. In 2007, the Swiss publishing firm Niggli released the first monograph of the Rotzler Krebs collaboration. Rotzler has taught in the landscape program at Rapperswil and has participated widely in international competitions, juries and workshops. Special thanks to Merete Vindum for dispatch research and preparation. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in June 2009. Claude Cormier grew up on a farm and went on to study in agronomy and plant sciences at the University of Guelph. However, in search for a different perspective on nature, he entered the University of Toronto to study landscape architecture. After practicing for some time in Toronto and Montreal, he returned to school in the early 90’s to obtain a Master's in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1995, he founded his office, Claude Cormier Landscape Architects. Claude has been described as belonging to "the second generation of landscape architects, known as conceptualists". Having emerged concurrent with postmodern architecture and on the heels of the conceptual art movement, the 'conceptualists' approach is distinguished by the predominance accorded the concept or governing idea that spurs a project and defines its every detail, from start to finish. This viewpoint differs radically from the functionalist imperatives of modernism. Within this camp, the practice of Cormier and his team is distinguished by his insistence to peel back the historic, economic, botanical, ecological and socio-cultural strata (whether hidden or manifest) that make up the sites on and with which they work. Special thanks to Terje Ong for dispatch research and preparation. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in April 2009. Marc Treib is a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a landscape and architectural historian and critic and has published extensively. His books include: A Guide to the Gardens of Kyoto (1980), Modern Landscape Architecture: A Critical Review (1993), Regional Garden Design in the United States (Co-Editor, 1995), Space Calculated in Seconds: The Philips Pavilion, Le Corbusier, Edgard Varese (1996), Garrett Eckbo: Modern Landscapes for Living (1997), The Architecture of Landscape, 1940-1960 (2002), Noguchi in Paris: The Unesco Garden (2003), Thomas Church, Landscape Architect (2003), Representing Landscape Architecture (2007), Drawing/Thinking: Confronting an Electronic Age (2008), Spatial Recall: Memory in Architecture and Landscape (2009). Treib has held Fulbright, Guggenheim, and Japan Foundation fellowships, as well as an advanced design fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in October 2008. Maria Goula is a landscape architect and has been either studying or practicing landscape architect in Barcelona since she arrived from Greece in 1992, during the eve of the Olympic Games. She received both her Master of Landscape Architecture as well as her PhD degree from the Escola Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura in Barcelona, in Catalunya’s Politecnic University. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Urbanism and Territorial Planning where she teaches design studio and focuses on addressing issues surrounding tourism. Currently she is a founding member and Researcher for the Center of Landscape Research of Barcelona. Dr. Goula is also member of the organizing committee of Barcelona European Landscape Biennial. In Dispatch 25 she discusses the Biennial, her Ph.D. work, the European Landscape Convention, teaching, and the state of the profession in Spain. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in September 2008. Gabriele Kiefer founded Büro Kiefer, a landscape architecture studio founded in Berlin in 1989. Ms. Kiefer studied landscape planning at Berlin Technical University before working as a research assistant and, in 2002, being appointed as a Professor. Her studio has made work all over Germany and throughout much of Europe. She was a finalist in Barcelona's 5th Biennal of landscape architecture for a project on the outskirts of Switzerland. She has lectured world-wide and participates regularly as a jury member to competitions. In Dispatch 23, Ms. Kiefer discusses her Opfiker Park in Zurich, her major influences, her teaching, former industrial sites, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in December 2009. Alexander Reford is a historian and the director of the Reford Gardens of Metis in Quebec and the co-founder of the International Garden Festival of Metis, a festival that has featured designers such as Claude Cormier, NIP Landscape, Paula Meijerink (TG 10) and Chris Reed of Stoss Landscape Urbanism (TG 15). Alexander is on the board of directors for the Canadian Tourism Commission as well as the president of the Quebec Gardens' Association and Tourism Gaspésie. He has written a number of books and numerous articles in the fields of Garden Design, Canadian history and tourism. In this dispatch, Alexander talks to us about the 10th edition of the Metis Garden Festival, its future, the origin of Reford Gardens, the effects of tourism on the landscape, and blue sticks. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in September 2009. Ken is the founder of the Ken Smith Workshop, based in Manhattan, New York, and Irvine, California. He graduated from Iowa State University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and practiced with the Office of Peter Walker and later in collaboration with Martha Schwartz and David Meyer. Since 1992 he has been piloting his own studio while also teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Pennsylvania, UVa, and the City College of New York. His professional work encompasses a broad array of scales and project typologies and in his own words "explores the symbolic content and expressive power of landscape as an art form". He is most well-known for his Camouflage Roof Garden on the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan and his current work for the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. Ken discusses his work for the Orange County Great Park, India, growing up on a farm, John Cage, the European condition and his first jobs out of college. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in August 2009. René Bihan is a registered landscape architect and the managing principal of the San Francisco office of the SWA Group. He grew up with a nursery in his backyard and has been at SWA for more than two decades. He is also a commissioner for the San Francisco Arts Commission and has designed and managed projects such as Beijing Finance Street, the City College of San Francisco Master Plan, the Hong Kong Cultural Harbour, and the Salt Lake City Redevelopment of Blocks 75 and 76. Here, René discusses much of his current work as well as the 50th birthday of the SWA Group, his trajectory from the nursery to the studio, sustainable site planning, and what drives his design process. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in June 2009. John Beardsley is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He teaches courses in Landscape Architectural history, theory and writing. Concurrently, he serves as Director of Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. John has authored numerous books including the well-recognized EarthWorks and Beyond: Contemporary Art in the Landscape. In addition to teaching and writing, he has curated exhibitions for the Hirshhorn Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and The Spoleto Festival in Charleston. In Terragrams 19, John discusses how his interest in Land Art was born, his project Dirtywork, the Quilts of Gee’s Bend, landscape strategies infiltrating from the outside, and his role as a teacher, curator and historian. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.

This episode was originally broadcast in September 2009. Michael van Gessel is a Dutch landscape architect with over 3 decades of experience that stretch back to the Agricultural College of Wageningen, where he earned a BA in Plant Disease, another BA in Landscape Architecture and then an MA in Landscape Architecture. His professional experience was gained with the Dutch office Bakkker en Bleeker (now B+B) where he practiced for more than 25 years and directed the studio from 1991-1997. Since 1997 he has been enjoying self-employment and independent consulting. In this dispatch, Michael discusses his approach to thinking about and designing landscapes, the fragility of Europe’s rural territory, his work with Bureau B+B, the exhibition of his work at the Triennal of Landscape in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn, his recent monograph, and the 5th Biennal of landscape in Barcelona. This show employs visual chapters that update the show art to provide illustrations relevant to the ongoing onversation. If your podcast client does not support this, you can view the chapter art and their sources at this episode's webpage.