Author: Nord Wennerstrom
Landscape Architect Richard Haag Legacy Project Needs Your Support
Richard Haag is one of the most important and influential Postwar landscape architects in the United States. To honor his legacy and to promote landscape architecture, The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and the Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $12,000 to fund the completion of a new Pioneers of American Landscape Design video oral history. You might remember their most recent series from last fall that highlighted the work and wisdom of landscape architect Laurie Olin.
Launched by TCLF in 2003, the free Pioneers series documents, collects, and preserves first-hand information from pioneering landscape architects and educators. This year’s oral history on Richard Haag will mark the eleventh in the series and will be the first to chronicle a Pacific Northwest practitioner. Funding is needed to finish the production of the series, which has a hopeful launch date in late spring 2014.
Haag, who has been in practice for more than 50 years, is internationally acclaimed for his innovative environmental and ecological design solutions from the sublime Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, Washington to the iconic Seattle’s Gas Works Park, a former industrial site turned public park. He is also a Founder and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington.
Related Content: TCLF Spotlights the Life and Work of Landscape Architect Laurie Olin [VIDEOS]
The oral history project will cover Haag’s life and career from the time he began teaching landscape architecture at the University of Washington to the present day in approximately 25 richly produced video clips. Filming, which was completed in spring 2013, was done by Tom Fox, an award-winning photographer and Principal and Director of Imaging and Media Services for the majority of the SWA Group offices. Award-winning filmmaker and Emmy-nominee Gina Angelone is currently handling post-production.
The Pioneers oral history series is one of the greatest examples of how we can raise awareness and understanding of landscape architects such as Richard Haag. An additional $12,000 in Kickstarter funding would ensure completion of the Haag video oral history and the spring 2014 launch. In honor of Haag’s legacy, National Landscape Architecture Month, and Earth Day, we invite you to visit the Kickstarter page as well as past series on oral history subjects such as Lawrence Halprin and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.
Oral History of Seattle Landscape Architect Richard Haag Kickstarter
Images via TCLF Kickstarter, Wikimedia Commons
Garden Dialogues: Exclusive Access to Private Gardens, their Landscape Architects & Owners
What’s Out There Garden Dialogues, a new national program created by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and taking place in April, June and July 2012, offers exclusive access for small groups to experience some of today’s most beautiful gardens created by some of the most accomplished designers currently in practice; and, opportunities to learn about the creative process from the designers and their clients. Garden Dialogues will provide a distinct look at gardens and enable participants to hear first hand about the collaborative process that led to the creation of each garden. Space is limited and each Garden Dialogue is $35.00. Seibert & Rice Fine Italian Terra Cotta is the national sponsor of Garden Dialogues, and Garden Design magazine is the program’s national media partner.
The Garden Dialogues will be relaxed and leisurely in nature and intimate in scale. The landscape architects and their respective clients will discuss each garden’s inspiration, evolution, and challenges; how did each balance artistry and practicality? What unforeseen problems did they encounter and how did that affect the outcome? What makes for a successful collaboration? What did each learn in this shared creative process? How do they envision the garden’s future?
Abbreviated Schedule:
- April 14-15: Atlanta, Miami Beach, Nashville, Southern California;
- June 9-10: Chicago, Connecticut, the Hamptons, Hudson Valley, Northern & Southern California;
- July 14-15: Connecticut, Indianapolis, Maine, Newport, Portland (OR), Seattle.
Detailed Schedule for April 14-15: Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Southern California:
April 14-15 Garden Dialogues in Southern California ( Register today):
- Bonhill Residence – This contemporary garden functions as a series of lush and green outdoor rooms, which have evolved over time to become a sculpture garden with works by such masters as Richard Long and Richard Serra.
- Del Mar Residence: Martin Poirier, Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects with James Johnson, Architect – This house and garden collaboration is a complete transformation, from nondescript Spanish house and disjointed landscape into a modern sanctuary with ocean views where building and landscape seamlessly merge;
- Kun House 2: Lisa Gimmy Landscape Architecture – When a landslide threatened Richard Neutra’s Kun 2, the owner used the opportunity to create a richly colored and textured garden that offers a fresh take on the house’s iconic modernism while solving environmental concerns.
April 15 Garden Dialogues in Atlanta (Register today):
- Mr. and Mrs. Don Childress Residence: Edward L. Daugherty Landscape Architect – This ten-acre Buckhead property, with a distant view of the city, cleverly blends with the surrounding forest of the Chattahoochee National Park. It features native plants and a modern use of stone, wood and steel.
- William E. Mitchell House + Charles C. Case House: John Howard, Howard Design Studio, with Keith Summerour, Summerour& Associates Architects – Explore the exquisite classical landscapes of these two stately homes and gardens, from the Front Motor Court Garden, to a Hydrangea Garden, formal Boxwood Garden, Woodland Garden and more;
- Watson-Brown Foundation/Goodrum House: Spencer Tunnell, Tunnell + Tunnell Landscape Architecture – This remarkable English Regency house and garden, designed by Philip Shutze in 1932, is currently being restored, complete with Italian Theater Garden, the Serpentine Wall Garden, and Dogwood Allée.
April 15 Garden Dialogue in Nashville (Register today):
- Mr. and Mrs. Walter Robinson Garden: Ben Page, Page Duke Landscape Architects – This lush garden exudes classical elegance as one of Nashville’s early Country Place Era estates. Architectural character seamlessly transitions from house to walled garden rooms planted with seasonal flowers and fruit trees.
April 15 Garden Dialogue in Miami Beach (Register today):
- 1111 Lincoln Road: Raymond Jungles, with client Robert Wennett – A contemporary take on a Miami modernist icon, 1111 Lincoln Road draws inspiration from the Everglades and Morris Lapidus’ earlier work. The result is an exotic public garden amidst Florida’s foremost pedestrian mall.
Detailed Schedule for June 9-10: Connecticut, Chicago, Northern & Southern California, the Hamptons, Hudson Valley – (NOTE: Chicago, Connecticut, the Hamptons and Hudson Valley sites and details to be announced soon):
June 9-10 Garden Dialogues in Southern California (Register today):
- Malibu – Jennifer Kell and Dominic Surprenant Residence: Landscape Artist Andy Cao, cao | perrot studio, with John Greenlee, Greenlee and Associates – Constantly changing with the light and ocean-front atmosphere of its setting, this floating garden installation evokes the asymmetry of clouds, floating over a striking geometrical surface of turf and glass planes;
- Beverly Hills Residence: Susan Van Atta, Van Atta Associates, with Kerry Joyce – A lush escape featuring emerald green lawns, flower gardens, and wooded glens, this garden evokes an English country estate. Outdoor rooms from a croquet lawn to herb gardens are divided by rose terraces;
- Malibu – Frank and Helene Pierson – Horizon Garden: Pamela Palmer, ARTECHO Architecture and Landscape Architecture – The quality of light and expansive horizon view inspired this ocean-side garden. Accented with boldly colored succulents and sculptural lawns, linked terraces are spaces for outdoor living and a visual bridge to the sea.
Detailed Schedule for July 14-15: Connecticut, Indianapolis, Maine, Newport, Portland (OR), Seattle – NOTE: All sites and other details to be announced soon.
What’s Out There Garden Dialogues is a new program derived from the What’s Out There database of America’s designed landscapes. The free, searchable, beautifully illustrated online database spans more than 350 years of American park, open space and garden design and features more than 1200 entries, with new sites added almost daily.
About The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF)
The Cultural Landscape Foundation provides people with the ability to see, understand and value landscape architecture and its practitioners, in the way many people have learned to do with buildings and their designers. Through its Web site, lectures, outreach and publishing, TCLF broadens the support and understanding for cultural landscapes nationwide to help safeguard our priceless heritage for future generations.