rediscovering a legacy
The Pioneers of American Landscape Design project documents the lives and careers of those who have shaped the American landscape—not only landscape architects, but all who have played a role in creating our landscape heritage: landscape gardeners, architects, horticulturists, nursery owners, writers, engineers, educators, cemetery designers, planners, golf course architects, and naturalists.
Oral Histories
The Pioneers Oral Histories are videotaped interviews and directed discussions with eminent landscape architects and other shapers of the American landscape. Learn more...
Carol R. Johnson
View the inaugural documentary in the Pioneers Oral History series and hear Carol R. Johnson talk about her life, career, design philosophy, and what it means to be a pioneering woman in the field of landscape architecture.
Launch Oral History Video Module
Profiles
Pioneers Profiles contain a variety of resources: interview videos and transcripts, biographies, personal essays, images, and news articles.
Featured
Lawrence Halprin (b. 1916)
Lawrence Halprin, a pre-eminent landscape architect of the 20th century, is renowned as a designer, educator, and innovator. Best known internationally for an unrivaled collection of public spaces, Lawrence Halprin also designed nearly 400 private gardens in his early years of practice. Read Bio...
See also: Sample Oral History Interview ; Modern Garden Icons: Donnell Garden ; Portland: The Lawrence Halprin Landscapes Conservancy ; ASLA 2007 Meeting / Donnell Gala ; Water Garden ; Freeway Park ; Skyline Park; Three Invisible Modernist Designs (Landslide 2002) ; Preserving the Modern Landscape ; United Nations Plaza (San Francisco)
Herbert Bayer (1900-1985)
Bauhaus-trained environmental artist and designer, Herbert Bayer, spent nearly four decades working to integrate art and ecology. Bayer’s work culminated in his design Earthworks at Mill Creek Canyon in Kent, Washington. Read Bio...
Dan Kiley (1912 - 2004)
Dan Kiley is among the most important international landscape architects of the 20th century. For over 60 years and in more than a thousand projects, he has transformed the landscapes of private houses, public institutions and vast urban spaces into magnificent places of natural beauty. Read Bio...
see also: Indiana Landscapes (Landslide 2002) ; Modern Garden Icons: Donnell Garden ; Dan Kiley Landscape at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Burlington, VT) ; Lincoln Center ; NationsBank Plaza (Tampa) ; Kiley’s Garden at NationsBank Plaza (Landslide 2006) ; Capitol Park ; Dan Kiley Past and Present
Jane Silverstein Ries (1909-2005)
For over sixty years, Jane Silverstein Ries worked to create a distinctive landscape style all her own and, in doing so, changed the public and private spaces of Denver. Read Bio...
Robert Royston (b. 1918)
Robert Royston design work and university teaching in the years following World War II helped define and establish California Modernism in the post-war period. Read Bio...
see also: Parkmerced ; Mitchell Park; Garden Excursions
Ruth Patricia Shellhorn (1909-2006)
Ruth Patricia Shellhorn designed several hundred private gardens and commercial projects during her fifty-seven-year career. She demonstrated a flair for site-planning that went well beyond the ken of the white-gloved lady designer. Read Bio...
see also: Sample Oral History Interview
See More Pioneers Profiles...
Garden Excursions
No. 1
Celebrating the Modernist Parks and Gardens of Robert Royston
Northern California
May 9-10, 2008
Publications
Research Queries
The Pioneers Research Queries allow users to find information about a particular landscape or its designer, post an inquiry or response, start a discussion with other landscape scholars and enthusiasts.
Post a Research Query
To post a Pioneer query on our website, please write a brief summary (no more than 500 words) about the practitioner and/or the landscape. Please provide one to two images to illustrate your request. TCLF reviews, posts, and updates the queries and responses as they are submitted.
Background
The Pioneers initiative was designed in response to the lack of a singular source or finding aid for researchers seeking information on those visionaries who have had a significant impact on the designed American landscape. The first edition of Pioneers of American Landscape Design grew from an attempt to make information collected in a National Park Service database available to the public. A consortium of project partners, including the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), worked with McGraw Hill to publish the book in 2000. This first edition included 160 pioneers representing a broad range of skills and training. More importantly, though, it provided a source for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts attempting to establish the necessary context to evaluate a property's historical significance.
Since that time, Pioneers has grown to include multiple publications, oral histories, biographic and project profiles, and research queries. With this series, TCLF and the project partners continue to promote responsible, informed stewardship, and management of cultural landscapes nationwide.