"Practice‐Based Research Now" in Landscape Journal
New article illuminates how and why professional design offices are pursuing research activities that extend beyond project‐centered work.
A new, LAF-led collaborative article, "Practice-Based Research Now: Purpose, Approach, and a Proposition", is out in the November issue of Landscape Journal. The full text is available for free thanks to the authors/firms who covered the cost to make this article open access.
The article contributes to the dialogue on practice-based research in design through personal statements from the authors, a synthesis of interviews and surveys with 21 design firms, and a proposition and call to action. It discusses motivations, models, and funding for research in practice, as well as new drivers, mechanisms, approaches, and outcomes.
The authors conclude with concrete ideas and an appeal to the landscape architecture discipline's collective responsibility to realign professional practice and make "a concerted effort to develop a functional approach to making practice-based research accessible, replicable, and impactful."
Our legitimacy as practitioners depends on our ability to show that we are having a positive impact. And being trusted to take the lead in the future depends on our ability to learn from our mistakes. This takes research.
Megan Barnes, Anya Domlesky, Allison Harvey, Lisa Hwang, Eric Kramer, Allyson Mendenhall, Margaret Plumb and Rebecca Popowsky
This effort grew out of roundtable discussions organized by LAF, and we thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone to bring this to fruition. Thank you to the co-authors:
- Megan Barnes, Senior Program Manager, Landscape Architecture Foundation
- Anya Domlesky, Director of Research and Associate Principal, SWA XL Lab
- Allison Harvey, Principal, OJB
- Lisa Hwang, Design Data and Metrics Specialist, LandDesign
- Eric Kramer, Principal, Reed Hilderbrand
- Allyson Mendenhall, Chief Practice Resources Officer, Sasaki
- Margaret Plumb, Director of DW Legacy Design®, Design Workshop
- Rebecca Popowsky, Research Associate, OLIN
And special thanks to Jim LaGro, Robert Ryan, and to all who participated in the surveys and interviews!
UPDATE: Watch the recording from our Dec 4 webinar panel discussion with the article authors.
