Diving deeper into my world

 

On a theoretical level, I am interested in topistics: a holistic way of grasping a place as the location of shapes, powers, feelings, and meanings. This was coined by E.V. Walter in Placeways (1988). Edward Relph's Place and Placelessness (1976) is also an influence as is the work of Yi-Fu Tuan (who graciously served on my dissertation committee).

 

POE - post occupancy evaluation: the process of evaluating structures in a systematic and rigorous manner after they have been constructed and occupied. This is fascinating although there is rarely funding or desire to carry out such studies.

 

Select Publications

 

Bringing Beauty to Account in the Environmental Impact Statement: The Contingent Valuation of Landscape Aesthetics

(Environmental Practice)

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Landscape aesthetic values can easily be overlooked or undervalued in the environmental impact statement (EIS) process. Public sector projects may underestimate the aesthetic damage they cause, which, if fully considered, could alter the types of projects undertaken or the form those projects take. This article seeks to more persuasively represent the aesthetic damage wrought by a public project by attaching to it a dollar figure. Cost-benefit analysis is often incorporated into the EIS, but for cost-benefit analysis to be valid, all costs and benefits must be fairly represented. To exclude aesthetic value from the analysis on the basis that beauty is intangible or priceless is to assign it a de facto value of zero in cost-benefit calculations. The monetizing of aesthetics is approached by integrating the methods of economic contingent valuation with landscape aesthetic assessment. Economic values and aesthetic values can be reconciled; a demonstration of the integration of methods is provided.

 

Landscape Architecture and Societal Values: Evidence from the Literature

(Landscape Journal)

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Through a literature search, this paper critically assesses the field of landscape architecture by evaluating its societal value as demonstrated by the promotion of health, safety, and the general welfare. The resulting evidence suggests that the activities of landscape architects do indeed have a value to society. However, it is not evident that landscape architects are unique in their ability to carry out these activities. We posit a two-fold response: (1) adopt landscape aesthetics as a foundational bedrock to distinguish landscape architecture from allied disciplines; and (2) rigorously show the contribution of landscape architects to social value via post-occupancy evaluations.

 

I have also written book reviews and book chapters in popular philosophy anthologies.