Roger Osbaldeston
| Position | Professor Emeritus |
|---|---|
| rosbalde@calpoly.edu |
Faculty Biography - in memoriam
After being awarded a diploma in Architecture from the College of Arts and Crafts in Nottingham, England and working in a private architect's office for two years, Roger Osbaldeston emigrated to the U.S. in 1959. He received a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania where he had the good fortune to study with Ian McHarg. For three years, Roger worked for Lawrence Halprin in San Francisco on a wide variety of projects including Master Planning at UC Davis, conceptual studies for BART, Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota and urban revival projects in Portland, Oregon. This was followed by six years in Dan Kiley's office in Vermont, working on campus planning for the University of Vermont, Syracuse University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. He also worked on an interior garden at the Philadelphia Children's Hospital and projects in Washington, D.C. and Tufts University among others.
After a brief time in Portland, Oregon, Roger came to Cal Poly where he became the first full-time faculty member of the ‘new’ landscape architecture program in Fall Quarter 1973. Like everyone else, Roger taught most all of the classes offered, but specialized in Landscape History, which he taught for 16 years.
Roger retired from teaching in 1996 but remained in the community to become involved with Festival Mozaic and Cuesta Master Class as a chorale member. He continued to be a frequent visitor and supporter of the Landscape Architecture Department in his retirement, offering studio critiques and guest lectures. Roger will be missed.
Memories of Roger O.
It is with sadness and a real sense of loss that I learned of Roger Osbaldeston’s passing.
Thinking of Roger and the early days of the Landscape Architecture Program has brought back fond memories of my time working with him as a colleague. We first met when I arrived for the start of the Winter Quarter 1973 to join him in teaching the first class of LA students. It was just the two of us and forty 3rd year students for the balance of the year.
Teaching was a new experience for both of us, and it didn’t take long to appreciate our need to share in Cal Poly’s “learn by doing” tradition as we navigated our way through preparing project assignments, lectures and field trips. Roger was a good partner in the adventure.
Roger came to Cal Poly with a broad professional practice perspective and project history that measurably helped to establish the early foundations for the new Landscape Architecture program. With his calm and engaging nature, Roger used his project experience to introduce students to the wide realm of Landscape Architectural practice possibility that was available to them.
I got to know Roger as a unique and interesting ‘character’ with talents and interests beyond his professional background in Landscape Architecture, including his fondness for music, history and art. He also had a wonderful singing voice that he shared as a member of local choir groups.
It was clear from the very start that Roger wanted the program to be successful and freely contributed his talents and skills to make it happen. In the quiet remembering of my time with him, I think he would be very pleased to know that the LA program that he and the other early faculty members helped launch and nurture, continues its successes today with a periodic refresh of new faculty ‘characters’, bright students and successful graduates.
He will indeed be missed.
Richard Zweifel
