Research
This section of the Landscape Architecture website showcases abstracts, publications, and papers that represent the research and scholarly interests of the department's faculty.
California Eden: Heritage Landscapes of the Golden State
Christine Edstrom O’Hara and co-editor and co-author Susan Chamberlin published a new book in June 2024, California Eden: Heritage Landscapes of the Golden State. The book showcases a wide range of landscapes from the professional to the vernacular through exceptional essays by distinguished landscape historians. Entries highlight famous and beloved estate gardens but also more frequently overlooked landscapes such as shopping malls, streetscapes, world fairs, and vernacular sites. The book has been well-received. Lotusland, an historic estate and gardens, recently chose the book as a gift for their guests at their November event “Gardens in Paradise: Montecito Estates.” The book is also listed as a perfect gift from Los Angeles Air Talk’s host Larry Mantle’s favorite Los Angeles books of 2024.
Towards An Expanded History of Environmental Justice in America: Ellen Swallow Richards and Human Ecology
by Ellen Burke, January 2023
Link to Dialectic: https://www.dialecticjournal.org/volume-10#DialecticX_TowardsBurke
Automotive retrofits in historic city centres and their potential effects on their walkability: a comparison of San Luis Obispo, CA, USA and Bath, England, UK
Beverly Bass, December 2018
The Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2017
Christine O'Hara: “Landscape History in the Digital World: A Case Study of 1920s Los Angeles”
Joseph Ragsdale: “Sectional Thinking: Considering Experience, Sequence and Spatial Development in the Design Process”
César Torres-Bustamante: “Digital Video and the Impact of Landscape Architecture on Public Well-being”
David Watts/Reeves: “Footsteps in Time: The Gardens of Versailles”
David Watts: “Playground as a Diagnostic Indicator of a Child’s Well-being”
Abstract: Revisiting Eden: The Olmsted Brothers’ ecological plans for Los Angeles, 1914-1931
Christine O'Hara
Parking Retrofits within Historic City Centers and the Potential Effects on Their Walkability
Beverly Bass, June 2017
Abstract: ABC of Landscape Architecture
César Torres-Bustamante, 2016
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2016
Ellen Burke: "Abstract: Iterative Mappings: Spatial Analysis and Community Food Resilience"
Beverly Bass: "The Role of the Creative Class in Small Town Regeneration: A Case Study of Kinston, NC"
Miran Jung Day and David Kovacic: "Abstract: A strategy for locating constructed wetlands as part of a watershed management plan"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2015
César Torres-Bustamante: "Abstract: Writing and Designing" and "Beyond Project Description: Writing in Design Studios"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2015
David J. Watts: "Examining Long Term Impacts of Short Term Service Learning Environment"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2015
Beverly J. Bass and Margaret Livingston: "Parking Retrofits within Historic City Centers and the Potential Effects on Their Walkability"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2014
César Torres Bustamante and David J. Watts: "Site Visits in the Digital Era... Are They a Necessity?"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2014
David J. Watts: "Service Learning Partnerships with Private Practice"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2014
Gary Clay: "A Landscape in Transition: The Reinvention of the Presidio in San Francisco"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2014
César Torres Bustamante: "How to Sketch (more)"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2014
Beverly J. Bass and Margaret Livingston: "Retrofitting Historic City Centers and the Potential Effects on Their Walkability: A Comparison of San Luis Obispo, CA and Bath, England"
Abstract: California Higher Education Sustainability Conference 2013
Beverly Bass: "Sustainable Campus Initiatives as a Product of Interdisciplinary Teaching"
Abstract: Making Cities Liveable Conference 2013
Margarita Hill: "Sustainable Community Design Strategies in the USA"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2013
Omar Faruque: "Lessons from Five Service-Learning Projects"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2013
César Torres Bustamante: "Representing Time and Space: DIY Investigations"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2013
David J. Watts: "Enhance Health of Pre-School Children through Prolonged Engagement on Playgrounds"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2013
Christine O'Hara and Kristopher Holz: "The Price of Comfort: A Cost-Benefit Analysis and Case Study of How Landscape and Architectural Design Can Reduce Human Dependence on Climate Control"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2012
Beverly Bass: "Medieval Town Making and Sustainability: A Return to the Center"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2012
Christine O'Hara: "Re-Situating Landscape Architecture for the 21st Century: How Economic Downturns have Provided Opportunities for Landscape Architecture to Find New Direction"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2012
David J. Watts: "Construction Documents: A Crossroads of Misunderstanding"
Abstract: Erasing Boundaries: Service Learning in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Planning Symposium 2011
Astrid Reeves: "Farms to Schools: Healthier Communities through Service Learning"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2011
Christine O'Hara: "From Rose Gardens to Watersheds: A Survey of Ecological Designs by the Olmsted Brothers in Southern California"
Abstract: The Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities 2011
Beverly Bass: "Gathering Spaces: Lessons from Traditional Dutch Street Form in the Age of Peak Oil and Global Warming"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2010
David J. Watts: "Service Learning in Africa"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2010
Christine O'Hara: "Teaching Scenarios of New Normals: Grounding Innovative Landscape Architectural Design in Futures Studies"
Abstract: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2010
Professor Emeritus Walter Bremer, Joseph Ragsdale, Beverly Bass, Christine O'Hara, and David J. Watts: "
Abstract: Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians
Christine O'Hara: "The Panama-California Exposition, San Diego, 1915: the Olmsted Brothers’ Ecological Approach to Developing a New Park Typology for the Arid West"
