Last fall, while I was rapt at “What is the Future of Cultural Landscape Preservation?” a symposium at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, I heard a new word: biocultural. The speaker was Laurie Matthews, FASLA, and she attributed the term to Patricia O’Donnell, FASLA. The term was an attempt at incorporating the multivalence of biological systems into current definitions of cultural landscapes, which can be problematic and ill-fitting for landscape-focused preservationists.
It was a particularly relevant term for the symposium, which drew National Park Service staff, academics, landscape architects, and preservationists into a dialogue that ranged widely over several topics related to defining, deconstructing, and working with cultural landscapes. Hosted by the Urban Heritage Project, the panels focused on emerging perspectives within the park service, collaborating…
You're reading a preview of
Landscape Architecture (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 2025