course vignettes
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Landscape Systems Studio BLA 3rd year LArch 311 A core studio that focuses on landscape-level patterns and processes. Relationships between sites and regional systems are considered using GIS as a primary tool. Natural and cultural histories, socio-economics and demography, landscape experience, lore and other factors are explored, community goals are identified, and interventions at site and landscape level are recommended. a. CD set cover of the 2004 studio b. Mount Nittany studio, on site c. end-of-semester public open house d. peer critique e. kayaking during the Susquehanna North Branch Riverway Study f. colleague Tim Murtha and students use the plasma screen to model Mt. Nittany g. my colleagues looking for jasper, a sign of early human occupation  exploring a pioneer cemetery, surrounded by new suburbs at the base of Mt. Nittany  Mt. Nittany Conservancy stakeholder in the studio |
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Ecological Restoration & Design Studio BLA / MLA / /inter-disciplinary LArch 453 (now 414) An advanced vertical studio in applied restoration ecology and ecological design. Students from design and life science backgrounds have worked with community organizations and conservation groups on stressed urban landscapes, brownfields, wetlands, stream corridors, and other sites. a. examining hydric soils at the Potter wetland b. Center for Watershed Stewardship MLA student demonstrating macroinvertebrate sampling techniques c. Potter farmstead, showing degraded stream corridor to be restored d. and e. Elks Country Club riparian project site, and presentation of restoration strategies  Mr. Potter,
farmland preservation and restoration enthusiast  spotted newt in eft stage found on site |
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Planting Studio BLA 3rd year LArch 437 (now 332) A planting design and methods hybrid course that culminates in a refined set of contract documents. Planting types include woodland, meadow/grassland, mixed beds, and urban hardscape. a. tiger swallowtail
b. container seedlings from Octoraro Nurseries
c. balled and burlapped tree d. controlled burn near State College e. T. Hsu planting plan f. big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) inflorescence  a typical studio scene |
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Inter-College Graduate Seminar LArch 510 / Engl 597 A joint MLA-MFA seminar co-taught with English colleague Bob Burkholder, and generously supported by the Institute for Arts and Humanities. We've examined themes of writing and making the region, landscape and place. Guests have included Anne Whiston Spirn, David Orr, John Elder, John Tallmadge, Ken Lamberton, Marcia Bonta, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Evan Eisenberg, Stacy Levy and others. a. guest speaker Anne Spirn exploring the atmosphere of Tussey Mountain b. Alison Hawthorne Deming reads from Science and Other Poems as part of the Tensions of Change speaker symposium c. John Elder discusses his book Reading the Mountains of Home d. David Orr fields questions at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center e. seminar-in-the-field, this time at Marcia Bonta's Plummer Hollow nature preserve  Anne Spirn interacts with English and MLA students |
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Ecosystems Field Trip BLA 2nd year LArch 444 (now 272) A one-week transect of select Mid-Atlantic, northern Appalachian, and lower Great Lakes ecosystems, with a focus on plant communities, their biophysical and cultural underpinnings, their conservation, and their potential to influence and inspire landscape design. (photos from top to bottom) a. reflections of Hawk Mountain overlook b. on the trail at Pennypack Preserve c. a quiet moment taking visual notes d. contemplating old growth in Allegheny National Forest e. 'getting into' an old growth snag f. planting American beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata) at Island Beach State Park, NJ g. Hawk Mountain overlook |
photos © Ken Tamminga
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