Peter Walker Partners: Landscape Architecture: Defining the Craft

Best known as the firm chosen to work on the World Trade Center Memorial, the landscape architecture projects of Peter Walker and Partners vary both in scale and program: urban design and planning, corporate headquarters and university campuses, parks, plazas, museums, and gardens. Exploring the relationships of art, culture, and context, Walker and the members of the firm re-form the landscape challenging traditional concepts of design. Through drawing, model-making, computer graphics, and full-size mock-ups, the office moves from defining the program to experimenting with materials and forming the space. The design process, therefore, faithfully reflects the constant exchange occurring with clients, architects, and consultants. A knowledge of history and tradition and an understanding of contemporary needs and patterns of living, allow the firm to produce landscapes that are both timeless and unique. This extensive monograph opens with a short essay about the organization and history of the office, the importance of apprenticeship in landscape architectural education, and the particular way that PWP artfully practices the craft of landscape architecture. It features nearly 300 images (with 3 gatefolds) of the firm's work since 1997, including 16 built landscape projects in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Seven projects in progress include the American Embassy in Beijing, several university campuses, and the World Trade Center Memorial. The 10 site-planning and urban design projects include Millennium Parklands in Sydney, Australia, and the Novartis Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Each section begins with a brief introduction by Walker, and the book concludes with four competition entries, including one for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.