Ken Smith is one of the best-known of a generation of landscape architects equally at home in the worlds of art, architecture, and urbanism. Trained in both design and the fine arts, he explores the relationship between art, contemporary culture, and landscape. His practice, Ken Smith Workshop, was established in 1992 and is based in New York City.

He is committed to creating landscapes, especially parks and other public spaces, as a way of improving the quality of urban life. Much of his work pushes beyond traditional landscape typologies—plaza, street, and garden—to landscapes that draw on diverse cultural traditions and influences of the contemporary urban landscape. Smith’s approach is directed at projects of varying scales and types: temporary installations, private residential gardens, public spaces, parks, and commercial projects. With a particular emphasis on projects that explore the symbolic content and expressive power of landscape as an art form, Ken Smith Workshop specializes in the investigation of new expressions in landscape design.

Recently…

October 4 | 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Museum of Visual Materials
Sponsored by SDSU School of Design

Ken Smith will present recent work and discuss current issues and concerns within the practice of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design.

The presentation will address:

Address current design issues in Landscape Architect and Urban Design related to sustainability, placemaking and social issues in contemporary design.
Address issues of developing designs to meet client, public and governmental requirements and concerns within a framework of best practices.
Address issues of site design of various scales and complexity with responses to budget and client concerns.