Presented on March 5, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. in the Reinsch-Pierce Family Auditorium on the Georgia Tech campus.The Douglas C. Allen annual lecture on landscape architecture was established and endowed by alumni, faculty and friends in honor of Professor Douglas C. Allen (1947-2014) in appreciation for his long-time dedication to the College of Design (formerly the College of Architecture) as a teacher, colleague and leader. A Georgia native and landscape architecture graduate of the University of Georgia and Harvard Graduate School of Design, Allen joined the School of Architecture in 1977. Over his career, he introduced thousands of architecture students to the history and design of landscapes and cities and to the inextricable bond between architecture and urban design. In addition to his teaching, he was honored as a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and served as Associate Dean and Interim Dean of the College of Design.Christophe Girot is Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture at the Department of
Architecture of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. His research address new
topological methods in landscape design, new media in landscape analysis and perception, and
the recent history and theory of landscape design. Emphasis is placed on the fields of action in
contemporary large-scale urban landscape with a particular attention given to sustainable
design. Girot practices landscape architecture in Zurich and has built projects in Berlin and
Paris. His work has been published and exhibited in several countries including “Groundswell,”
the first exhibition on Landscape Architecture at the MoMA in New York.Runtime: 73:02 minutesTopology is a term in landscape architecture which equates with the term tectonics in architecture. Broadly defined, it is about an intelligent and structured response to terrain.
Topology encompasses the entire range of scales from the specific to the local and from the local to the regional, both in scope and in meaning. It is precisely the underlying logic of any physical design, to want to restitute a certain sense of continuity on the ground we tread upon. Topology delivers clear and simple solutions to very complex problems, by making the obvious
physical choices pertaining to a site knowingly. One could say that it heralds a return to an elegant vision of the world, where landscape architecture can rise to the expectations of future
city dwellers and their lot. This presentation will endeavor to show a set of concrete landscape projects and examples at a large scale where topology contributes actively to the recovery the spirit of place
