Eugene J. Mackey Jr. Lecture: Julie Bargmann

Join us Monday, March 25, at 5:30 p.m., for a lecture with landscape architect Julie Bargmann titled “Trouble Beauty: A Manifesto for Ugly Duckling Landscapes.”

“Landscapes are hard, all messy and complex. Sites are entangled, many toxic and degraded. Neighborhoods are complicated, uniquely layered and wanting. To evoke the swan from tough sites, good design isn’t enough: environmental regeneration, social equity, savvy resourcefulness, and sheer joy is required. Be it a coal mine, a shipyard, a city full of polluted soils, or all sorts of abandoned land, DIRT digs deep. Site forensics and slow looking carefully and empathetically uncovers evidence to appreciate the complexity, to allow a reciprocal process guide giving form to the landscape with an artistic vengeance.”

Julie Bargmann is internationally recognized as a leader in the design and building of regenerative landscapes as well as a rigorous, adventuresome educator. She founded D.I.R.T. studio in 1992 to execute projects with the passion, vision, and unflinching honesty that define her unique. Bargmann’s work hews to themes of economy of means, neighborhood connections, respect for site histories, and above all a love of the landscape — specifically, the existing complicated and often former industrial landscape. Highly regarded for her versatility and hands-on methods, Bargmann earned her BFA in sculpture at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a master’s in landscape architecture at Harvard University. Amongst numerous national and international awards received for D.I.R.T. work, Bargmann was named the inaugural recipient of the Cornelia Oberlander International Prize in Landscape Architecture. Simplicity of form, use of extant materials, and deliberate restraint are hallmarks of her evocative and authentic landscapes.

This event is part of the Sam Fox School’s Public Lecture Series and is free and open to the public. The lecture will take place in Steinberg Hall.
Free parking is available in the East End Garage beginning at 5:00 p.m. Enter the garage from Forsyth Boulevard or Forest Park Parkway.