KINGSTON, R.I.鈥擜pril 4, 2017鈥擳he 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 annual Landscape Architecture Lecture Series concludes this month with a talk by a nationally renowned historic landscape preservationist.
Charles A. Birnbaum, founder and president of The Cultural Landscape Foundation in Washington, D.C., will give a lecture entitled 鈥淲hy Not Cultural Systems.鈥�
The talk, free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. April 20 in the Agnes B. Doody Auditorium at Swan Hall, 30 Upper College Road, on 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Kingston campus.
鈥淲e are excited to have Charles visit and share his passion with our students,鈥� says William A. Green, a professor in 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Department of Landscape Architecture. 鈥淗e is the leading voice for the protection of iconic cultural landscapes from around the nation. Through his vision and tireless efforts writing, lecturing and producing videos, exhibits and postings, he has made a significant contribution to the field of historic landscape preservation.鈥�
Cultural landscapes are landscapes that have been 鈥渁ffected, influenced or shaped by human involvement,鈥欌�� according to the foundation鈥檚 website. They can be everything from a grand estate and college campus to a cemetery and public park.
Birnbaum specializes in protecting鈥攁nd writing about鈥攖hese landscapes, which are often threatened by development and neglect. In his 鈥淗uffington Post鈥� articles, Birnbaum writes about protecting public parks in the country from development, unsuitable additions and a misplaced quest to renovate landscapes to make them more modern. His goal is to preserve the integrity鈥攁nd beauty鈥攐f sites.
Before creating the cultural foundation, Birnbaum spent 15 years as the coordinator of the National Park Service Historic Landscape Initiative and a decade in private practice in New York City, with a focus on landscape preservation and urban design.
One of his major projects is a database of the country鈥檚 designed landscape heritage called 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Out There.鈥� He has written and edited many publications, including 鈥淒esign with Culture: Claiming America鈥檚 Landscape Heritage.鈥�
He is the recipient of the 2005 California Preservation Award, the 2004 Rome Prize in Historic Preservation and Conservation, the 1992 Federal Design Achievement Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and numerous awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Birnbaum earned degrees from SUNY Farmingdale, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Harvard University. He is a visiting professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.
Birnbaum鈥檚 lecture is co-sponsored by Victor Stanley, a landscape furnishing company.
The entire series is co-sponsored by The College of Arts and Sciences, The Gaetano and Pasqualina Faella Memorial Endowment, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and Bartlett Tree Experts.
For more information about Birnbaum鈥檚 talk, contact the 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Landscape Architecture at 401-874-2983 or Professor Green in 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Department of Landscape Architecture at wagre@uri.edu.