School of Architecture and Planning hosts Gareth Doherty for “Landscape Fieldwork” lecture

The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) hosts Gareth Doherty, associate professor of landscape architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and affiliate faculty in the Department of African and African American Studies. Doherty is the author of Paradoxes of Green: Landscapes of a City-State.

Doherty will present his lecture, "Landscape Fieldwork: How Engaging the World Can Change Design," which explores how landscape architecture can reconnect design practice with the lived realities of the people and environments it serves. Drawing from Landscape Fieldwork, the talk examines how practitioners can integrate insights from design, environmental studies and the social sciences to address global challenges such as climate change and social inequality.

While technological tools have transformed the field, they often distance designers from the everyday human experience of landscape use. Through real-world case studies, Doherty demonstrates how field-based, community-engaged approaches can rebalance that relationship by centering observation, participation and collaboration. Participants will gain an understanding of how landscape fieldwork offers a framework for working within diverse cultural and ecological contexts-moving the discipline beyond its traditional focus on the Global North toward more inclusive, multidimensional design practices.

The lecture will take place Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. in the Garcia Honda Auditorium at SA+P. A reception will follow.