A Case Study Method For Landscape Architecture Mark Francis Mark Francis, FASLA is professor and Abstract: Case studies are widely used in most professions, including medicine, law, past chair of landscape architecture engineering, business, planning, and architecture. This practice is becoming increasingly com- at the University of California, Davis. mon in landscape architecture as well. The primary body of knowledge in landscape architec- Trained in landscape architecture and ture is contained in the written and visual documentation—that is, stories—of projects, be it urban design at the University of Cal- well-known ones such as New York’s Central Park, or more modest projects such as a small ifornia, Berkeley and Harvard, his neighborhood park. Together, these cases provide the primary form of education, innovation, and work focuses on the use and meaning testing for the profession. They also serve as the collective record of the advancement and devel- of the built and natural landscape. opment of new knowledge in landscape architecture. This article summarizes a research project Much of this research has utilized a commissioned by the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) in 1997 to develop a case case study approach to study and study method for landscape architecture. The project concludes that the case study method is a design parks, gardens, public spaces, highly appropriate and valuable approach in landscape architecture. This article presents a streets, nearby nature, and urban case study methodology for landscape architecture including it limits and benefits, a suggested public life. He is the author of sev- methodology and format, and an example case study of Bryant Park in New York City. With enty articles and book chapters trans- increased rigor and funding, the case study method promises to be an increasingly common and lated into ten languages and several effective form of analysis, criticism, and dissemination for landscape architecture research and books including The California Land- practice. scape Garden (University of California Press 1999), Public Space (Cambridge University Press 1992), The Meaning of Gardens (MIT Press 1990), and Commu- nity Open Spaces (Island Press 1984). He has received design, planning, and research awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ameri- can Institute of Architects, the Amer- ican Planning Association, and eight national awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects including a 1999 Centennial Medal- lion. Outstanding new projects can This article presents the results The Case Study Method and A Definition result from putting a new twist on of a study commissioned by the Land- The case study method has ideas from the past. scape Architecture Foundation (LAF) been utilized in various professions (Urban Land Institute, 1998) to develop a case study methodology and fields as an established method to improve the level of practice and of education and research.2 Law, busi- ase studies have a long scholarship in landscape architecture. ness, medicine, engineering, and pub- Cand well-established his- The study involved a review of past lic policy all use case studies (Yin and tory in landscape architecture. This is approaches to case study analysis in the Rand Corporation 1976; Yin how landscape architects frequently other professions and the social and 1993, 1994; Stake 1995). Fields such inform their colleagues and the pub- ecological sciences, including a sum- as sociology, economics, and psychol- lic about their work. Case studies mary of significant benefits and limi- ogy also use case studies as a research have been frequently used in land- tations. In addition, a survey was con- method. Case studies often serve to scape architecture education and ducted to determine how environ- make concrete what are often gener- research, and practitioners have also mental design professionals and alizations or purely anecdotal infor- utilized them to a more limited researchers have utilized case study mation about projects and processes. extent. As the profession develops analysis for designed and natural They also bring to light exemplary more of its own theory and knowledge places.1 projects and concepts worthy of base and communicates this more [Insert Photo 1 — Central Park replication. broadly, the case study method — about here] While case study definitions promises to be an effective way to have taken different forms, I offer the advance the profession. Francis 1 following definition for use in land- projects as a form of case study analy- professional education. There is also scape architecture: sis. Empirical and critical analysis is a well-developed case study method- A case study is a well-documented and often lacking, along with the use of a ology in the social and natural sci- systematic examination of the process, systematic methodology. However, ences, much of which is useful for decision-making and outcomes of a pro- there is an opportunity through the landscape architecture (Riley 1963; ject, which is undertaken for the purpose leadership of the Landscape Architec- Platt 1992). of informing future practice, policy, ture Foundation in cooperation with [Insert Photo 3 — Faneuil Hall theory, and/or education. organizations such as the American — about here] Case studies can be valuable for Society of Landscape Architects Case studies in urban planning, a profession in a number of ways. For (ASLA), the Council of Educators in architecture, urban design, and urban practitioners, they can be a source of Landscape Architecture (CELA), and land development are most similar to practical information on potential others to increase the rigors as well ones used in landscape architecture. solutions to difficult problems. For as the application of case study analy- Research in architecture, planning, professional education, case studies sis in landscape architecture. These and urban design often relies on a are an effective way to teach by organizations can show how case case study approach, be it a historical, example, to learn problem-solving studies can both better inform prac- social, or policy-oriented exa m i n a t i o n . skills, and to develop useful evalua- tice and advance the state of land- tion strategies. For the profession as scape architecture research. Similar Efforts a whole, case studies are a way to Case study analysis is one of A number of case study archives several well-established research exist today in related fields including build a body of criticism and critical 4 theory, and to disseminate the effec- methods in landscape architecture. planning, urban land development, tiveness of landscape architecture Case studies typically employ a vari- and urban parks. The Urban Land outside the profession. ety of research methods. These Institute (ULI), which is dedicated to [Insert Photo 2 — Portland include experimental (Ulrich 1984), advancing urban land development Fountain — about here] quasi-experimental (Zube 1984), his- practice, has developed a strong There are several ways case torical (Walker and Simo 1994), story record of using case studies. The studies can be used. In the design telling/anecdotal documentation ULI’s Project Reference Files were (McHarg 1996) as well as multi- started in 1985 and contain develop- professions, such as landscape archi- 5 tecture, they are typically used to method approaches. ment details on over 250 innovative describe and/or evaluate a project or and successful projects. The Lincoln process. In other fields, case studies Use of Case Studies in Other Land Institute, the Trust for Public are sometimes used to explain or even Professions/Fields Land, the American Planning Associ- predict theory related to practice or The professions of law, medi- ation, and the Urban Parks Institute phenomena. Here, multiple case cine, business, and engineering rely are other organizations that develop studies are considered with an eye for heavily on case studies for education, and disseminate case studies related lessons from which one can general- research, and practice (Feagin et al. to urban parks, land conservation, ize or principles that can advance 1991). For example, the case study community greening, and land eco- method is a core part of the curricula nomics. In landscape architecture, knowledge.3 Case studies can describe exemplary projects that in medicine, law, and engineering. the Contemporary Landscape Inquiry demonstrate exceptional work, or Harvard Schools of Business, Law, Project at the University of Toronto’s they can also be conducted on more and Medicine all routinely use case Virtual Landscape Architecture typical projects, which may be easier studies to train their students. In Library Web site includes over 160 to replicate. They can be conducted business and law, hypothetical case project case studies in landscape on contemporary projects as well as studies are invented specifically architecture maintained by landscape more historic types. Successful cases for use in education and practice architecture faculty and students. typically include both aspects. (Cagranoff et al. 1991; Barnes et al. The site includes case studies of vary- Literature on the case study 1994). Cases are presented to demon- ing lengths and qualities, a case study method is clear on its potential bene- strate how difficult management or search engine, and a way to make fits and limitations (Sommer and clinical situations could be handled in available new case studies online. Sommer 1986; Sommer 1997; Webb practice. They challenge students and et al. 1966; Zeisel 1990). While there practitioners to be effective problem The Value of Case Studies are many benefits to a case study solvers and to devise solutions to com- Robert Yin suggests that the approach, there are some important mon situations encountered in prac- value of case studies lies in their limitations as well. One typical prob- tice. The case study method is now potential to “retain holistic and lem is the inability to compare across the standard method used in most meaningful characteristics of real life cases, especially when different types situations” (1994, p. 3). Case study of data have been collected.