The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® ___________________________________ STUART O. DAWSON ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT ___________________________________ Interviews Conducted June 8-10 2009 July 9, 2009 By Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR James Sheldon, videographer The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Series: Stuart O. Dawson Interview Transcript TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 Biography .............................................................................................................................. 6 Childhood and Education ......................................................................................................................... 6 Growing up in Urbana, Illinois .............................................................................................................. 6 Memories of Chicago ........................................................................................................................... 8 World War II Impacts the Dawson Family ............................................................................................ 9 Developing New Talents From Sports to Scouts ................................................................................ 10 Attending The University of Illinois .................................................................................................... 11 Hideo Sasaki Encourages Dawson to Come to Harvard ..................................................................... 13 Harvard Class of 1957 ......................................................................................................................... 14 Inspiration Was Everywhere .............................................................................................................. 17 Practice ................................................................................................................................................... 18 A Summer Job With Sasaki ................................................................................................................. 18 Working With Pete Walker on Foothill College .................................................................................. 20 Working With Architects .................................................................................................................... 22 Rich Haag and the 3,000 Mile Friendship ........................................................................................... 25 The Sasaki Office Grows Over Time ................................................................................................... 28 Serving on The Boston Landmarks Commission ................................................................................ 29 Considering Practice ............................................................................................................................... 31 Reflections on The Sasaki Practice ..................................................................................................... 31 Mentors and Muses ........................................................................................................................... 33 Three Generations of Dawsons at Sasaki ........................................................................................... 34 Loving Living in York, Maine ............................................................................................................... 45 Design ................................................................................................................................. 46 Lessons Learned ..................................................................................................................................... 46 Stanley White and The Art of Sketching ............................................................................................. 46 Stanley White: Passion Was His Teacher ........................................................................................... 46 Stanley White’s Chalkboard Lessons .................................................................................................. 48 The Hideo Doctrine ............................................................................................................................ 50 Hideo Sasaki As Mentor and Friend ................................................................................................... 50 © 2011 The Cultural Landscape Foundation, all rights reserved. May not be used or reproduced without permission. 2 The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Series: Stuart O. Dawson Interview Transcript Garrett Eckbo and Dan Kiley............................................................................................................... 52 William H. “Holly” Whyte ................................................................................................................... 53 Travel as a Teacher ............................................................................................................................. 54 Always Learning .................................................................................................................................. 58 Practice Guidelines ................................................................................................................................. 60 Developing an Interdisciplinary Practice ............................................................................................ 60 Collaboration Is The Rule ................................................................................................................... 61 The Managing Principal - Is The Go To Guy ........................................................................................ 64 Good Clients Deserve Recognition ..................................................................................................... 65 Creating Indoor and Outdoor Relationships ...................................................................................... 66 Maintenance and Materials ............................................................................................................... 67 Design Guidelines ............................................................................................................................... 68 Tools of the Trade ................................................................................................................................... 69 One Good Sketch is Worth a Thousand Slides ................................................................................... 69 Using the Sand Table .......................................................................................................................... 70 Models Help us Try Ideas ................................................................................................................... 72 Keeping Design Diaries ....................................................................................................................... 73 Critiques Help Shape the Design ........................................................................................................ 76 Elements of Design ................................................................................................................................. 78 Designing With Water ........................................................................................................................ 78 Planting Design ................................................................................................................................... 81 Public Art is an Integral Part of Landscape ......................................................................................... 84 Japanese Inspiration in the Sasaki Work ............................................................................................ 87 Thoughts on Design ................................................................................................................................ 88 On Urban Renewal ............................................................................................................................. 88 On Preservation and Landscape ......................................................................................................... 89 On Compromise .................................................................................................................................. 92 On Waterfronts .................................................................................................................................. 93 On Boundaries .................................................................................................................................... 94 On Modernism ................................................................................................................................... 96 Landscapes That I love ....................................................................................................................... 97 What is Landscape Architecture? ....................................................................................................... 98 Projects for the future .......................................................................................................................