Brian Davis

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
TENURED FACULTY

Education

University of Virginia, Master of Landscape Architecture
North Carolina State University, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture 

Biography

Brian Davis, PLA, FAAR is an Associate Professor in the Landscape Architecture Department at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, where he is co-Director of the Natural Infrastructure Lab. His work focuses on coastal landscapes, with a special interest in infrastructure, public space, and ecology. The conservation and design of large scale coastal landscapes in a time of accelerating sea level rise are a critical issue and important cultural and environmental project. His work sees design as a form of inquiry and means of expressing and forming cultural values, rather than as mere problem-solving or the application of principles or knowledge generated by other means. This insight translates to his teaching, which emphasizes invention, synthesis, and contextualization. He has published theoretical and technical papers and book chapters, including “Public Sediment” in Towards an Urban Ecology, “Wider Horizons of American Landscape” in Landscape Journal, and “The Asymmetry of Landscape” and "The White Ribbon" in Journal of Landscape Architecture. 

Currently Brian is working on projects to develop and study innovative sea level rise adaptation approaches for coastal parklands in the Chesapeake Bay region, sediment design projects in the Great Lakes, and flooding infrastructure projects for the four coasts of the United States. He works in collaboration with the Engineering with Nature program of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the National Parks Service, as well as local partners. Along with Sean Burkholder he led the Healthy Port Futures project, a $1.6 million dollar research effort to design and implement new forms of natural infrastructure in the Great Lakes.

Brian teaches in the core MLA curriculum and is a committed teacher. He teaches the core Theory course (LAR 7110- Theorizing Landscape Architecture, currently co-taught with Bernardo Menezes) which exposes students to the most impactful theoretical debates in the field over the last forty years and emphasizes developing the conceptual tools needed to theorize as part of the landscape design process. He also teaches the final course in the Ecology and Technology sequence (LAR 7220- EcoTech IV). That course focuses on the design of large-scale coastal and riverine landscapes and draws from his research and practice. In recent years it has been co-taught with river engineer Craig Taylor, PE of LimnoTech. He also teaches electives related to water and cities, including their design and history.

He is a founding principal of Proof Projects alongside Erin Putalik and Sean Burkholder. The practice is a response to the needs of communities that saw the research in Healthy Port Futures and are interested in new ideas for their coastal landscapes. and previously an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and has practiced landscape architecture in Raleigh, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and New York City. He is a registered landscape architect and member of the Dredge Research Collaborative. His work has been recognized by the American Academy in Rome, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. 

 

Teaching Statement

Teaching Statement

I see teaching design as a mode of practice that is reflective, critical, mutual, interactive, and productive. I have had the opportunity to learn from great teachers and mentors, and I largely try to craft my own methods in that image. I see design itself as more than sophisticated problem-solving, but rather as a primary means of acting in the world, and making desirable futures real. This includes problem-solving but also necessarily involves norms and values as well as facts and physical laws. Because of this I believe that teaching design is not primarily about content delivery, especially now when information is so readily available. More important are the critical thinking skills, the ability to synthesize among unlike things, and contextualize facts and ideas, and a willingness to take risk. I see the primary role of the studio teacher as creating the conditions within which to do the learning that must be done. I think this is what Rich Haag meant when he said “you can profess design, and you can learn design, but you can’t teach design.” In the studio I encourage interpretation, making with rigor and curiosity, and communication. In other non-studio courses (lectures and seminars) this varies somewhat and takes a form that is a bit more familiar to other disciplines, but is still based in core design values.

These beliefs are born out of my own experience and education, and shape my pedagogical approach which generally emphasizes learning-by-doing, interdisciplinary thinking, engagement with the world (real landscapes and communities), and an iterative process of production, criticism, and speculation. The complexity of design work and competing demands on everyone’s time means that sometimes there is frustration or confusion on the part of students and teacher. While difficult, I do not consider this a bad thing necessarily. For my teaching I always try to remember that the profession of landscape architecture, which the overwhelming majority of my students go into, is set up on the apprenticeship model like engineering, architecture, law, or medicine. In this model school teaches principles, theories, processes, and skills more than right answers, and the education of an individual is finished after working for a number of years in the field with a professional. For masters education there is an additional burden because the MLA serves as a terminal degree in the field. Therefore masters students should have the opportunity to learn research methods and the technical and conceptual skill necessary to undertake self-directed research or creative work, with the aim of being able to bring something new to the field, to contextualize it, and explore its implications.

Brian Davis Headshot

Contact

BRIAN DAVIS
Peyton House 204
mudlands@virginia.edu

Natural Infrastructure Lab | University of Virginia School of Architecture

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