FOUNDERS

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Dr. Kevin Thwaites BA, Dip LA (Dist), PhD
University of Sheffield, UK
Lecturer

Professional and Academic Background
I completed my education in Landscape Architecture at Leeds in 1983 and have since worked in both private practice and higher education. My research interests and activities stem from PhD work completed in 1999 and relate primarily to the philosophy and theory of landscape design and the spatial expression of experience in urban and residential settings. I am also active in exploring the relationship between research and teaching in landscape architecture higher education. My teaching experience is broadly based but focuses on the design of urban outdoor places, philosophy and theory of landscape design, design processes and spatial language, and the design of community and neighbourhood landscape settings. Together with Terry Hartig of the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University I am joint network convenor for the international association for people-environment studies (iaps) Restorative environments network: www.iaps-association.org/networks

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Ian Simkins BSc, Dip LA, PCHE, FHEA, MI Hort, MLI
Chartered Landscape Architect
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Freelance Landscape Consultant practicing as:
I MS landscape consultancy

Since obtaining a Graduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1999 my professional career has been complimented by research activity. This research activity led to the foundation of the Experiential Landscape Place Research and Development Unit (elp:rdu) with Dr. K. Thwaites of the University of Sheffield.

In addition to my work as a Landscape Architect Practitioner where much of the theoretical work was tested, I have also undertaken studio based research on a number of modules in conjunction with Dr. Kevin Thwaites with both post and under graduate students.

CONTRIBUTORS

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Alice Mathers BA, Dip LA
Through combining experience in landscape architecture practice and Mencap, Alice is developing, for the PhD at the University of Sheffield, visual communication techniques to better facilitate the participation of people with learning disabilities in the design of urban greenspace. Her work with learning disability highlights the continuing problems encountered by some of the most vulnerable members of society in finding voice as ‘intelligent’ collaborators who can be worked with, and resource providers for, the community as a whole. Her work makes an important contribution to developing aspects of ELP's participatory methodology and, through this, to our deepening understanding of the place perceptions of different groups in society. Alice's work continues to attract attention from the health and social care professions and she will present ongoing field work at conference later this year.

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Claire Dobson BA(Hons) Dip LA, MA
After graduating from Leeds Metropolitan University with the Graduate Diploma in Landscape Architecture with Distinction, Claire combined working in landscape architecture private practice with providing support to the development of Experiential Landscape Place as a research assistant. During this period Claire specialised in exploring aspects of the emergent ELP concept as both an analytical and design tool, undertaking a number of field studies examining the experiential potential of, for example: New Earswick in York; the Rabygate district of Byker, Newcastle; and The Calls area in Leeds City. This work, later formalised in her MA thesis, established a new way of conceptualising urban places as integrations of centres, directions, transitions and areas, enabling the experiential characteristics of different places to be described in terms of their profile of these spatial characteristics. The graphical representation of these, subsequently known as 'Dobson Clusters', provides a diagrammatic means with which to communicate a wide diversity of place types, either as they are observed in real sites, or as conceived in design proposals. Claire subsequently developed the 'Dobson Cluster' concept through application to a new settlement project in the North West of England.

SITE DESIGN: Kevin Thwaites & Ian Simkins
last update: 12 December, 2007