David L. Hays
Associate Professor / MLA Curriculum Committee ChairDepartment of Landscape Architecture, School of Art and Design
Research Interests
My research and teaching interests include both historical and contemporary landscape architecture. Those interests first became focused through a curriculum of art history and were subsequently transformed through my study of design.Whether historical or contemporary in focus, my work concerns the invention and reception of new landscapes. Landscape is understood here not reductively, as space (whether differentiated or extensive), but productively, as situated event (i.e., as work in place over time). Within that framework, the ambitions and abilities of a designer, the priorities of a commissioning agent, the wide-ranging conditions of site and context, and the particular qualities of materials and techniques give shape to landscapes that both reflect and give direction to the cultures in which they emerge.
My work seeks to interpret designed landscapes by elucidating both the circumstances through which they came into being and their subsequent implications. I am particularly attracted to curiosities of design—that is, to situations, involvements, approaches, and arrangements not readily accounted for in the conventional narratives of history and theory. As in science, phenomena that defy explanation often have much to teach us about core concerns.
Education
| 1998-2001 | Princeton University Graduate School, Department of Architecture. M.Arch. 2001. Thesis: "Sentient Architecture." Advisor: Prof. Guy Nordenson. |
| 1992-2000 | Yale University Graduate School, Department of History of Art. M.A. 1993; M.Phil. 1995; Ph.D. 2000. Dissertation: "The Irregular Garden in Late Eighteenth-Century France." Advisor: Prof. Judith Colton. |
| 1990-1991 | Cambridge University, Department of History of Art. Visiting Scholar, Peterhouse. |
| 1986-1990 | Harvard University. Joint A. B., summa cum laude: Fine Arts and Romance Languages and Literatures (French). Thesis: "The History of the Jardin de Monceau, 1769-1779." Advisor: Prof. Miroslava Benes. |
Professional Experience
| 2009-present | Principal, Analog Media Lab |
| 2007-present | Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| 2001-2007 | Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Courses Taught at the University of Illinois
| LA 101: Introduction to Landscape Architecture (2008 to present) |
| LA 233: Foundation Design Studio (2001 to 2006) |
| LA 281: Design Communications II (2001 and 2002) |
| LA 336/438: Design Workshops I and II "Between Matter and Experience" (2011) "Natural History" (2009), in collaboration with Martin Holland, Landscape Architecture "Performing Space" (2007), in collaboration with Prof. Tere O'Conner, Dance "Relevant Form" (2006) "Test Plots" (2005) "The American Garden Now: Proposals for the U.S. Embassy, Cairo, Egypt" (2002) |
| LA 390/590: Independent Seminar "Envisioning Gateway: A Public Design Competition for Gateway National Park" (2007) "At Risk" (2007) "Ciudades visibles: XV Bienal de Arquitectura de Quito, Ecuador" (2006) "Landscape since 2000" (2005 and 2006) "The French Garden" (2003) "Spatializing the Marvelous" (2003) "Ames, IA, Landmark Challenge" (2002) |
| LA 501: Theory and Practice of Landscape Architecture (seminar) (2012) |
| LA 587: Graduate Seminar “Making History” (2012) “Landscape since 2000” (2010) |
| LA 599B: MLA Thesis Studio (2008 to present) |
Selected Publications
| 2012 | (Non-)Essential Knowledge for (New) Architecture [306090 Books 15], ed. David L. Hays (New York, NY: 306090; Princeton Architectural Press, expected December 2012). |
| 2011 | "Making a Case for Making," in Making a Case [306090 Books 14] (New York, NY: 306090; Princeton Architectural Press), 180. |
| 2011 | "Garden Plans," in Cartography in the European Enlightenment, eds. Matthew Edney and Mary Sponberg Pedley, [Series: History of Cartography, vol. 4] (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press), in press. |
| 2010 | "Above, Beyond, and Between: Situating Nature at Paolo Bürgi’s Cardada," in Feng jin yuan lin (Beijing, China) (December 2010). |
| 2010 | "Analog Media Lab: Chair I: Rococo Chair Retrofit," in Dorian Lucas, ed., Green Design (Stuttgart, Germany: Braun). |
| 2010 | "Interview: Forum on Landscape Architecture Adaptive to Climate Change," in Landscape Architecture China (Beijing, China), 50-53. |
| 2010 | "Grounded Speculation," in Feng jin yuan lin, special monograph about French landscape architect Bernard Lassus (Beijing, China) (April 2010). |
| 2010 | "Sentient Architecture: Embracing the Natural Volatility of Form," Junk Jet 3: Flux Us! Flux You!, ed. Asli Serbest, Mona Mahall, and Gerd de Bruyn (Amsterdam, The Netheralands, Idea Books, for Institut Grundlagen moderner Architektur und Entwerfen, University of Stuttgart, Germany), 28-31. |
| 2009 | "Making History" (essay) and "Envisioning the Bloomingdale: the Review" (transcript), in Chicago Architecture Club Journal 11: Envisioning the Bloomingdale. |
| 2008 | "Landscapes within Buildings," Harvard Design Magazine 29 (Fall 2008/Winter 2009): 110-117. |
| 2008 | "Standard Stoppages," 30•60•90 12: Dimension (Fall 2008): 18-19. |
| 2008 | "Landscape Theory," contributor, in Art Seminar 6: Landscape Theory, eds. James Elkins and Rachel Delue (Routledge; University of Cork Press). |
| 2008 | Co-authored with Dianne S. Harris, "On the Use and Misuse of Historic Landscape Views," in Representing Landscape Architecture, ed. Marc Treib (New York: Routledge), 22-41. |
| 2007 | "Landscapes within Buildings in Late Eighteenth-Century France," Sites Unseen: Essays on Landscape and Vision, eds. Dianne Harris and D. Fairchild Ruggles (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press), 157-180. |
| 2006 | "Lesson Plans: Pierre Panseron and the Pedagogy of Garden Design in Late Eighteenth-Century France," Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes 26: 4 (October-December 2006): 275-294. |
| 2006 | "Time (and Again): The Lurie Garden, Millennium Park, Chicago," The Senses and Society [Oxford, England: Berg] I: 2 (Summer 2006): 263-266. |
| 2006 | "Figuring the Commonplace at Ermenonville," in Experiencing the Garden in the Eighteenth Century, ed. Martin Calder (Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang), 87-108. |
| 2005 | Response (invited) to keynote address delivered by David Harvey at "Groundswell: Constructing the Contemporary Landscape" Symposium, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 15 April, "Where is the outrage?," in L: Newsletter of the Architectural League of New York (Summer 2005), 9-10. |
| 2004 | Editor, 30•60•90 07: Landscape within Architecture (September 2004). Introductory essay, "Landscape within Architecture (within Landscape)," 6-11. |
Selected Projects, Competitions, Exhibitions, and Media
| 2008-present, 2000-2003 | Sentient Architecture, investigation of thermally-responsive, dynamic structural systems. |
| 2009 | Wood Work, site-specific performance, with Sarah Haas (Dance), and Ellen Hartman, Erich Sprague, and Kevin Stewart (Landscape Architecture) (performance: 3 May, Urbana IL). |
| 2007 | Wood Walk, sequential performance (February-April, Champaign County, IL; synthetic performance: 20 April, Urbana, IL). |
| 2007 | Informed Access, with Shaney Peña Gómez, Julie Sajtar, and Patrick Peterson, competition entry submitted to Envisioning Gateway: A Public Design Competition for Gateway National. |
| 2006 | Porous City, with Shaney Peña Gómez and Julie Sajtar, competition entry submitted to Ciudades visibles: XV Bienal de Arquitectura de Quito, Ecuador. |
| 2001 | Sentient Architecture, in Emergent [exhibition], Storefront for Architecture, New York, NY (November 9-23). |
| 1999 | International Criminal Court, Archive, and Media Center, part of "11 Architectural Questions about the ICC," exhibited at "The Hague Appeal for Peace," conference at the Nederlandse Congresgebouw, The Hague, Netherlands. (11-15 May). |
Selected Awards and Honors
| 2008, 2010, 2012 | Brenton and Jean Wadsworth Fellow, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| 2008 | College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Creative Research Award |
| 2007-2008 | Dumbarton Oaks Fellowship for Studies in Landscape Architecture |
| 2006 | Excellence in Studio Design Award, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) |
| 2006 | Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching, College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| 2006 | Professor Excellence Award, University of Illinois Student Chapter, American Society of Landscape Architecture |
| 2005 | Professor Excellence Award, University of Illinois Student Chapter, American Society of Landscape Architecture |
Leadership
| 2011-present | Trustee, 30•60•90 |
| 2001-2011 | Member, Advisory Board, 30•60•90 |
| 2008-2009 | Chair, MLA Curriculum Committee, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois, Urbana, Champaign |
| 1998-2001 | Director, American Friends of the Attingham Summer School, Inc. |
