VOL 1: MARGINAL STREET

MARGINAL STREET, the first in the PLOT series, seeks to track emerging landscape phenomena as well as consider design thinking and the urban landscape. The theme Marginal Street is both an actual street name near our campus and a thematic metaphorical perspective; it is a space with which to frame dialogue and thoughts. Within urban areas there exist a number of streets, often extensions of off-ramps, former construction roads, or dead-end culs-de-sac that are named Marginal Street. Discovering one such street while researching a particular Manhattan site, the student editors reflected on how often we investigate spaces and conditions that are dilapidated, in ruin, or somehow on the fringe.

Editors: Michael Mason, Kelly McCracken, Sheila Moss, Stuart Polasky, Tyler Silvestro

Contributors: Danae Alessi, Kjirsten Alexander, Kenn Bass, Samuel W. Berkheiser III, Agnes Denes, Chiara di Palma, Edward Eigen, Lindsay Foehrenbach, Lara Gelband, Toni L. Griffin, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Len Hopper, Elise Kaufman, Michael A. King, Michael Mason, Kelly McCracken, Molly McIntosh, Charles McKinney, Ken Missbrenner, Sheila Moss, Dominic Perri, Stuart Polasky, Linda Pollak, Gregory Schaffer, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, B. Tyler Silvestro, John Silvestro, Terreform, June Williamson

Cover: Agnes Denes, Wheatfield—A Confrontation. Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan—With Agnes Denes in the field, 1982. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, New York City. Photo © John McGrail, Time/Life photographer.


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VOL. 2: PATCHWORK

The second volume, PATCHWORK, addresses the “patchwork thinking” that creates ad-hoc assemblages of ideas, much as a quilt is a pragmatic act of joining disparate pieces in revelatory ways. Patchwork thinking is both innovative and precise: it solves specific problems and addresses specific needs. We also see patchwork thinking as particularly urban; it’s a useful way of fixing things that have gone wrong, or embracing conditions emanating from between the cracks. Contributors to this issue are thoughtful observers of change, fluidity, and emergent systems in the city. This issue of PLOT shapes new ways of collectively reconsidering the city and its patchwork logic.

Editors: Samuel W. Berkheiser III, Kathleen Cholewka, Lara Gelband, Sara Malmqvist, Ryan Morrison, Liza Trafton

Contributors: Kjirsten Alexander, Carl Alderson, Sara Alsum-Wassenaar, Bradley Alter, Julie Bargmann, Beirut Field (Frederic Karam, an Ackenhausen, and George SalAmeh), Megan Berkheiser and Mike Caldwell, Samuel W. Berkheiser III, Emily Bolevice, Molly Briggs, Kathleen Cholewka, Xiaochao Dai, Aurora Davis , Earth Matter NY, Will Ellis, Alan Feigenberg, 596 Acres, Elizabeth Fodde-Reguer, Alberto Foyo , Future Green Studio, Lara Gelband , Anina Gerchick, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Max Jacquard, Michael A. King, Daphne Lasky, Elizabeth Luzzi, Michaela Macleod, Sara MalmQvist, Michael Mason, Matt McCormick, Ryan Morrison, Kirsten Myhr, Grace Ng, Mary Nunn, Luke Pryjma, Alanna Rios, Marie Salembier, Anamel Sanchez Lee, Eli Sands, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Alexandra T. Siladi, B. Tyler Silvestro, Michael Sorkin, Liza Trafton, Urban-Think Tank, Maura Whang, Gabriel Willow, Esther Yang, Andrew Zientek

Cover: Barbara Kruger with Henry Smith-Miller, Laurie Hawkinson, Guy Nordenson, and Nicholas Quennell, PICTURE THIS. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, designed 1992-1994, constructed 1994-1997. Image courtesy ESRI, USGS, GeoEye, and the GIS User Community.


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VOL. 3: HUNTING GROUND

HUNTING GROUND, the third volume of PLOT, attempts to connect the search, or quest, to a terrain—what is the place of the hunt? Maps are invented and reinvented. Grounds are geocoded and often contested, by animals, humans, and machines, on digital screens and physical platforms. Here the notion of prey or capture is also explored. It is revealed in the collector’s obsession; whether soils, fossils, bodegas, or data, this gathering reveals a desire to contain and compress a fleeting moment. This issue of PLOT shapes new ways of collectively reconsidering the city, identifying its invented territories and considering its contested ground.

Editors: Ashley Drexler, Andrea Johnson, Steven Nelson, Alanna Rios, Fern Lan Siew, Eli Sands, Jerome Thomson, Christopher Valencia

Contributors: Danae Alessi, Kjirsten Alexander, Sara Arteaga, Samuel W. Berkheiser III, Penny DeLong Burke, Michell J. Cardona, James Carroll, Daniel Cherrin, Kathleen Cholewka, Howard Chua-Eoan, Timothy Matthew Collins, Joy Drury Cox, Ashley Drexler, Alan Feigenberg, Megan Galante, Anina Gerchick, Paula Gillen, Peter Gisolfi, Ivy Harrison, David L. Hays, Denise Hoffman Brandt,Nick Hunt, Andrea Johnson, Andrew Joseph, Tait Johnson, Jeff Kasper, Geoffrey Lenat, Katerina Marcelja, Andrew Merriweather, Seyedmohsen Moghaddam, Steven Nelson, New York City Urban Field Station, Pat Oleszko, Renzo Ortega, Alfred Planco, Alanna Rios, Eli Sands, Stephen A. Scheer, Todd Schmit, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson,Fern Lan Siew, Elad Tako, Terreform, Jerome Thomson, Paul Thulin, Liza Trafton, Daniel Turgeon, Christopher Valencia, Frank Lloyd Wright, Esther Yang, Andrew Zientek

Cover: Pat Oleszko, Darwin’s Nightmare and the Half-astronuts Dilemma, 2013. Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Photo © Paula Gillen.


VOL. 4: WASTE STREAM

The fourth volume of PLOT reveals the many interpretations of WASTE STREAM, from culture to terraforming to rethinking our own health and that of our planet. Over time, we’ve gotten more particular with our detritus, perhaps to the point of obsession. We classify, sort, rinse, crush, separate items into neatly colored bins. But we don’t always quantify. We’re producing more waste—measuring a day’s personal accumulation is certainly one way to reflect on an increased ratio of consumption to production. Perhaps more important than reflecting on the stuff of waste is reconsidering those who maintain, manage, organize, and move our waste stream. How do we see them?

Editors: Damon Arrington, James Carroll, Jonathan Crocca, Andrew Joseph, Ivy Harrison

Contributors: Danae Alessi, Kjirsten Alexander, Damon Arrington, Hannah Borgeson, James Carroll, Jonathan Crocca, Arthur Drooker, Alejandro Durán, Christine Facella, Ivy Harrison, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Andrew Joseph, Eileen Macavery Kane, Michael Alexander King, Rebecca Lieberman with Gene Han and Minju Viviana Kim, Elizabeth Luzzi, Kelly Mccracken, Jenny Odell, Solomon Oh, Don Riepe, Jennifer Birkeland and Jonathan A. Scelsa, Eli Sands, Gregg Segal, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Tyler Silvestro, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Marie Warsh, Sean Weiss, Ph.D.

Cover: Mierle Laderman Ukeles, The Social Mirror, 1983. Image courtesy of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York.


VOL. 5: FILTER

The fifth volume of PLOT explores the many interpretations and questions of FILTER—as both a noun and a verb, an object and an action. The filter evokes multiple interpretations: to filter is to edit, to sift, to screen. Filter connotes exclusion, for better or for worse—an intriguing ambiguity. As a barrier, it allows for refined curation or exclusive marginalization. What is the value of the filtrate produced? After all, filters are most noticeable when they clog, break down, or fail to perform their intended task. What is being filtered, and at what expense? What happens when we stop screening?

Editors: Christine Facella, Christian Keller, Michael Madden, Caitlin Murphy, Ruth Nervig, Millie Roy, Yifan Xing

Contributors: Anthony Acciavatti, Danae Alessi, Kjirsten Alexander, Cameron Bayles, Bill Bennett, Annie Bergelin, Melisa Beveridge, James Carroll, Jonathan Crocca, Christine Facella, Lara Gelband, GRNASFCK, Robynne Heymans, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Ellie Irons, Patricia Johanson, Christian Keller, Michael Alexander King, Nicole Kouri, Jordan Levinson, Michael Madden, Hannah Moll, Carl Muehleisen, Caitlin Murphy, Millie Roy, SCAPE / Landscape Architecture , Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Kyra Simone, Meg Studer, Sarah Cameron Sunde, Elisabetta Terragni, Kim Terrell, Sarah Toth , Paul Trader, Miranda Trimmier, Emma Wiseman, Yifan Xin, Xinran Yuan

Cover: Patricia Johanson, “Living Apartment Houses,” 1969. Pencil and colored pencil on paper. One of a series of proposals commissioned by House & Garden magazine.


VOL. 6: CLOUD

This sixth volume of PLOT explores the many interpretations of CLOUD—despite the neat Latin nomenclature formalized in the late nineteenth century, clouds defy description. Clouds are inherently magical—liquid masquerading as a floating solid. The word cloud is a thing, a place, a state of mind—to cloud is to obscure, to confound, to become overcast. It is a mental daze, but also a place for drifting and daydreaming. The cloud is also a place of storage for data and the digital, suggesting permanence—but can we rely on the cloud? This issue presents many rich interpretations, from dematerialized point clouds to nuclear mushroom clouds to atmospheric rivers in the sky.

Editors: Robynne Heymans, Anna Ceraulo Jalazo, Kate Jirasiritham, Kenia Pittman, Sarah Toth

Contributors: Kjirsten Alexander, Anna Ceraulo Jalazo, Future Green Studio, Sam H., Robynne Heymans, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Kate Jirasiritham, Andrew Joseph, Michael Alexander King, Jennifer Leone, Kseniya Linov, Michael Madden, Stefan Martin, Clara McClenon, Thomas McElhenney, Emmy Mikelson, Kenia Pittman, Camila Sampedro, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Matthew Seibert, Craig Shaw, Kathy Shea, John Sherman, Caitlin Sullivan, Sarah Sze, Andy Tang, Wing Tang, Michael Tantala, Dissaya Theerakaosal, Sarah Toth, Veronica Tyson-Strait, Yasmin Vobis, Yifan Crystal Xing 

Cover: Sarah Sze, Blueprint for a Landscape, 2017. New York City Transit Second Avenue-96 Street Station. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Photo © Tom Powel Imaging.


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VOL. 7: MAGIC

The seventh volume of PLOT explores the many rich interpretations of MAGIC, from the mysterious appearances and disappearances under the Trump administration, to the charlatan rainmakers of the Dust Bowl, to the uncanny jumping dispersal of horsetail spores, to the magical concealment of camouflage with the public act of political resistance. Magic is defined as the possession of extraordinary power over natural forces, seemingly from a supernatural source. Yet it is often perceived as mere illusion, with its effects produced by sleight of hand. While science is generally understood as a search for the truth, many believe in magic. Landscape architects traffic in illusion, with the incantation or transformation of so-called natural processes.

Editors: Nusrat Alam, Hana Georg, Alyssa Martori, Suko Presseau, Garrett Ray, Justin Robertson, Anna Speidel

Contributors: Nusrat Alam, Madeline Chmielinski, Marc Fasanella Ph.D., Audrey Georg, Hana Georg,  Ayasha Guerin, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Michael Alexander King, Stephanie Lindquist, Steph Mantis, The Marching Cobras Of New York, Alyssa Martori, Margaret Mulligan, Ruth Nervig, New York City Urban Field Station, Jehad Nga, Suko Presseau, Garrett Ray, Bryony Roberts, Justin Robertson, Michael Rossetti, Lily Saporta-Tagiuri, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Matthew Seibert, Ben Shupp, Anna Speidel, Sarah Toth, Virginia Inés Vergara, Jon Verney, Jon Wang, Jordan Warner, Rinnan Whitford, Mabel O. Wilson

Cover: Bryony Roberts, Mabel O. Wilson, and the Marching Cobras of New York, Marching On, 2017-2018. Commissioned by Storefront for Art and Architecture. Photo by Jenica Heintzelman; digital collage by Bryony Roberts.


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VOL. 8: COOKBOOK

The eighth volume of PLOT is a COOKBOOK—a compilation of actionable recipes, drawings, and stories for redesigning our food (aka life-support) systems, if not redesigning our lives. The COOKBOOK offers details for how to cope with scarcity and the effects of climate change through cooperation, composition, decomposition, and improvisation. You might find practices and practical advice to help us all get through the future primitive days such that we might still tell ancient stories at night. At the very least, you will find recipes for a tamale, a pastel, and even a pesto sourced from a lawn, to say nothing of the exquisite construction details for a chicken slaughter cone.

Editors: Sarah Dornner, Natalie Galarza, Gabi García, Alexander Kent, Cash Langford, Anna McKeigue, Katarina Medakovich, and Rujuta Naringrekar

Contributors: Damon Arrington, Gina Beavers, Keith Beavers, Theo Brandt, Amy Burrous & Ruth Orlowicz, Sarah Chacich, Joaquin Croxatto, Stef Ferrari, Kurt Forster, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Kyle Knodell, Lena Krause, Jennifer Nitzky, Sébastien Nordenson, Mallory O’Donnell, Marisa Prefer, Emma Ressel, Shruti Shiva, Terreform, Alice Varkulja, Luciana Varkulja, Ruochen Wang, Amber Elicia Wright, and Sofia Zander

Cover: “Boeuf Tartare” (2015) and “Bacon Slugs” (2015) from the Insatiable Hunger and the Peacock’s Plume series by Emma Ressel


VOL. 9: Top DOWN/BOTTOM UP

The ninth volume of PLOT examines TOP DOWN BOTTOM UP—terms used in a variety of fields to describe strategies of knowledge ordering and information processing. These expressions have shifted from conceptual use in scientific and humanistic theories into real strategies describing the application and practice of design, thinking, leadership, and resistance. Grassroots organizing or authoritarianism? Break down the system into its parts, or build up its complexity from small base elements or “seeds”? Revolution or reform? Landscape architects traffic in both seeds and systems—each of these approaches provides a better understanding of messy οικολογία, our “household of nature.” TOP DOWN or BOTTOM UP? Admittedly, it’s a false dichotomy. Is one strategy more likely to succeed? Or should we disband with this axis entirely, and address lateral moves, side-askance glances, and inside-out inversions? More timely than we ever expected, this issue also addresses the impacts and responses to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter global uprising.

Editors: Kayla Conroy, Brandon Loo, Catherine Priolet, and Jeffrey Schneider

Contributors: Erieta Attali, Gabe Beecher, Gabriela Bhaskar, Lindsay K. Campbell, Kevin Chow, Kayla Conroy, Jeana Fletcher, Daniela Friedman, Isaac Gertman, Jessica Goldberg, Virginia Hanusik, Spencer Harbo, Eric Haviland, Ali C. Höcek, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Nick Hukezalie, Charlotte Jackson, Michael Alexander King, Andrew Lam, Brandon Loo, Rujuta Naringrekar, Catherine Priolet, Lindsay Ruotolo, Sarah Saad, Eli Sands, Jeffrey Schneider, Annie Scott, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Tanvi Sharma, Shawn Spencer, Raymond Tan, Wing Tang, Ed Toth

Cover: Virginia Hanusik, Houseboat on the Pearl River #1, 2018.


VOL 10: X

The tenth volume of PLOT appropriately celebrates our tenth anniversary with the theme of X. It’s the Roman numeral for the volume number. But X is also a generic variable, something that stands in for an unknown numerical value that may change within the context of a mathematical equation or experiment. X rings with the sound of the ancient Greek prefix, έχ, which becomes ex- in English, connoting a sense of being “out of” or “outside of,” as expressed in words such as exorcism and exodus. It even trails into ecstasy, as when one is “out of stasis” with joy. In pirate lore, X marks the spot: an exact location of treasure marked on a map. X can also mask identity, running cover for the ambiguous, confusing, and mystifying. It can even stand in for what might seem unknowable. The abstraction of X leads to many meanings—esoteric, mystical, and mysterious.

Faculty Editor: Michael Alexander King

Student Editors: Emily Cote, Abby Stein, and Michael Yoken

Contributors: Natalie Birinyi, Casey Breen, Taylor Brophy, Emily Cote, Glen Cummings, Beatrix Desjardins, Coleman Downing, Charles and Ray Eames, Edward Eigen, Extinction Rebellion, Isaac Gertman, Laura Harmon, Tamar Haviv, Crispin Finnian Xavier Hawk, Ali C. Höcek, Craig Hodgetts, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Andrea Johnson, Michael Alexander King, Marie Lorenz, Adam Michaels, Ralph Miofsky, Nicholas Piltoff, Catherine Priolet, Duke Riley, Evana Said, Abby Stein, Martin Stigsgaard, Della Street, Millee Tibbs, Giuliana Vaccarino Gearty, Clement Valla, Mx. X., Michael Yoken, Mason Youngblood, Jose Zacarias

Cover: Clement Valla, Untitled, 2021.

 
 

VOL 11: OPULENCE

The theme of PLOT Volume 11 is OPULENCE, which the grandiose Oxford English Dictionary — that most lavish of dictionaries — defines as “wealth, riches, and affluence” as well as “ostentatious luxury, grandeur, and sumptuousness.” What could be more decadent in these precarious times than to consider all things palatial, resplendent, and lush? Consider Andre Le Notre’s luxuriant gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte (to say nothing of the grandeur of Louis Le Vau’s baroque chateau for the same), the bejeweled grille of a 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, or the plush purple upholstery of an eighteenth-century French rococo chaise-lounge that drips “let them eat cake” as magnificent exemplars. When taken to extremes, OPULENCE becomes too rich for itself, overripening into camp and flamboyance. Gaudi becomes gaudy, Pac-Man becomes art, and the orchestral music of Hollywood takes over the opera house.

Faculty Editor: Michael Alexander King

Student Editors: Casey Breen, Charlie Caccamo, Soha Farooqui, Matt Garczynski, Jordan Greenblatt,and Tucker Schnaars

Contributors: Carlos Almeida, Courtney Behrens, Crystal Billingsby, Joseph Boniuk, Casey Breen, Mathew Brown Velasquez, Charles Caccamo, Karolina Czeczek, Sam Davis, Jimmy Diamond, Jane Drinkard, Mathilde Duraz, Soha Farooqui, Matthew Garczynski, Jordan Greenblatt, Denise Hoffman Brandt, Ben Ingerman, Michael Alexander King, Brandon Loo, Marie Lorenz, Inèz Marchal, Glenn Marcus, Anna Morgowicz, Jacob Wrey Mould, Tucker Schnaars, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, David Smucker, Charlotte Stickles, Evelyn Tawil, Meredith Thomson, Calvert Vaux, and Jordan B. Warner.

Cover: Brandon Loo, The Great Hall, 2022