Julie Bargmann, who received the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize in 2021, is the subject of the eighteenth oral history in the award-winning Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Project series, covering her journey from a childhood in suburban New Jersey to becoming the “Queen of Slag.”
This series of richly produced segments explores the influential landscapes and experiences of her early life, milestones in her trailblazing career, and the evolution of her unique design philosophy.
Oral History Framework
Video clips are divided into three categories: BIOGRAPHY, DESIGN, and PROJECTS. Each clip is between one and six minutes long.
Interview: Julie Bargmann was interviewed by Charles A. Birnbaum in September 2021.
1. Early Landscapes – Refineries and Radburn Bargmann recalls her childhood in New Jersey and the “landscapes that shaped me”: industrial sites along the northern New Jersey Turnpike and a suburb with a “collective backyard” that made the place “inclusive.”
2. Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon As an undergraduate art student, Bargmann gravitated towards the work of minimalists and land artists, including Eva Hesse and Robert Smithson. Outside of class, she was drawn to the sights and smells of Pittsburgh’s steelmaking industry.
3. Harvard University Graduate School of Design Bargmann reflects on her decision to study landscape architecture, the difference between making art and designing landscapes, and the influential teachers and classmates who shaped her design ethos.
4. The American Academy in Rome After Harvard, Bargmann spent a year in Italy as a Rome Prize recipient, an experience she fondly remembers as an incubator for cross-disciplinary friendships and conversations.
5. Teaching at the University of Minnesota While working for Michael Van Valkenburgh, Bargmann accepts a teaching position in Minneapolis and establishes a career trajectory defined by taking “adventures with the students.”
6. The D.I.R.T. Path Bargmann begins to shape the direction of her personal practice by visiting mines and working with Superfund sites, which she calls cultural landscapes. She focuses on the sites and their adjacent communities.
7. Teaching at the University of Virginia Encouraged by her friend Beth Meyer, Bargmann, accepts a teaching position in Charlottesville and begins to research and explore industrial sites with her students.
8. Living in Charlottesville A reluctant Southerner, Bargmann is drawn to the “urbanity” of Charlottesville’s former factories and mills, where she finds community and space for creativity.
9. We Designed a Process, Not a Thing A collaboration with artist Mel Chin in New Orleans shows Bargmann a new way of thinking and operating.
10. Mayors Institute Bargmann reflects on the relationships between clients and patrons, leaders and cities, and the need for mayors to be engaged with projects rather than just making decisions about them.
DESIGN
1. D.I.R.T. Studio In establishing her professional practice, Bargmann defines her life’s work as a “mission” to “do the right thing” for industrialized sites and the communities surrounding them.
2. Industrial Sites Belong to Us Bargmann reflects on changing public attitudes towards industrial sites, and her experiences acting as a mentor for other practitioners working in industrial landscapes.
3. Industrial Sites and Affected Communities After witnessing the effects of pollution, toxic waste, and other industrial byproducts on neighboring communities, Bargmann incorporates advocacy into her design practice.
4. “Planted Form” Bargmann reflects on developing her passion for plants, teaching about the “art and science” of plants to her students, and how that teaching is still evolving to address fallow and industrial landscapes.
5. Materiality Bargmann discusses her love of “plants, materiality, and tactility” and her approach to reusing and repurposing rather than discarding found materials as part of a site-specific design palette.
6. Action Plans Bargmann distinguishes between “master plans,” which she sees as closed, and “action plans” that emphasize the importance of responsive and open engagement.
7. Robert Smithson Bargmann shares how the writings of her “hero,” the artist Robert Smithson, and his emphasis on process, “digging and finding,” and “slow looking,” have impacted her personally and professionally.
8. Articulation and Chance Bargmann explains the necessity of acknowledging that chance will play a role in shaping a site, and the difficulty of articulating this truth to clients.
9. Naming and Claiming Landscapes Bargmann reflects on how assigning a site, especially fallow or industrial sites, with a name and identity helps people connect with it.
PROJECTS
1. The Blue House Bargmann uses her home and garden in Charlottesville as grounds for experimentation.
2. Vintondale Reclamation Park When working on the remediation of this formerly industrial site in Pennsylvania, Bargmann imagined her work as one part of the evolution of this cultural landscape.
3. Core City Park Collaboration with developer Philip Kafka of Prince Concepts produces an urban woodland in Detroit that creatively reused materials and artifacts found on-site.
4. Pump House In Dallas, Bargmann transforms a former waterworks facility, on the residential property of a discerning client, into a tranquil, immersive space for entertaining.
5. Urban Outfitters Working within the grand scale of Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, Bargmann embraced the area’s industrial character while creating an inviting workplace for a creative business.
6. Richard Hayne The CEO of Urban Outfitters, Inc., recalls how Bargmann integrated the industrial heritage of Philadelphia’s Navy Yard with elements of natural beauty to serve and inspire a creative workforce.
Production Credits and Acknowledgments
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR
INTERVIEWER Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR
PROJECT MANAGER Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR
CINEMATOGRAPHER Barrett Doherty, ASLA
EDITOR/ANIMATION Barrett Doherty, ASLA
COMPOSER Brian Cho
TRANSCRIPT EDITOR Alice Darling Secretarial Services Celia Carnes
The Cultural Landscape Foundation would like to thank the many people who contributed to making the Julie Bargmann Oral History a reality.
This project could not have been realized without the generosity, talent, and efforts of many individuals and organizations. We wish to give special thanks to Julie and Joe Bargmann, Urban Outfitters, Inc. and its CEO Richard Hayne, the Hubbard Educational Foundation, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Prince Concepts and its CEO, Philip Kafka, and STIMSON. Additional thanks to Ross Altheimer, Maurice Cox, Adriaan Geuze, David Hill, Beth Meyer, Garth Rockcastle, Maura Rockcastle, and Oberlander Prize curator John Beardsley. Thank you also to TCLF staff members Celia Carnes, Justin Clevenger and Nord Wennerstrom who wore myriad hats throughout this process and to all of those who contributed to the more than two dozen personal reflections and recollections.
Photographs, prints, and drawings reproduced courtesy of the following individuals and institutions: Charles A. Birnbaum; Julie Bargmann; Anita Berrizbeitia; Alexandra Dimitri; Barrett Doherty; Julie Eizenberg; David Hill; Beth Meyer; Philip Kafka; Bill Sherman;Stephen and Lauren Stimson; Jen Trompetter; Michael Van Valkenburgh; and Thomas Woltz.
