Elissa Rosenberg | Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (original) (raw)

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Papers by Elissa Rosenberg

Geographic Research Forum, 2018

Landscape Research, 2018

This paper analyses the debates regarding native versus non-native plantingsin the Israeli kibbut... more This paper analyses the debates regarding native versus non-native plantingsin the Israeli kibbutz and their role in the reinvention of the Israeli rural landscape. Based on the assumption that the representation of landscape is always tied to larger questions concerning culture and identity, the genesis of the landscape that has by now become fully naturalised as the new local rural landscape is examined through an analysis of the cultural and ideological roots of its planting design. The Israeli debates reflected the paradox at the heart of a culture that sought to be both ‘new’ and ‘native.’ The ethos of ‘something from nothing’—expressed as the creation of a new green landscape ex nihilo—as well as the advocates for the use of native plants, is examined in relation to their respective constructions of a
landscape narrative.

Journal of Landscape Architecture, 2016

Walking is an everyday practice that shapes urban space and is shaped by the space in which it oc... more Walking is an everyday practice that shapes urban space and is shaped by the space in which it occurs. It can create new subjects, new forms of public space and provide alternate readings of the city. This essay examines the significance of walking in the Olmsted Brothers’ 1904 ‘Valley Parks and Parkways’ plan for Baltimore. The transformation of the urban stream valleys into public parks assumed and promoted the concept of recreational walking in a scenic setting, rooted in the tradition of picturesque travel that William Gilpin had popularized in his famous printed tours. The Olmsted Brothers’ 1904 plan gave value to previously overlooked natural corridors and new legibility to the city’s natural systems. Rural scenic values were embraced as part of a larger urban vision. The Baltimore plan illustrates the key role of the landscape in the emergence of comprehensive planning principles, and how it shaped--and was shaped by--everyday social practices.

Shmuel Bickels, architect of the United Kibbutz Movement, argued that landscape provides a spatia... more Shmuel Bickels, architect of the United Kibbutz Movement, argued that landscape provides a spatial framework for the kibbutz and must be theorized anew in the context of the new collective society. His writing and drawings are analysed here as an expanded vision of landscape that united aesthetic concerns with a social and ethical agenda.

Bickels’ work suggests the need for an analytic framework that transcends the stylistic questions that have preoccupied most historians of the kibbutz landscape. While kibbutz architecture has been clearly associated with the development of Israeli modernism, its landscape has not been studied through the same lens. This paper examines Bickels’ concept of the kibbutz landscape in light of the principles of landscape modernism, in which landscape is defined as an integral element of the planning repertoire, providing social and environmental solutions that respond to the conditions of modern life. Bickels’ conceptualization of the kibbutz landscape adds a unique perspective to the literature on landscape modernism. His unique contributions to this discourse are evaluated, including the organic unity of architecture and landscape that he claimed was a cornerstone of kibbutz planning, and the relationship between the kibbutz garden and the surrounding regional landscape, which distinguished his approach from mainstream architectural thought of his time.

The remaking of landscape—either through the conversion of derelict sites, or through the recover... more The remaking of landscape—either through the conversion of derelict sites, or through the recovery of landscape structure from the residual leftovers of development—suggests a new approach of landscape, based on the pragmatic project of rebuilding and transformation. The agenda of regeneration, especially as articulated in the discourse of landscape urbanism, has shifted the emphasis from the pictorial aspects of landscape to its performance---how landscape works, not how it looks. However, regeneration has challenged us to approach landscape through multiple lenses that include not only physical and ecological performance, but also history and everyday cultural practices. Without the cultural dimension, the capacity of landscape architecture as a transformational discipline risks being reduced to a narrow form of “green functionalism.” This paper examines two main challenges posed to approaches to landscape regeneration: first, the shifts that have occurred in ecological theory, in which the “balance of nature” has been replaced with a model in which disturbance is seen as inherent to the ecosystem; and second by the metaphor of the “palimpsest” which stresses the cultural and historical dimensions of the landscape. The restoration of the Aire River by the team Superpositions, is discussed as an example of a recent restoration project that embraces the temporality and flux of the landscape and acknowledges the significance of history rather than erasing its traces.

Journal of Urban Design, Volume 20, Issue 2, 2015, Mar 3, 2015

The contemporary redefinition of infrastructure as landscape proposes to address functional issue... more The contemporary redefinition of infrastructure as landscape proposes to address functional issues together with ecological, aesthetic and social concerns. Despite its claim to provide an integrative model, this discourse emphasizes ecological over social benefit. It is argued here that the underlying principles of this model—decentralization, site-specificity and multifunctionality—also have significant socio-cultural implications that relate to building community and enhancing place attachment. This paper will assess the social impact of the landscape infrastructure model by examining the relationship of water infrastructure to the social and cultural dynamics of urban communities through the case of Marvin Gaye Park, a stream valley park in Washington, DC.

Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes , Sep 17, 2014

A unique cemetery typology evolved in the secular kibbutz, the communal agricultural settlement t... more A unique cemetery typology evolved in the secular kibbutz, the communal agricultural settlement that developed in Palestine in the 1920s. In contrast to the traditional Jewish cemetery in which the planting of trees was taboo, the kibbutz cemetery was designed as a lushly planted garden. It was an intimate space frequently sited strategically to overlook the regional landscape. Here traditional Jewish mourning rituals were recast in a secular setting defined by a new landscape of gardens and groves, creating a secular alternative to the normative, religious cemetery. This essay examines the performance of the cemetery in kibbutz culture by focusing on their landscapes-- as an everyday practice as well as a discursive framework-- in creating a new secular Jewish bereavement culture. Landscape is defined here not only as a text that expresses certain ideological narratives, but also as a spatial medium and material site understood through the lens of everyday practices and embodied experience. The landscape was a significant agent in strengthening the sense of identity and belonging by the construction narratives of home and “homeland.” Two landscape mechanisms are discussed: the reconception of the cemetery as an everyday garden located in proximity to the settlement, and the siting of the cemetery in relationship to the regional landscape. The cemetery-as-garden model contravened the traditional separation of the Jewish cemetery from the settlement, as well as the taboo on planting. Its everyday quality was intended to normalize death and make it an integral part of life. The cemetery’s hilltop location connects the intimate space of the cemetery to a larger symbolic landscape through the use of iconic views to the regional landscape. Through these mechanisms, the paper will explore how the landscape was used, in material and symbolic ways, to take the place of religious narratives and traditions.