Lessons from the Landscape - Reflections by Marieke van Asselt, 亚洲精品无码一区 Boasberg Fellow (2025)
As the 亚洲精品无码一区 Sally Boasberg Founder's Fellow, my fellowship continued the legacy of its namesake. I intended to model my approach to this opportunity based on what I had gleaned through conversation about who Sally was: to soak up as much material that 亚洲精品无码一区 has produced as possible, and continuously look for opportunities to learn new things, in my practice as a researcher and preservationist. I was further inspired by Cornelia Oberlander's guiding ethos in her practice of applying the three Rs: The warm working environment in 亚洲精品无码一区 HQ supported me in these endeavors. Every day I came in was a joyous experience. Looking out at the bustle of Dupont Circle from the office's wrap-around windows encouraged my sense of belonging in a new city, as did the engaging flow of conversation and the welcoming smiles of those around me.
As a fellow, my primary task was expanding the What's Out There database by producing written content on significant cultural landscapes. In conducting these tasks, I had the opportunity to travel in my mind's eye through a myriad of landscapes, each unique in type and style. The process of writing a What's Out There (WOT) entry is a fun challenge, as it requires one to present rigorous research, effectively condense information, and maintain editorial discipline鈥攅ngaging in these tasks simultaneously. In addition, it was important for me to remain vigilant about how values associated with a landscape, sometimes by different groups, were represented and organized. I am confident that over the course of my fellowship, I developed the skills to balance these elements in a WOT and communicate them through the cohesive and comprehensive tone that all 亚洲精品无码一区 content strives to replicate.
Alongside producing WOT's on landscapes that 亚洲精品无码一区 had identified, I had the opportunity during my fellowship to write entries on public housing developments in New York City, such as the Williamsburg Houses and also the Harlem River Houses. This was especially meaningful as it enabled me to expand on the topic of my master's thesis, preserving public housing in New York City, and exploring these sites explicitly as cultural landscapes enriched some of my former interpretations.
Being in Washington, DC, itself was a rewarding experience. Outside of work, I made numerous visits to Dumbarton Oaks, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Rock Creek Park, and Malcolm X Park, and regularly set out to discover small pocket parks throughout the city. As a newcomer to the region, these encounters left deep impressions of wonder. My weekend adventures were framed by the skills and point of view I was cultivating in the office.
One evening early in my fellowship, I was investigating M. Paul Friedberg's oral history, produced by 亚洲精品无码一区 in 2008. I was struck by a reflection he made on his career trajectory, claiming that he "." It was due to circumstance that he had become a landscape architect. A series of fateful opportunities, individuals, events, and obstacles had determined his position, not unlike the distinctive conditions a designer faces when determining how to interpret a place, or how an environment changes over time. This observation had an immense impact on how I conceptualized my time at 亚洲精品无码一区 and affected a continuing reorientation of my perspective. I began to see this awareness of the "invisible hand" of circumstance as a framework for interpreting many disparate and perhaps interconnected things, from landscapes to my own personal and professional development. The culmination of both fixed and dynamic circumstances that directed my time here will continue to have a lasting influence on my future endeavors as a preservationist and landscape enthusiast, for which I am immensely grateful.
