An Interview with Gareth Doherty: Fieldwork, Borders, and the Landscape of Understanding

“Landscape architecture is at a crossroads,” writes CMES Faculty Affiliate and Director of Graduate Studies Gareth Doherty in the introduction to his recent book, Landscape Fieldwork: How Engaging the World Can Change Design (2025). Even as digital tools unlock new possibilities to design landscapes from afar, the need to “to fully understand the ways that humans use spaces” has never been more pressing. The human dimension of landscape design is at the core of Doherty’s argument. Working directly with people in the field is essential for creating spaces that hold meaning for those that inhabit them. In a recent interview for Harvard Design Magazine Digital, Doherty, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Graduate School of Design and Affiliate of the Department of African and African American Studies, spoke with the GSD’s William Smith about his scholarship, the projects he has led through the Critical Landscapes Design Lab, and the broad potential for design to foster understanding across places and cultures. Read the interview here.