Ann Komara BA, MLA, M Arch History

Professor, Associate Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning

Landscape Architecture Department (CAP)

Professor Ann Komara is the Associate Dean for the College of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver. Professor Komara holds a BA in Classical Studies (Penn State) and a master's in Landscape Architecture and Architectural History (University of Virginia). She chaired the Department of Landscape Architecture (2009-19). Her teaching and research focus on landscape architecture history and theory and design. Her research on urban landscapes of Second Empire Paris has been supported by the Graham Foundation, Camargo Foundation, and Dumbarton Oaks (2019-20 Fellow in Garden & Landscape Studies). She was a Fulbright Teaching and Research Fellow in Finland in 2008 and has led numerous study abroad programs in Finland and France. Her publications include the award-winning Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park (2012), and Civilian Conservation Corps ANF-1, which won a national HALS Documentation Award. Both projects reflect the high caliber of her collaborative work with CAP students in landscape studies and documentation. In the fall of 2020, Professor Komara taught the MLA Immersive Semester with a focus on “Water in the West” during which students explored the many issues surrounding water in our semi-arid climate. They studied the causes and effects of systemic inequality in the distribution and use of water and developed design approaches to projects that were grounded in understanding cultural and historic patterns and practices.

Areas of Expertise

Landscape architecture design, history and theory, Urban studies: Second Empire Paris, Cultural landscapes (designed and vernacular), Water in thesemi-arid west including inequity in use and distribution, and cultural patterns in its systems and relationship with plants and design, Women in design.

Education, Licensure & Certifications

DEGREES HELD

Bachelor of Arts Classical Studies, Pennsylvania State University
Master of Landscape Architecture, University of Virginia
Master of Architecture History, University of Virginia

Awards

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

2013 American Association for State and Local History National [AASLH] “Award of Merit” for a publication: Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park

2012 Colorado Chapter ASLA Merit Award - Research and Communication. With Kat Vlahos and Ann Mullins, “HALS: Five Uniquely Colorado Historic Landscapes”

2008 Fulbright CIES Research and Teaching Fellow: Helsinki University of Technology

2007 Colorado Historical Society Stephen Hart Award for Excellence in Preservation for “Skyline Park Historic American Landscapes Survey”

2005 College of Architecture and Planning Award of Excellence for Research and Creative Activities

2004 Dumbarton Oaks Research Fellowship

2003 Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts – Grant recipient for research on the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris

EXTERNAL RESEARCH GRANTS

2011 National Park Service Rocky Mountain CESU Grant. $20,000. “Development of Cultural/Natural Landscape Management Plan for the Utility Area of Rocky Mountain National Park”

2007 Colorado State Historical Fund Grant. $28,980. Funding production and printing for Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park

2005 National Park Service Rocky Mountain CESU Grant. $10,000. “Images of Rocky Mountain National Park: Reception and Place”

RECOGNITION OF WORK BY OTHERS

Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park. “Book Review: Literary Post-Mortem ,” reviewed by Land8, written by Adam Regn Arvidson. Accessed 02-05-2013.

Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park. Van Alen Institute, New York, NY.

Lawrence Halprin's Skyline Park listed as one of the top ten Best Books of 2012 , ASLA "The Dirt". Accessed 11-29-2012.

Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park. “Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park is Now History,” reviewed by ASLA “The Dirt”. Accessed 11-09-2012.

Affiliations

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, member
American Society of Landscape Architects, member
Society of Architectural Historians, member
(Former board member - SAH Landscape History Chapter)
DOCOMOMO

Research

RESEARCH TOPICS

Landscape History: studying (historic) landscapes, sites, and cities as a means to postulate design concepts and approaches that can guide both current and future work in landscape architecture and design of the built environment.

Landscape Theory: application of diverse interpretive theories and methodologies, such as reception history and construction history, to critique landscapes and build environments, and to understand the impact and relationship of landscape to contemporary society and the practice of design.

Cultural Landscapes: documenting and interpreting designed and vernacular landscapes across the United States and globally, and studying the spatial, historical, and material context of these sites to reveal an ongoing relationship of people and place over time.

Water in the West: Inquiries into how water has shaped the landscapes of the west, and how attitudes and use of this resource affect human and environmental well-being and impact our capacity to dwell in this landscape.

Publications and Presentations

PUBLICATIONS

Komara, Ann. Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2012).

Komara, Ann. “Water Events: Flow and Collection in Skyline Park,” Landscape Journal

Special Issue on Lawrence Halprin Vol. 31 No. 1-2 (2012): 101-116.

Komara, Ann. “Lessons in the Woods: Examining the Landscape Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Allegheny National Forest," Preservation Education Research [PER] Vol. 5 (Fall 2012) 97-104.

Komara, Ann. “Map and Measure: Alphand’s Contours of Construction at the Parc des

Buttes Chaumont, 1867,” Landscape Journal Vol. 28 No. 1 (Spring 2009): 22-39.

Komara, Ann. “Concrete and the Engineered Picturesque – The Parc des Buttes Chaumont (Paris, 1867)” Journal of Architectural Education, Thematic issue: Construction and Context: History, Theory and Practice. Guest Editor: Ted Cavanaugh (Dalhousie University) Vol. 58 No. 1 (Sept 2004): 4-12.

PRESENTATIONS

2014 Selected speaker. Society of Architectural Historians, annual conference, Austin, TX. “Wilderness Playground: Image and Reception, Rocky Mountain National Park”

2014 Invited Speaker. Denver Botanic Gardens Water Garden Society, “Water in Garden Design – An Historical Overview”

2012 Invited Speaker. Van Alen Institute, New York City. “Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park”

2012 Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver [LoDo Branch]. Rocky Mountain Lands Series: “Denver’s Urban Renewal: Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park”.

2012 Selected Speaker. Colorado Preservation, Inc. “Reading Sites: Cultural Landscapes”

2011 Invited Speaker. Cultural Landscapes in the Western United States: A Workshop, ““CCC Landscapes,” Sponsored by the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (SHPO) and the National Park Service. Denver, CO.

2010 Invited Speaker. Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium: Lawrence Halprin. “Event and Flow: Denver’s Skyline Park”

2010 Invited Speaker. Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture [CELA]. Session: “Landscape Legacy: Landscape Architecture between Art and Science Design Education and Pedagogy” Paper: “Context Reconsidered”

2010 Invited Session Respondent. Annual Meeting Society of Architectural Historians Landscape History Symposium: “Mapping Sites”

College of Architecture and Planning

CU Denver

CU Denver Building

1250 14th Street

2000

Denver, CO 80202

303-315-1000

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College of Architecture and Planning

Ann Komara BA, MLA, M Arch History

Areas of Expertise

Education, Licensure & Certifications

DEGREES HELD

Awards

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

EXTERNAL RESEARCH GRANTS

RECOGNITION OF WORK BY OTHERS

Affiliations

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

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MOST RECENT COURSES

Research

RESEARCH TOPICS

Publications and Presentations

PUBLICATIONS

PRESENTATIONS

College of Architecture and Planning