Ann Komara BA, MLA, M Arch History
Professor
- Landscape Architecture Department (CAP)
Professor Ann Komara holds a BA in Classical Studies (Penn State) and Masters in Landscape Architecture and Architectural History (University ofVirginia). She chaired the Department of Landscape Architecture (2009-19). Her teaching and research focus on landscape architecture history andtheory and design. Her research on urban landscapes of Second Empire Paris has been supported by the Graham Foundation, Camargo Foundationand Dumbarton Oaks (2019-20 Fellow in Garden & Landscape Studies). She was a Fulbright Teaching and Research Fellow in Finland in 2008, and hasled numerous study abroad programs to Finland and France. Her publications include the award winning Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park (2012), andCivilian Conservation Corps ANF-1, which won a national HALS Documentation Award. Both projects reflect the high caliber of her collaborative workwith CAP students in landscape studies and documentation. In fall 2020 Professor Komara taught the MLA Immersive Semester with a focus on “water inthe West” during which students explored the many issues surrounding water in our semi-arid climate. They studied the causes and effects of systemicinequity in the distribution and use of water, and developed design approaches to projects that were grounded in understanding cultural and historicpatterns 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 Park2012 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, memberAmerican Society of Landscape Architects, member
Society of Architectural Historians, member
(Former board member - SAH Landscape History Chapter)
DOCOMOMO