BEST MA DISSERTATION AWARD: The PHYSICAL LIFE of PLACE

Power induced interactions in place (Dawn Parke, 2015)

 

 

MA Landscape Architecture alumni Dawn Parke, Republic of Ireland won the best MA research dissertation award of the Landscape Research Group and received £350 prize for her work. Each year, LRG awards nine student prizes to undergraduate and postgraduate students for outstanding dissertations or theses written in English, with three awards available for each level of study (undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral dissertations). Dawn is the only student who won a prize for the MA dissertation category this year.

 

Dawn’s MA dissertation ‘The physical life of place’ explored the concept of “Place attachment” in landscape architecture design process and proposed a new model that is based on the biophysical processes, psychological processes and socio-cultural processes. The model emphasises interactive processes and presents ‘fractal schemas’ as processes emerging from the interaction of biophysical and psychological processes. Given the increasing influence of globalisation on the temporal-spatial conditions of place, it is essential that place-makers understand the components of the person-place bond in the contemporary construction of place. A discussion of these components presented here suggests the need for a balance between the forces of globalism and localism.

 

Dawn explored this concept first in her design project and tested her ideas through the design process using drawing, model and film. In her dissertation she expanded the theoretical and philosophical understanding of the place and its constructs within the landscape. We are thrilled that her hard work was celebrated by this prestigious award in the landscape studies. Congratulations on your achievement Dawn!

 

 

 

Dr Saruhan Mosler, Senior Lecturer at WUC