Environmental Design sat down with Senior Instructor Georgia Lindsay for a Q&A before her Research Colloquium presentation Friday, September 14.聽
Tell me about yourself.
I did my undergraduate here at the University of Colorado Boulder. I was an art and psychology double major, and people used to always ask me if I was going into art therapy with these two majors, but it was really the effects of the arts that interested me the most. For example, what does the 鈥渟tuff鈥 we make mean to the world and not necessarily just to the artist?
Later on, I worked for a non-profit arts organization and decided to get my master鈥檚 degree from the University of North Carolina in Liberal Arts. It was sort of a choose-your-own-adventure program, so I focused on a photographic essay. Again, 聽I chose not to study the effect of making a photographic essay, but instead studied other photographic memoirs and how people used them; and what was the effect this had on the world.
I was also teaching high school at the time and decided that I liked teaching, but that I also enjoyed research, especially the reading of theory and thinking about ideas. So, I started looking around for graduate schools, because while there are lots of professions that tie those two things together, the main one that appealed to me is 鈥渃ollege professor.鈥
I got into graduate school at Berkeley, and I decided to study architecture while keeping in mind that it is an art. I was most curious about iconic buildings, because they are kind of like sculptures out in the world, and I just assumed that architects would care about the effects of their sculptures. I
What brought you to ENVD?
The really pragmatic reason is that I needed a site for my field research, and had asked a few art museums with iconic architecture鈥nd the Denver Art Museum said yes. It was a great move for me because I had always liked Colorado and was happy to get back here.
While I was here doing fieldwork, I met a few people from CU Boulder and it just so happened that ENVD needed a lecturer for 1052. They haven鈥檛 been able to get rid of me since!
The reason I love ENVD is that my work sits in between fields. What I do is look at the city-wide effect of architecture鈥搒ome aspects of my research include understanding how architectural objects fit in a city, what they do for cities, both at the visual city-scape level, while also thinking about branding, iconography and marketing for cities externally, but also how we as citizens see ourselves in cities. So, I tend to draw on the fields of geography, planning, architecture and a little bit of landscape architecture. An interdisciplinary program like environmental design just fits better, because I constantly move across different disciplines.
Tell me about your research interests and why you鈥檙e passionate about the topic.
My research interests are in iconic architecture, also known as 鈥渟tarchitecture:鈥 the pretty, shiny objects that go in our landscapes and cityscapes. That鈥檚 where I began thinking about what does iconic architecture do for us, what do they communicate and what values are they communicating? I think about architecture as a form of communication, especially when it鈥檚 an iconic architecture pushing the norm, and trying to be cutting edge. It makes you wonder, 鈥渨hat are they trying to say?鈥
So, I started with art museums and I鈥檝e been expanding that to include other cultural buildings. It began with looking at the communication in terms of aesthetic values and it鈥檚 expanded into what are they communicating in terms of social value, and specifically looking at sustainability in green building and infrastructure.
I鈥檓 passionate about my topic for a couple of reasons. First of all, I think it鈥檚 really important. Fundamentally, my work is about humanizing architecture, and taking built objects鈥搘hich tend to be (at least in architecture history) object-oriented鈥攂ut thinking about what they mean to people, and really understanding the human perspective, which is often called the user perspective.
Asking questions like, what do buildings do for us as humans, as a group, smaller sub-groups or individuals? I think that is really important because so often the majority of the people don鈥檛 have a voice in what goes into building iconic architecture because the buildings are expensive. It鈥檚 more about what does the client want and how much money can they throw at this?
I feel that sometimes the voice and the perspective of people, who didn鈥檛 give five million dollars to get their name on the building, is lost. I think it鈥檚 important to speak up for them and ask what are the effects of these buildings beyond just having another 鈥渃ool鈥 thing dotting our skyline?
What kind of findings has intrigued you so far?
While studying a building in Berkeley, there was one finding that really opened up a new aspect in my research. It was a LEED Platinum building and we found that passersby would rate it more highly visually, that is, they would say they like the way it looked if they were told ahead of time that it was LEED Platinum.
This little tiny finding has intrigued me so much that I鈥檝e pursued a whole line of research on it. People care about sustainability, but they don鈥檛 necessarily know about it, so how can buildings communicate values of sustainability better. What I鈥檓 finding is that architects are not very good at communicating the goals of the building, and right now sustainability is very confusing for the general public. I feel it鈥檚 a missed opportunity for changing the conversation about values. We鈥檙e letting LEED do it instead of design do it.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I really like that moment where something suddenly clicks and things that didn鈥檛 seem to fit together suddenly fit together, whether it鈥檚 for myself during research and I have the moment, or when I can help a student get to that moment through teaching; The light bulb flashes. I love that moment and I get to have it both in my research and as a teacher. 聽
What do you find challenging about researching or teaching?
I would say the most challenging thing is all the administrative 鈥渟tuff.鈥
![Georgia, her husband, brother-in-law and sister-in-law rode their bikes from Pittsburgh to DC.](/envd/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/article-image/img_0992.jpg?itok=NNPEKHtg)
How do you like to spend your free time?
I like mountain biking and yoga. I played roller derby for a long time but had to stop since it took too much time, but I still roller skate on the paths. I really like cooking, baking and spending time with friends. Also, I love brunch!
What鈥檚 the most helpful piece of advice you鈥檝e received when you were figuring what you wanted to do?
There is no right answer. There鈥檚 just lots of answers and you just get to pick one. So, it鈥檚 okay to chill out a little bit. Know that you can always change later.
Who has influenced you the most as a student and as a researcher?
As an undergraduate student at CU Boulder, I was in a program called the INVST Community Leadership Program. At the time, I had a graduate TA whose name was Beth Krensky, and she was encouraging, supportive and thoughtful. She also did really interesting research. But, she was just so open and transparent about her life, and always very professional.
As a researcher, my entire dissertation committee was hugely influential. I still refer to the work they gave me.
What do you want to be when you grow up?![Georgia with her husband while visiting the Falling Water by FLW](/envd/sites/default/files/styles/small/public/article-image/img_0861.jpg?itok=oUGe44Fc)
When I grow up, I would really like to sail around the world, be a contestant on the Great British Baking Show, win and be a star baker for one week. Also, I think I could actually be really good at being a sofa Netflix tester.
What鈥檚 your favorite thing to bake?
I really like chocolate chip cookies, because my husband also likes chocolate chip cookies so I know I have an appreciative audience, and I won鈥檛 have to eat them alone. For I while I got into a sourdough bread kick. Bread and desserts are just really fun to make. Pies and cakes are next in line after chocolate chip cookies.
What was it like to have a book published?
The day they gave me the cover, I printed it out and posted it on my whiteboard because I was like 鈥渨ow, I did this thing! Look at that cover, it has my name on it!鈥 And, I keep a copy of it in my office, mostly just to remind myself that it鈥檚 real. It was very exciting to see the culmination of multiple years of work exist in reality, not just in my head.
What authors and books have influenced you the most?
I love reading novels! But, if we鈥檙e talking professionally, I really like Carol Duncan鈥檚 Civilizing Rituals. She鈥檚 an art historian and the book is really thin with pictures all throughout it. She discusses how art is displayed, so it鈥檚 not about the architecture necessarily, but it鈥檚 readable, understandable and she鈥檚 very clear in her writing. She doesn鈥檛 try to make ideas complicated, even when they are complex. I appreciate the combination of pictures with purposeful writing, which gets to the point and moves on. That has influenced both my teaching and my writing.
Victoria Newhouse also does similar things. She brings together both visual and textual information in a nicely designed book. She breaks things into categories, which really helps us think through what things mean and do.
What does Environmental Design mean to you?
The way it has been used is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of design fields usually spanning from architecture through landscape architecture and urban design and then also includes planning but doesn鈥檛 necessarily. That鈥檚 basically the right definition, but I also think there鈥檚 potentially a more interesting way to think about it. For example, if you鈥檙e embracing the term environmental design, instead of one聽specific discipline, it鈥檚 really about the interstitial spaces between the disciplines and how what is going on that isn鈥檛 strictly one thing or the other. Rather, it鈥檚 how do these things bleed together and inform each other to fill the gaps between the official disciplines.