Staff Profile

Introduction

Ian is a professionally qualified landscape architect and town-planner with a background in philosophy and an interest in landscape architecture theory and the history of the designed landscape. He also holds an MA in photography (with Distinction) from the University of Sunderland.

Background

Ian worked in practice as a landscape architect for 13 years before taking up his first academic position in 1992. he has been engaged both physically and intellectually with the transformation of landscapes. In particular he worked on three of the British garden festivals - Glasgow, Gateshead and Ebbw Vale. As an academic he has studied the value systems inherent in landscape architectural interventions (his book, 'Ecology, Community and Delight' (London, Spon 1999) won a Landscape Institute Award in 2001) Ian's interest in garden history led to the publication of 'The Sun King's Garden', an account of the creation of Louis XIV's gardens at Versailles (London, Bloomsbury, 2006) He is a former editor of 'Landscape Research', a Routledge journal whose main areas of interest are environmental design (landscape architecture, architecture, planning) countryside management, visual arts, cultural geography, archaeology, ecology, history and literature. www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/01426397.asp  He is also the author of 'The English Lakes: A History' published by Bloomsbury, London and New York, in 2010. He is one of the editors of the' Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies' (2013) and wrote' Landscape Architecture, A Very Short Introduction' published by Oxford University Press in 2014.  

Roles and Responsibilities

Reader in Landscape Architecture

Degree Programme Director of the MA in Landscape Architecture Studies.

Qualifications

BA (Hons) Philosophy, B.Phil in Landscape Design, MA (distinction) in Photography,  PhD.

Previous Positions

Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University (1992-2007)

Senior Landscape Architect, Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (1986-92)

Landscape Architect, Tyne & Wear Metropolitan Borough Council (1985-86)

Landscape Assistant, Gateshead MBC, Department of Parks and Recreation (1984-85)

Planning Officer (Landscape) Glasgow City Council (1980-84)

Landscape Architect, Brian Clouston & Partners, Glasgow (1979-80)

Memberships

Member of the Landscape Institute

Member of the Landscape Research Group

Founding Member of the Landscape & Art Network

Honours and Awards

Landscape Institute Award 2001. Landscape Institute Award 2007.

Languages

Some French

Informal Interests

Hill walking, singing with the Heaton Voices (community choir), photography

Research Interests

Landscape architecture history and theory. Landscape and photography.

Other Expertise

Environmental ethics, Public art, Landscape aesthetics, Garden history, Landscape heritage and conservation, Landscape urbanism

Current Work

Currently editing a second edition of the Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies.

Future Research

Research Roles

Member of the Tectonic Cultures Research Group

Postgraduate Supervision

Current:

 

Usue Ruiz Arana (began 2014, part-time) The Natural City (1^st supervisor)

 

Marjolaine Ryley (began 2018) Time, Image, Archive: Visualising gardening communities through auto-ethnographic photographic practice (2^nd supervisor)

 

n.b both of my current supervisions are Creative Practice PhDs, an area which greatly interests me.

 

Completions:

 

Maimuna Saleh-Bala, Landscape Planning in Nigeria (completed 2017) 2^nd supervisor

 

Pattamon Selanon, A Study of the Relevance of Environmental Art to Landscape Architecture in the Context of the United Kingdom (completed 2016) 1^st supervisor

 

Amira Hasanein, Feeling Comfortable Outdoors. A phenomenological understanding of microclimate in the Egyptian context. (completed 2016) 2^nd supervisor

 

Tugce Sanli, Power struggles in the production of and changing perceptions over contemporary public space (completed 2016) 2^nd supervisor

 

Mohd Yunos Mohd Yazid, Public Participation in Urban Park Planning and Design in Malaysia (completed 2011) 1^st supervisor

 

Navapan Nattika, The History of Open Space in Bangkok (completed 2010) 1^st supervisor

 

Fuad Al-Ansari, The Creation of Vernacular Public Space in the Gulf States, The Case of Manama - Bahrain (completed 2009) 1^st supervisor

 

Zarei Hossein, An Investigation of Design Principles in Contemporary Botanic Gardens 1^st supervisor (completed 2008)

 

Landscape Institute Award 2001 for 'Ecology, Community and Delight'(London, Spon 1999). 'The Sun King's Garden' (London, Bloomsbury, 2006) was commended in the Research category of the Landscape Institute Awards 2007. Specialist Adviser Landscape to RAE 2008. Review of research proposals for the Research Council of Norway 2008.

Former editor of the journal 'Landscape Research' (Routledge / Landscape Research Group)

External examiner on landscape architecture programmes at the University of Greenwich, Manchester Metropolitan University. Recently appointed as external examiner at Birmingham City University.

PhD examiner for Edinburgh College of Art, University of Sheffield, University of Greenwich and University of Melbourne.

Undergraduate Teaching

No undergraduate teaching.

Postgraduate Teaching

APL8000 Conceptualising Landscape

APL8005 Advanced Landscape Architecture Studio I

APL8006 Advanced Landscape Architecture Studio II

APL8008 History of the Designed Landscape

APL8003 MALAS Design Thesis

• van Etteger R, Thompson IH, Vicenzotti V. Aesthetic creation theory and landscape architecture. Journal of Landscape Architecture 2016, 113(1), 80-91.
• Thompson IH. The Role of Theory. In: Adri van den Brink; Deidrich Bruns, Hilde Tobi, Simon Bell, ed. Research in Landscape Architecture: Methods and Methodology. London, UK: Routledge, 2017, pp.37-53.
• Thompson IH. Landscape Architecture. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Thompson IH. Essence-less Landscape Architecture and its Extended Family. Harvard Design Magazine 2013, (36), 24-35.
• Thompson I. Gardens, parks and sense of place. In: Convery, I., Corsane, G., Davis, P, ed. Making Sense of Place: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2012, pp.159-167.
• Thompson I. Landscape and Environmental Ethics. In: Howard, P., Thompson, I. and Waterton, E, ed. The Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies. London: Routledge, 2012, pp.450-460.
• Thompson I. Ten Tenets and Six Questions for Landscape Urbanism. Landscape Research 2012, 37(1), 7-26.
• Howard P, Thompson I, Waterton E, ed. The Routledge Companion to Landscape Studies. London: Routledge, 2012.
• Thompson IH. The Cult of the Lake District. The Literary Dictionary Company Limited, 2010. Available at: http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1790.
• Thompson I. The English Lakes: a history. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
• Thompson IH. Rethinking Landscape: A Critical Reader. Abingdon: Routledge, 2009.
• Balsby-Neilsen J, Dam T, Thompson IH, ed. European Landscape Architecture: Best practice in detailing. Oxford: Routledge, 2007.
• Thompson I. Planning at the landscape scale. Landscape Research 2007, 32(1), 108-110.
• Thompson IH. William Wordsworth, landscape architect. WORDSWORTH CIRCLE 2007, 38(4), 196-203.
• Thompson I. Review of: Landscape, nature and the body politic: From Britain's Renaissance to America's new world. Landscape Research 2006, 31(2), 183-184.
• Thompson IH. The Picturesque as Pejorative. Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes 2006, 26(3), 237-248.
• Thompson IH. The Sun King's garden : Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre and the creation of the gardens of Versailles. London: Bloomsbury, 2006.
• Thompson IH. The Structure of Landscape. In: Ebner, J, ed. Jorn Ebner: Portable Landscapes. Zurich: The Green Box, 2005.
• Thompson IH. Editorial. Landscape Research 2004, 29(1), 5-12.
• Thompson IH, ed. Landscape Research. Oxford, UK: Routledge, 2004.
• Thompson IH, Vaizey M. Colin Rose: Edge to Edge. London, UK: Black Dog Press, 2003.
• Thompson IH. What Use is the Genius Loci?. In: Menin, S, ed. Constructing Place. London, UK: Routledge, 2003, pp.66-76.
• Thompson IH. Ecology, community and delight: a trivalent approach to landscape education. In: Landscape and Urban Planning: European Conference of Landscape Architecture Schools Annual Meeting (ECLAS). 2002, Dubrovnik, Croatia: Elsevier BV.
• Benson JF, Jackson S, Roe MH, Thompson IH. Response: Redressing the balance on "The Unsustainability of Sustainability and Other Green Myths". Landscape Design 2002, 310, 11-12.
• Thompson IH. Nine Mile Run. Landscape Design 2001, 299, 37-38.
• Thompson IH. The Pittsburgh Weddings. Landscape Design 2001, 298, 13-15.
• Thompson I. Aesthetic, social and ecological values in landscape architecture: A discourse analysis. Ethics, Place and Environment 2000, 3(3), 269-287.
• Thompson IH. Ecology, Community and Delight: sources of values in landscape architecture. London: E&FN Spon, 2000.
• Thompson I. Sources of values in the environmental design professions: The case of landscape architecture. Ethics, Place and Environment 2000, 3(2), 203-219.
• Thompson IH. Ecology, Community and Delight: An Inquiry into Values in Landscape Architecture: Sources of Value in Landscape Architecture. London: Spon Press, 1999.
• Thompson IH. Environmental Ethics and the Development of Landscape Architectural Theory. Landscape Research, 23(2) 175-193 1998.
• Thompson, I.H. Environmental Ethics and the Development of Landscape Architectural Theory. Landscape Research 1998, 23(2), 175-193.
• Thompson, I.H. 'The Ethics of Sustainability'. In: Benson, J.F & Roe, M.H, ed. Landscape and Sustainability. 1998, pp.12-33.
• Thompson, I.H. Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. In: Greed, C, ed. Introducing Urban Design. 1997.
• Thompson, I.H. Can a Landscape be a Work of Art?: an examination of Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe's theory of aesthetics. Landscape Research 1995, 20(2), 57-67.
• Thompson, I.H. Street Furniture. Landscape Design Extra 1995, (54), 2.
• Thompson, I.H. Improving the View. Landscape Design 1994, (229), 38-39.
• Thompson, I.H. Smoke that Thunders. Landscape Design 1994, (232), 41-45.
• Thompson, I.H. The Art of Building Ruins. Landscape Design 1994, (235), 8-10.
• Thompson,I.H. Landscape Design: Signposts to a Postmodern Future?. Landscape Research 1993, 18(3), 122-129.
• Thompson, I.H. Once upon a Tyne. Landscape Design 1992, (209), 15-16.