1. Public Works Practice Chris Reed EPOKA University
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
Department of Architecture
ARCH 415 – Landscape Research
Lecturer: M.Sc. Valbona Koci
Fall Term, 2012
Public Works Practice
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed
Chris Reed
Fitim Miftari,

2. Introduction
Contemporary landscape practices are witnessing a revival of sorts, a recovery of broader social, cultural and ecological agendas.
Public works historians Stanley K. Schultz and Clay McShane state that: "Twentieth century economic and political administration emphasized several characteristics, including a centralized permanent bureaucracy staffed by skilled experts, and a commitment to long- range, comprehensive planning."
The projects sponsored by such administrations were
highly technical,
specialized by discipline,
economically driven and
discreetly bounded.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

3. Introduction Public works evolved from:
publicly initiated social reforms
multidimensional mega-projects
dispersed, networked initiatives
Gradually landscape architects relinquished their social relevance, gaining unparalleled social status. Thus, public works eventually congealed into one of two molds:
as decorative arts
as science based planning methodology.
Four case studies are used to illustrate the development of public works management structure.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

4. CASE STUDY 1 NINETEENTH CENTURY CITIZEN-INITIATED REFORM AND CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Early public works were not centrally organized, they grew due to:
Public pressure exerted upon a central government
Private institutions geared toward the delivery of a new public service
Boston : In 1796, Aqueduct Corporation petitioned Massachusetts General Court for a charter to supply drinking water to Boston from Jamaica Pond.
Boston : A citizen petitioned the same court to clean waste from streets and gutters to prevent disease.
New York : Doctors, lawyers, businessman established Citizens’ Association to conduct an investigation in the physical fabric of the city in order to initiate government sponsored sanitary improvements.
Philadelphia : Political and business leaders, prompted by citizens and private publications, commissioned the country's first Waterworks to prevent epidemics.
Social reformers, health workers, business leaders, landscape architects, engineers and civic groups invented the public works project
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

5. CASE STUDY 2 METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COMMISSION (MDC)
Metropolitan Sewage District
(1889)
Boston Metropolitan Parks Commission
(1893)
Metropolitan District Commission or MDC.
(1919) + =
Open spaces was the first priority of MDC (1919), for most the twentieth century it was responsible for:
Provision of safe drinking water
Treatment of wastewater
Care and upkeep of open-space resources
Establishment and management of regions parkways
It has now been dismantled into at least three separate and specialized state agencies.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

6. CASE STUDY 3 HOOVER DAM Public Works Practice - Chris Reed
Hoover Dam during construction
Hoover Dam today

7. CASE STUDY 3 HOOVER DAM
1942 – largest construction undertaking in the history of US
Unprecedented scope and technical difficulties
It took a coalition of six companies to secure the winning bid – Six Companies
Many new inventions
New construction techniques emerged
An entire new city – Boulder City – was built in Nevada desert to house, feed and educate 5000 workers and their families
The project became a public employment initiative
The project was used as a model for future government sponsored work programs
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

8. CASE STUDY 4 ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network)
The predecessor to the current internet - ARPANET
Not a public work project directed by a centralized authority.
A new, networked model for project development
Coalition of multiple entities:
Governmental
Advanced Research Project Agency
National Physics Laboratory
Academic/Institutional
MIT
Stanford
Private/Corporate
Honeywell
IBM
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

9. Early characteristic of public works projects was the rise of professional engineer in social status and municipal ranks.
The professional engineer carried with it the pretense of the de-politicization of public works projects since the most qualified of scientists and engineers were argued to be beyond the realm of politics.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

10. By 1940’s, public works assumed a military imperative.
“much of the works done by the Works Projects Administration in peacetime years was later recognized as military value to the nation”
Airports
Military establishments
Roads and highways
The scale and complexity of military-related products reached a point where government could not handle the task itself- relied on private industry.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

11. During the 1930s and 1940s the works projects administration programs and initiatives employed thousands of citizens during a time of economic depression and recovery.
The federal government now acted as employer and contractor on its expanding roster of projects and services provided to the public.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

12. He outlines an " infrastructural urbanism" that
Stan Allen argues that architecture and urbanism, and by extension landscape should be "less concerned with what things look like and more concerned with what they do";
He outlines an " infrastructural urbanism" that
Is strategic,
Operates at large scales,
Is made physical/material when it encounters a local.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

13. No traditional separations between disciplines hold
DEPARTURE POINTS – FOUR TRENDS 1. Blurring of distinctions between traditional fields of practice
No traditional separations between disciplines hold
New public works are marked by the integration of:
functional,
social-cultural,
ecological,
economic,
political agendas.
Limited resources demand that interventions satisfy multiple goals.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

14. Landscape/architectural/urbanistic project can be conceived as:
DEPARTURE POINTS – FOUR TRENDS 2. Appropriation of infrastructural strategies and ecological tactics for new civic programs
Infrastructure:
Conceived as rational, absolute and utilitarian
Can be transformed toward social, cultural, ecological and artistic ends
Landscape/architectural/urbanistic project can be conceived as:
Functional infrastructures
Ecological machines that process and perform
Public spaces that literary “work”
Value for performance rather than sculptural characteristics.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

15. Local municipalities:
DEPARTURE POINTS – FOUR TRENDS 3. Activation of multiple, overlapping networks and dynamic coalitions of constituencies
Many have recognized the decentralized or splintered characteristics of service-provision and decision-making
Local municipalities:
Limited resources to fulfill expanding public needs
Are subject to political and administrative changes
However, funding and organizational resources are not only available for centralized municipalities.
Community groups, art organizations, research centers have access to funds, thus have power for implementing public work projects.
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

16. DEPARTURE POINTS – FOUR TRENDS 4. Catalytic and responsive operations
Long term implementation may depend on short term initiatives
Change public perceptions
Generate political will
Implementation scenarios must be responsive
Accommodate potential changes
Diverge from a step-by-step implementation formula
Allow open-ended futures
Project with duration of ten or twenty years:
Must acknowledge the potential impact of changing markets and political agendas
Are simply beyond the control of consultants and clients at the time of project initiation
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

17. Conclusion
Landscape urbanism lays new ground for design and urbanistic practices:
Performance-based
Research-oriented
Logistics-focused
Networked
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed

18. References
Reed, Chris Public Works Practice in The Landscape Urbanism Reader, ed. Charles Waldheim, NewYork: Princeton Architectural Press, pp
Public Works Practice - Chris Reed