curriculum vitae

Margot K. Lystra
[email protected]
education
Fall 2016 (expected)
PhD Candidate - History of Architecture and Urban Development, Cornell University Dissertation: “Immediate Natures: Designing the Environments of Urban American
Freeways, 1959-68”
Committee: Mary N. Woods, Sara Pritchard, Jeremy Foster
Fields: History of American Urbanism, Science and Technology Studies,
Environmental History, Landscape Theory
2012
Master of Arts - History of Architecture and Urbanism, Cornell University
Thesis: “Between Making and Seeing: Overlay Drawing Practices in 1960’s-70’s
Environmental Design”
2005
Master in Landscape Architecture - Harvard Graduate School of Design
Thesis: “Improvisational Design Methods for Post-industrial Sites in Chelsea, MA”
1996
Bachelor of Arts - Swarthmore College
Major in Biology
professional appointments
2007-10
Lecturer - Landscape Architecture, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
publications
invited
2014
“McHarg’s Entropy, Halprin’s Chance: Representations of Cybernetic Change in 1960s Landscape Architecture,” Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, 34.1 (2014): 71-84.
2012 “Sightseeing via the Erie Canal: Hybrid Tourist Landscapes in 19th-century New York State,”
Archi-tourism Online Exhibition, ed. Medina Lasansky (Cornell University Library, 2012). 2006
Book Review: “SITE: Identity in Density,” Crit - Journal of the AIAS 62 (Fall 2006), 63.
“Design for Urban Autonomy: Amplifying Resources in the Fallow City,” Crit - Journal of the AIAS 61 (Spring 2001), 52-55. Co-author S. Cowles.
other
2014
“The Analog Condition,” CC, eds. Sophie Hochhausl and Melissa Constantine (Cornell AAP Publications, 2014).
2007
“The Green Divide,” The Next American City 14 (Spring 2007), 42-43. fellowships / grants / awards
dissertation & thesis
2014-15 Clarence Stein Fellowship - Clarence Stein Institute for Urban and Landscape Studies,
Cornell University ($6,000)
Contested Global Landscapes Research Grant - Institute for Social Sciences, Cornell
University ($2,500)
Robert D. MacDougall Scholarship - Architecture Department, Cornell University ($3,500)
Robert D. MacDougall Scholarship - Architecture Department, Cornell University ($1,034)
2012-13
A. Henry Detweiler Traveling Fellowship - Architecture Department, Cornell University ($2,100)
Margot K. Lystra
design research
2010-11
2004
Art Project Grant - Council for the Arts, Cornell University ($825)
Penny White Grant - Harvard Graduate School of Design ($800)
Best in Studio - Harvard Graduate School of Design
study fellowship
2013-14
Sage Fellowship - Architecture Department, Cornell University
Full tuition and stipend for the academic year ($21,400)
2010-11 Sage Fellowship - Architecture Department, Cornell University
Full tuition and stipend for the academic year ($21,400)
2010-14
Summer Research Fellowship - Architecture Department, Cornell University
($4,700 per summer for 4 summers)
conference travel
2014-15
2012-13
2011-12
2008
Conference Support - Graduate School, Cornell University ($675, non-competitive)
Conference Support - Graduate School, Cornell University ($650, non-competitive)
Helen O. and Stephen Jacobs Fund - Architecture Department, Cornell University ($600)
Research Support Grant - California Polytechnic State University ($1,000, non-competitive)
conferences / symposia
peer-reviewed
2015
Environmental Histories of Design Workshop - Rachel Carson Center, Munich, Germany
(upcoming) “Drawing Natures: US Freeway Controversies, Representational Techniques, and the Rise of
Environmental Design”
2013 Graduate Student Lightning Rounds - Society of Architectural Historians, Buffalo, NY
“The San Francisco Freeway: Landscape, Hybridity, and Revolt”
2012
Landscapes in Time - SAH Landscape Chapter Symposium, Detroit, MI
“Models and Scores: Cybernetics and Conceptions of Time in 1960’s Landscape
Architectural Representation”
2008
The Right to Landscape - University of Cambridge
Poster: “Neighborhood = Client: Design as Public Process”
invited / university
2015
Contested Global Landscapes - Institute for Social Sciences, Cornell University
“Locating I-95: Freeway Controversy and the Rise of Environmental Design”
2013
Notes from the Archive Research Exchange - Cornell University / Bartlett UCL
“Duplicitous and Revelatory: Lawrence Halprin’s Drawings for the Panhandle Freeway”
2011
Producing Publics Graduate Student Symposium - Cornell University
“Public/Private Thresholds and Site-Specific Dance in Dot-com Era San Francisco”
teaching experience
lecturer / adjunct
2007-10
Lecturer - Landscape Architecture, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Courses Developed:
Second Year Design Studios
Cultural Environments Studio, “Strategic Greening for Folsom Street, San Francisco”
Theory and Exploration Studio, “Mapping Idea to Making Site”
AutoCAD and Digital Media Integrated Learning Course
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Margot K. Lystra
Traditional and Digital Media Integrated Learning Course
Ecology Integrated Learning Course
Senior Seminars, “Accidental Landscapes”, “Landscape Infrastructures”
Courses Co-taught:
Implementation Strategies
Materials and Techniques of Landscape Construction
2005
Adjunct Professor - University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture
Studio, “Urban (Agri)culture: Productive Landscapes for Southeast Detroit”
teaching assistant
2011-15
Cornell University
American Studies: Popular Culture in the United States, 1900-1945 (upcoming, Fall 2015)
Architecture: Theories and Analyses - Lily Chi, Instructor (Fall 2014)
Architecture: History Survey - Medina Lasansky and Mary Woods, Instructors (2011-2013)
2004
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Landscape Architecture Core Studio (M. Blier, H. Clarke, M. Van Valkenburgh, Instructors)
Introduction to Drawing (C. Werthmann, M. Blier, Instructors)
guest reviews
2010-14
2007
2006
2005
Landscape Architecture Department, Cornell University
Architecture Department, California College of the Arts
Landscape Architecture Department, University of California - Davis
College of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University
Landscape Architecture Department, Harvard Graduate School of Design
design practice
2007
Independent Contractor - San Francisco, CA
Sasaki, Walker, and Associates: construction documentation, conceptual design.
Tom Leader Studio: construction documentation.
2006-07
Project Designer - Conger Moss Guillard, San Francisco, CA
Construction documents, conceptual design, sustainable open space systems.
2005
Design Intern - Landworks Studio, Salem, MA
Presentation graphics, conceptual design, research.
2005
Designer - Detroit Collaborative Design Center, Detroit, MI
Site-specific installation design, construction administration, workshop assistance.
2003
Community Design Intern - Urban Ecology, Oakland, CA
Coordinated 40-person workshop, neighborhood park improvements.
departmental activities
2011-12
President - HAUD Student Society, Architecture Department, Cornell University
Coordinated the program’s first graduate student conference, solicited $6,000 funding.
2010
Vice President - HAUD Student Society, Architecture Department, Cornell University
2010
Member/Coordinator - Convivium Salon, Architecture Department, Cornell University
2004-05
Curator - Landscape Lunchbox Lecture Series, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Invited and coordinated lectures and discussions with design professionals.
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Margot K. Lystra
university & community service
2012-13
2011-12
2007
2003-04
Sesquicentennial Memorial Selection Committee - Cornell University
Student Library Advisory Council - Cornell University
Volunteer, Public Architecture - San Francisco, CA
Penny White Grant Selection Committee - Harvard Graduate School of Design
professional memberships
Society of Architectural Historians
Landscape Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians
Architecture & Environment Interest Group, European Architectural History Network
languages
French - intermediate/advanced reading
Spanish - intermediate reading
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