In architecture and design-related circles, author and educator Geoff Manaugh needs little introduction. Through a consistently revelatory and often dizzying stream of spatial polemics hatched at his blog BLDGBLOG, Manaugh has spun-off his interest in architecture, science and the environment into a number of educational, curatorial and journalistic ventures. In 2011, Manaugh was approached by the Nevada Museum of Art to organize an exhibition entitled Landscape Futures and he used the opportunity to showcase work by an exciting group of multidisciplinary designers with practices focused on interrogating our perception and experience of landscape. That exhibition led to a book of the same name (recently published by Actar) and it is hardly surprising that the text ups the ante of this spatial discourse. Landscape Futures is a really dynamic read with a stellar introductory essay by Manaugh focused on the mediation of landscape through technology, some newly commissioned short articles and essays by related thinkers, documentation of work from the exhibition, and a series of follow-up interviews that drill down into the thinking of his featured designers (Chris Woebken, Smout Allen, The Living, and others). Last week, CAN was fortunate enough to chat with Manaugh about 'landscape futures' over Skype for about a half hour and we're sharing the following (edited) transcript of that exchange as a window into the book.
