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 Biographical Sketch & Bibliography

Raymond Isaacs
Associate Professor
Department of Architecture

isaacs@uwm.edu

 

 

Education
University of California, Berkeley: Ph.D. in Environmental Planning/ Urban Design, 1998
University of California, Berkeley: MArch, 1992, and MLA, 1993
University of Tennessee: BArch, 1979

 

Teaching Area
Architectural Design, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture, Urban Landscape Ecology

Courses in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning currently rotate among:

Arch 383 – Landscape Architecture
Arch 410 – Building Design
Arch 584 – Urban Landscape Architecture
Arch 645/845 – Advanced Urban Design Studio
Arch 751 – Theory in Environment Behavior Studies

 

Memberships
ACSA, CELA, EDRA

 

Academic and Professional Honors (Selected)
Fulbright Senior Scholar, Germany, 2000-2001
University Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 1995-1997
American Society of Landscape Architects Certificate of Honor, 1993

 

Teaching Experience
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
School of Architecture and Urban Planning
Associate Professor, 2005-

Assistant Professor, 2002-2005

Louisiana State University
School of Landscape Architecture
Assistant Professor, 1998-2002

University of Cincinnati
School of Planning
Visiting Assistant Professor, 1997-1998

 

Research Interests
The sensual experience of urban landscapes is a central theme in my research.  Of particular interest is the experience of the “path,” referring to lines of pedestrian/bicycle travel within the landscape network.  The projects include studies of pedestrian and cycling behavior within urban neighborhoods and studies of building identity and community within inner-city neighborhoods.  The work is interdisciplinary, involving environmental cognition and aesthetics, urban landscape ecology, urbanism and cultural landscape theory.
 

Current research projects are:
“Environmental Indicators Influencing Physical Active Lifestyles of the Elderly,” with Scott Strath (Health Science) and Michael Greenwald (Planning), funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Active Living by Design Program. This is a study of the relationship between physical environments of urban and suburban neighborhoods and walking activity of older adults.

“The Walnut Way Urban Ecology Program,” a project to establish an action-research/community service program in partnership with the Walnut Way Conservation Corps and Community Design Solutions (UWM).

“Grounding the Landscape Matrix,” an ongoing study of the interaction of local ecology, culture, and community, with an emphasis on planning and designing urban landscape networks. Work in Germany was supported in part by a Senior Fulbright Scholar Award and the Center for German and European Studies. Current work in Milwaukee is supported by a Fellowship in the Center for 21st Century Studies (UWM) for the current academic year.

 

Selected Recent Publications  
“The Not-so-secret Agenda of the Landscape Guerilla,” in 306090/07: Landscape within Architecture, Princeton Architectural Press, 2004.
"Dresden Neustadt: Old Urban Form as a Place of contemporary Urbanism," Places, vol. 13, No. 3, 2002
"The Subjective Duration of Time in the Experience of Urban Places," Journal of Urban Design, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2001
"The Urban Picturesque: An Aesthetic Experience of Urban Pedestrian Places," Journal of Urban Design, Vol. 5, No.2, 2000

Research and Creative Activities (Selected)
Local Landscapes in the Global Arena: a study of the transformation of contemporary cities in enduring cultural landscapes, with implications for planning, designing and managing urban landscapes and local ecologies. Case studies in Dresden and Leipzig, Germany (in progress). Funded in part by a grant form Louisiana State University and a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award.
The (Aesthetic) Experience of Urban Pedestrian Spatial Sequences,  by Raymond Isaacs, completed March, 1998. dissertation research exploring the various pedestrian experiences of a city with diverse urban environments. Funded in part by the Center for German and European Studies.
SmartMaps for Advanced Traveler Information Systems Based on User Characteristics, by Michael Southworth and Raymond Isaacs, 1994. Background research for the use and development of electronic media for disseminating a wide range of information about urban environments at public transportation centers. funded by the University of California Transportation center/California Department of Transportation.

Services
Book review and blind peer review for the Journal of Urban Design.