News | Friday, 19th July 2019
Innovative landscape architect receives honorary design doctorate
James Corner recognised for commitment to urban green spaces and regeneration projects
Innovative landscape architect James Corner has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University.
A first-class BA (Hons) Landscape Design graduate from Manchester Polytechnic in 1983, Corner returned to his former University to become an honorary Doctor of Design (DDes) in recognition for advancing the fields of landscape architecture and urbanism and commitment to urban green spaces and regeneration projects.
He is the Founding Partner and CEO of James Corner Field Operations, a group of landscape architects and urban designers committed to the innovative design of public spaces.
His complex urban projects are renowned for their bold contemporary design, and include New York’s highly acclaimed High Line, Freshkills Park on Staten Island, London’s South Park Plaza at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the Shenzen Qianhai Urban Design Plan in China. In 2007, Time Magazine named him as one of the 10 most influential designers.
Corner received his honorary doctorate at the graduation ceremony in Manchester’s atmospheric Bridgewater Hall on Thursday July 18.
Special honour
He said: “Thank-you for this special honour. It's especially nice to come back to one's alma mater to be celebrated in this way, 36 years since I graduated from here.”
Born in Preston, Corner explained to graduates why he was drawn to study in Manchester. “I did very well in my A Levels, I could have gone to any University, I suppose, and I chose to come to what was then Manchester Polytechnic. I chose it because of the city, I loved the city and I loved the context of the school in the city. It felt real, it felt edgy, there was a good vibe. I loved Mancunian attitude. It was a city of arts, culture and music.”
After graduating, he left to study and work in America – which formed the basis of the first of his six pieces of advice to the graduating class of 2019 – to think globally and engage with and travel the world.
Thank-you for this special honour. It's especially nice to come back to one's alma mater to be celebrated in this way, 36 years since I graduated from here.
He also encouraged young people to not be afraid to tackle the big issues of our time, including environmental change and social equity. “I encourage you, no matter what role in society you play, you're educated citizens now and you have a responsibility to start to think big, look for the big ideas and find the big solutions.”
He also advised graduates to collaborate, recognise the importance of communication, learn to deal with difference, and embrace ‘design thinking’.
Advice for graduates
He said: “As new graduates, your generation must look for ways to foster a new world of inclusion, engagement, empathy, dignity and wellbeing. Recognising both that we are local and global at the same time, take on the big issues, think big, cross boundaries, exercise leadership through effective communication, understand and engage social difference, and utilise design creativity and innovation in order to envision and project alternative futures.
“All of this lies at the heart of what I call the 21st century project. Not just doing a good job per se, but working to improve the human condition, if not to ultimately uplift the very soul of humanity.”
As well as leading projects at Field Operations, Corner is known for his teaching, public speaking and writing.
He has been recognised with the National Design Award; the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture; and the AA&D Black Pencil Award. His work has been exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Royal Academy of Art in London and the Venice Biennale.
Corner was presented to receive his honorary doctorate by Christian Spence, Head of Future Economies Analytics at Manchester Metropolitan.
Spence said: “Described as an ‘urban dreamscaper’, [Corner’s] work manifests a clear sense of optimism, and the capacity of design to transform the landscape around us.
“Describing his field as “the planning and design of space under the sky”, his ambition is clear. To reshape and to reframe the city to be more than simply an economic machine, but instead to find a common foundation for disparate and competing agendas that allow place, people and nature to combine into a diverse and vibrant eco-system in which people can flourish.”
