Roots through Asphalt: A Conversation with Sonja Dümpelmann

Authors

  • Sonja Dümpelmann University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
  • Pauline Kargruber Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc-springs-3964

Abstract

In an interview, landscape historian Sonja Dümpelmann and editor Pauline Kargruber talk about plants in urban environments. Sonja answers questions about trees in cities and discusses the importance of making space for other-than-humans without sacrificing urban density. She foregrounds the psychological and physical benefits of living with trees, talks about gardens and parks as symbols of power, and discusses ideological connotations in greening projects. Touching on topics such as social justice and the role of women in window gardening, Sonja stresses the importance of plants in urban spaces, where their needs are too often neglected.

Author Biographies

  • Sonja Dümpelmann, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design

    Sonja Dümpelmann is a tenured full professor at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. In July 2023, she will join the Rachel Carson Center as co-director and as the new chair of the environmental humanities at LMU Munich. Sonja served as Senior Fellow of Garden and Landscape Studies at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (2014–20), and as president of the Landscape History Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (2013–16). She has held associate and assistant professorships at Harvard University, the University of Maryland, and Auburn University.

  • Pauline Kargruber, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich

    Pauline Kargruber holds an MA in English studies from LMU Munich. Her research has focused on human-nonhuman relationships, political economy, literature as propaganda, and precarity in twentieth- and twenty-first-century fiction. When she is not editing texts for Springs and Arcadia: Explorations in Environmental History, she concentrates her efforts on writing fiction.

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Published

23-05-2023

Issue

No. 3 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Sonja Dümpelmann and Pauline Kargruber

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.