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AbstractThis essay explores the Passaic River Valley in New Jersey and it utilizes the concept of re-voicing discussed by literary critic James Woods to call attention to the ways certain experiences of the land legitimize the stories we tell, and, conversely, to call attention to the ways certain stories of the land legitimize the experiences we remember. Data on topography, land use, demographics, floods and chemical toxins provide factual support. Experienced-based observations on time and place by poet William Carlos Williams and artist Robert Smithson establish tone and meaning. To depict the layers of this topography and their points of intersection, the essay presents the landscape synchronically as concurrent moments in time, and diachronically as change over time. The Passaic River, in its dual role of entity, or thing, and metaphor, or meaningful idea, unites the exploration and serves as the point of focus.

AbstractThis study traces the transition of Slab City, California, from a military camp to a squatter settlement. It explores how the remnant slabs and roads of the former military base now serve as the spatial armature for a more fluid and individualistic definition of territory. To examine this historical developmental, it uses a combination of visual analysis, archival research, on-site interviews, and photographic documentation. Of interest, and what distinguishes this study from past scholarship on Slab City, is its emphasis upon the physical boundaries that demarcate the landscape. The emphasis, in turn, allows this study to illustrate the recursive relationship between landscape morphology and the social production of space, and thus how spatial form structures social relationships, and conversely how social relationships structure spatial form. Observations on landscape and boundary presented by cultural geographer J. B. Jackson in Discovering the Vernacular Landscape(1984) frame the discussion.

Several articles are presented about landscape architecture. One article focuses on the landscape of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest which the author claims has nourished and shaped her sensibility and made her realize that designing building was not enough for her. Another article focuses on landscape architect Richard Haag's notable projects in the Pacific Northwest, including Gas Works Park and Bloedel Reserve. Canadian modern landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander is also cited.

The article features the research paper "Fluid Territory: A Journey Into Svalbard, Norway," by Kathleen John-Alder of Rutgers University, which won the Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for professional awards on research category.