Garrett Eckbo (1910-2000)

Garrett Eckbo studied landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley graduating in 1935. While attending graduate school at Harvard, he and classmates Dan Kiley and James Rose led the “Harvard Revolution” and ushered in the modern period in landscape design. Following graduation in 1938, Eckbo worked as a landscape architect for Norman Bel Geddes on the General Motors Pavilion for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York and for the Farm Security Administration. Eckbo taught at the University of Southern California and in UC Berkeley’s Department of Landscape Architecture, serving as chair from 1965-1969. Eckbo was a prolific author who published seven books and innumerable articles. He received the 1975 American Society of Landscape Architects’ Medal of Honor.

The Garrett Eckbo collection spans the years 1933 to 1996, and includes files created by Eckbo and his numerous firms. The collection is organized into eight series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Office Records, Project Records 1939-1969, Project Records 1970-1995, and FSA/National Housing Authority/Defense Housing Records. Contained in the records are student projects including “Contempoville,” his master’s thesis at Harvard, correspondence, scrapbooks, consulting material, drawings, photographs, slides, research notes, articles, lectures, manuscripts, illustrations, and subject files. Some of his projects include Farm Security Administration housing, Ladera, Mar Vista Homes, Ambassador College, University of California campuses, the University of New Mexico, and the ALCOA Forecast Garden.