Revealing Memories

will start at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 4, 2002, in Forum Hall of the K-State Student Union. The lecture is open to the public at no charge.

Robert Murase is a landscape architect with 30 years of experience, whose work can be found in the United States, Japan, the Pacific Basin, and the Caribbean. His projects have been featured in architectural magazines, journals, and books.

After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Murase apprenticed at the offices of Robert Royston and Lawrence Halprin. To further enrich his experience, he moved to Japan where he practiced for nearly 10 years, initially doing garden research at Kyoto University. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Oregon’s Department of Landscape Architecture, after which he worked for EDAW in Portland, Oregon. In 1982, he established his own studio in Portland, opening a Seattle office in 1988.

Murase has designed courtyards and unique spaces for museums, libraries, hospitals, schools and municipal buildings. He has been responsible for the master planning and design for visitor and resort complexes, university campuses, and park and recreation developments. His projects include a major port redevelopment, housing and new town facilities, and regional development for the preservation of historic temple ruins. Planning projects in Indonesia include the regional development plan for tourism in Yogyakarta; the Borubudur Archaeological Center and Prambanan Temple landscape plan; and the Pasia Angin Resort.

Urban design projects include the Port of Seattle Central Waterfront Design Guidelines, the Astoria Waterfront Plan and the Wilsonville Town Center Park in Oregon, and the Goshogawara Civic Core District Development Plan in Japan. He was responsible for the site plan of the University of Washington’s Physics, Chemistry, and Electrical Engineering Buildings, which comprise much of the historical central campus. Other projects include a 36-acre high-tech corporate campus in Redmond, Washington, and the Benaroya Concert Hall Garden of Remembrance in downtown Seattle.

Murase has been a guest lecturer and speaker at universities, museums, arboretums, and other institutions. A frequent participant in symposiums and seminars, he has also served on design juries in the United States and Japan. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Founded more than a quarter century ago as a memorial honoring Topeka architect and KSU alumnus Oscar Ekdahl, the Ekdahl Lectures bring practitioners, teachers, critics, theorists and artists to the campus for interaction with students, faculty and alumni. A concern for issues affecting the quality of the physical environment and the leadership roles played by the speakers characterize the Ekdahl series, which is meant to inform and to challenge, to reinforce and to complement the educational programs of the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design.

For more information, contact:
Dan Donelin 785/532-5961
Diane Potts 785/532-1090