About
GROUND UP is the award-winning graduate student journal of the Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning at UC Berkeley
Published annually, the journal bridges the gaps between student and professional, academia and practice, landscape and architecture, while exploring contemporary issues in the built environment in unexpected, thoughtful, and compelling ways.
Articles, projects, and artworks are gathered through an open call for submissions, so naturally the journal is always guided by the interests of our collaborators and readers -- from academics to practitioners, artists to scientists, and students to professionals. And really anyone with an interesting thought to share.
Submissions
Submissions to Issue 10 - Breathe are due by January 17th at 11:59PM. For more details about this year’s theme and submission details, please visit our Call for Submissions page.
Themes are announced every year in late October, submissions are due in January, and everything goes to print in April.
We seek submissions that capture the interdisciplinary nature of the field of landscape architecture. As such, we welcome subject matter from art practice, ecology, architecture, urban design, literature, poetry, policy, and beyond. Submission types include -- but are not limited to -- design proposals (built or not), interdisciplinary research, creative writing, artworks, and student work. We accept written contributions up to 2,000 words, and are enthusiastic about publishing digital media on our website and social platforms.
Interested in submitting an article to the journal? Visit our Call for Submissions page to learn more about this year’s theme and submission requirements.
History
In 2010 with the rise of the Occupy Wall Street and the 99% movements, a cohort of Berkeley students wanted to create a place to discuss issues and movements of the time. Observing the gulf between scholarship and practice in landscape architectural discourse the students noted: the painful privatization of a public institution in response to an unprecedented crisis of funding, an employment horizon offering few opportunities in the shadow of the Great Recession, and the Occupy Movement sweeping through campus, signaling the revival of public space as a locus of political activism after years of apathy.
Into this landscape of uncertainty, Berkeley graduate students of landscape architecture created Ground Up. Across nine editions, Ground Up has also evolved, but remains true to its roots, responding and reacting to, critiquing, applauding, analyzing, imagining and questioning the contemporary in unexpected, thoughtful and compelling ways, without following the whims of intellectual fashion.
Shipping
Please note we are a student-run journal and shipping schedules revolve around the highs and lows of the academic year. If you need orders processed quickly, please contact us directly.