Ken Tamminga
- Active Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture
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urban design
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sustainable design
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ecological design and planning
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design pedagogy
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international education
- Email krt1@psu.edu
Biography
Ken Tamminga focuses on contextual and ecology-informed design, accessible green places in cities, and novel and restored ecosystems. He has collaborated with action research colleagues on resilience-building projects in South Asia, Brazil, and sub-Saharan Africa — places that struggle with impacts from climate change and globalization.
He is currently following two research threads: convivial greenstreets in dense urban cores and the state of professional landscape planting practices in the northeast United States in the face of climate and biodiversity challenges.
Tamminga arrived at Penn State University in 1993 after more than eight years of consulting in Ontario. Over the last few of decades he has taught mostly upper-level studios and courses on site ecology and plants in the landscape. From 2008 to 2023 his award-winning Pittsburgh Studio introduced upper-year students to designing in and with underserved communities. He was the director of education abroad from 2019 to 2023, contributing to the Department of Landscape Architecture's sustainable cities program in Bonn, Germany, and co-leading the Barcelona summer program.
Penn State granted Tamminga Distinguished Professor Emeritus status in July 2024. Post-Penn State, he looks forward to continued research travel and select consulting and teaching.
For further detail, see: https://www.kentamminga.com.