Spacemaker Press is an exciting publishing venture, started by a few individuals who thought there had to be a better way to explore the underlying meanings of the landscape around us - from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Somehow the profusion of magazines and newspapers, journals and books in our midst were rarely communicating exactly what the people behind Spacemaker Press were curious about: How landscapes really evolve. What the client and the designer wrestled with. How they first looked at the land - a magnificent, or undistinguished, or degraded or neglected portion of the earth's surface. Why the technical problems were. Why the new park or plaza might alter the way people behave in the city. How a garden fits into the traditions of landscape history - or breaks out of them, forcing us to re-examine what we mean by those traditions. And whether the new landscape is, in the end, really good.

The people at Spacemaker Press are interested in good criticism, thoughtful, informed, principled. But they are a heterogeneous bunch who don't adhere to a party line. They want to offer their readers, both in the United states and abroad, a range of perspectives on projects and issues, viewed at different scales. Their scope is global. And, in this age of specialization, they want to provide information and insight in a language that a wide (and intelligent) audience will understand.

Based in the United States, Spacemaker Press now offers two series of books, published in English, with selections translated into German, Spanish, and Japanese. One series, Land Marks, offers in-depth studies of individual projects and designers. These include Hanna/Olin's revitalization of Bryant Park, New York; the philosophy of the Japanese-American designer Robert Murase; Frank Lloyd Wright's Barnsdall Park, in Los Angeles; and Lawrence Halprin's FDR Memorial. The other series, Landscape Art and Architecture, includes monographs, histories, annuals, and theoretical works. Although diverse, these works all tend to seek a better understanding of the relations between nature and culture, art and design. Most are produced in stiff paper covers, some in cloth. The photographic documentation and design is of consistently high quality. So far, the audience has been remarkably diverse: professional artists and designers, public and private patrons, gardeners, and others who are genuinely curious about the ideas and artifacts of landscape art.

"This is an important venture, sure to increase the visibility of the profession and its contributions to society." - Benjamin Forgey, The Washington Post