Résumé

Military service, Queen’s Blackwatch Guard, Malaya, c. 1951-1953. Laurie served during the height of the Malayan Emergency during the period 1951-1953. The Emergency lasted for about twelve years, between 1948 and 1960. (See Imperial War Museums.org.uk, "A Short Guide To The Malayan Emergency," accessed 11/20/2023.)

Teaching

Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Department of Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA, 1962-1963.

Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Department of Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA, 1963-1969.

Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Department of Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA, 1969-1979.

Professor, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Department of Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA, 1979-1998.

Chair, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Department of Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA, 1976-1978, 1981-1982, and 1991-1998.

Professor of Landscape Architecture, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, 1998-2002.

The "In Memoriam" posted by colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), summarized his career teaching landscape architecture there: "The same year, Professor H. Leland Vaughan, chairman of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, recruited Michael Laurie as lecturer. Michael started his first year teaching elementary design and theory, junior design and design history. In 1963 he was appointed assistant professor and promoted to associate professor in 1969. In 1979 he was promoted to professor. Michael was the chairman of Landscape Architecture for three periods: 1976-78; 1981-82; and 1991-98. He was a good shepherd for the faculty and staff and sensitive to the demeanor of our students. Michael retired in 1998. For generations of students, Michael is remembered for the course "Introduction to Landscape Architecture" taught to a broad cross section of Berkeley undergraduates. His erudite lectures, delivered with verve and an obvious commitment to the field, became the basis for his book of the same title. The core of teaching in landscape architecture, however, is the design studio, and Michael was a renowned studio professor. He stressed clarity of design intent and a simplicity of form that was both elegant and resilient to change over time. For Michael, design was a comprehensive enterprise, and his studio projects extended from the design of a dinner party to the design of a regional park. In studio critiques, he sometimes took the unsettling stance of the devil's advocate, questioning a student’s presumptions and solutions. But in this, Michael was advancing the dictum of his senior colleague Professor H. Leland Vaughan, a dictum that he often quoted—'good design is clear thinking.' With a constructive skepticism all his own, he impelled students to hone their ideas and to present them with precision and conviction." (See R. Burton Little, Jr., Joe R. McBride, and Louise Mozingo, University of California, Berkeley, Faculty Senate.edu, "In Memoriam: Michael M. Laurie, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Emeritus, Berkeley, 1932-2002," published 2002, accessed 11/20/2023.)

Professional Activities

Author, Introduction to Landscape Architecture, (New York : American Elsevier Publishing Company, 1975). This books went through at least two English editions, and was reprinted in many languages.

Co-author, with Thomas D. Church and Grace Hall, Gardens Are for People, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983). This was a re-edited version of Thomas D. Church's 1955 book.

Co-author, with David C. Streatfield, 75 Years of Landscape Architecture at Berkeley: An Informal History, (Berkeley, CA: M. Laurie, 1988).

High School / College

Graduate, Dundee High School, Dundee, Scotland, 1951.

Bachelor's of Landscape Architecture, University of Reading, Reading, England, 1956. At Reading, he studied with the landscape architect Herbert Francis Clark (1902-1971).

Master’s of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1962. At Penn, Laurie studied with the Scottish landscape architect Ian McHarg. He was one of a number of well-known scholars from the United Kingdom to matriculate at Penn, another being the landscape architect and historian David C. Streatfield (born 1935 in Hove, England).

College Awards

Recipient, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Thouron Anglo-American Scholarship, c. 1960-1962.

Relocation

Michael Mackie Laurie was born in Dundee, Scotland, on 12/19/1932, the son of Ian and Nan Laurie.

In 1962, Laurie resided at 410 Quince Street in Philadelphia, PA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Number: 2848504; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A3998; NARA Roll Number: 725, accessed 05/24/2023.)

He was buried at Saint Madoes Churchyard, in Glencarse, Perthshire, Scotland.

Parents

His father was Ian Mackie Laurie (born 10/15/1899-d. 08/05/1993), his mother, Agnes "Nan" Gowrie Gilmour (born 11/14/1904 in Glencarse, Scotland-d. 01/06/1974). According to an obituary published by the Faculty Senate of the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Laurie's family bought and sold plants and designed gardens in Dundee: "Michael was a grandson of James Laurie, who founded a well-respected family firm of nurserymen and landscape designers in 1860. He was nurtured with a sense of landscape by his father, who maintained the family firm." (See R. Burton Little, Jr., Joe R. McBride, and Louise Mozingo, University of California, Berkeley, Faculty Senate.edu, "In Memoriam: Michael M. Laurie, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Emeritus, Berkeley, 1932-2002," published 2002, accessed 11/13/2023.) In 1928, the Laurie Family lived at 13 Seymour Street in Dundee. Ian worked for James Laurie and Son, Landscape Gardeners. (See Glasgow / Edinburgh / Dundee / Aberdeen / Scotland Western / Northern Ireland Telephone Book, 1928, p. 11.)

Ian M. Laurie served as a private with the Gordon Highlanders between 1914 and 1920, and was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; War Office and Air Ministry: Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War. WO329; Ref: 1658, accessed 11/13/2023.)

In the spring of 1962, Both Ian and Agnes visited Michael at 410 Quince Street, Philadelphia, PA. They flew aboard SAS Flight #SK911 from Glasgow, Prestwick, Scotland, to New York, NY, arriving on 05/18/1962. They likely came to see him graduate from Penn. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Number: 2848504; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A3998; NARA Roll Number: 680, accessed 11/13/2023.)

Laurie's brothers were Hamish Lowe Gilmour (born 04/23/1927-d. 03/04/2007) and Alasdair R.M. Laurie (born 09/22/1928-d. 11/08/2014).

Biographical Notes

Laurie flew from Glasgow, Scotland's Prestwick Airport to New York, NY, aboard BOAC Flight #559 on 07/27/1962. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Number: 2848504; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A3998; NARA Roll Number: 725, accessed 05/24/2023.)

SSN: 572-68-7468. Laurie obtained his Social Security card in CA in 1963. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, accessed 11/13/2023.)

Like many architects and landscape architects, Laurie avidly sketched and did watercolor landscape studies. His colleagues t UCB wrote: "One of Michael’s great passions was the study of landscapes through careful observation, confirming particular scenes in watercolor or black and white sketches. He particularly enjoyed outings with friends for watercolor sketching. Michael’s watercolor style was efficient, but not minimal. He thought the watercolor sketch was a record of the landscape to be done quickly. Over the years he shared his techniques with his students. In 1993, Michael put together an exhibit of 28 watercolor sketches taken for the many paintings he had done while teaching the California landscape regions course. The exhibit, Regions of California, was displayed in Wurster Hall on the Berkeley campus and was enthusiastically received by faculty and students." (See R. Burton Little, Jr., Joe R. McBride, and Louise Mozingo, University of California, Berkeley, Faculty Senate.edu, "In Memoriam: Michael M. Laurie, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Emeritus, Berkeley, 1932-2002," published 2002, accessed 11/20/2023.)