Creating Cultural Practice Through Architecture
Julian Stanfield had the chance to travel to and evaluate numerous cities—their history, systemic policies, people, and energy—before joining the College of Architecture’s Master of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism program.
And by applying that prior knowledge to his studies, he says, “I became more of an introspective designer, diving into and attaching the ‘history of place’ to the conventions of landscape.”
Stanfield emphasizes the importance of recognizing the traditions underlying how cities came to be. Growing up, he lived in Indianapolis; to Chicago; to Fairbanks, Alaska, “and you see the differences in people and how policies affect the way they interact with each other.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture at Purdue University and completing a year-long internship at Denver-based Sasaki—the firm that designed the Chicago Riverwalk—Stanfield grew increasingly interested in what he calls “spatial justice—the commemoration of groups of people who had been dismissed or historically disintegrated.”
This drew him to Chicago—a heavily segregated city whose history is often paved over—and the College of Architecture. There, he studied landscapes as historical, "sociological expressions.”
“Of course we look at the urban canopy and its implications, with each tree connected. What’s missing is what could evolve the human experience. Not just building a playground or park, but something more deeply rooted—something more subconscious to the person,” Stanfield says. “That moves into what I would like to do in the future: create that cultural practice through architecture. It’s a deep-ridden issue.”
As an example of the practice, he points to the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina—constructed on the very dock where slaves were once delivered.
Comparatively, he notes the location of the Apple Store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, on the site where Jean Baptiste Point du Sable—Chicago’s first permanent non-Native settler—once lived with his wife. The site sports a simple sidewalk bust of du Sable, while a larger project commemorating him is planned at the Ogden Slip, farther south on the Lake Michigan waterfront.
“Moving everything ‘du Sable’ over there, architecturally and politically—I am not a fan of that,” Stanfield says. “It’ll look like a cool place to be, but with the realities of erasure in America...in place of commemoration, there’s a gap there.”
He is a fan, however, of the community-led Englewood Agro-Eco District, the Bronzeville Trail revitalization project, and the Grant Park Framework Plan—all on sites he has visited in his spare time.
Stanfield’s other activities include serving as president of the American Society of Landscape Architects student organization, where he has focused on helping students learn about articles, experiential opportunities, and conferences across the country.
He is also a CELA Fountain Scholar, an award that supports students of color in landscape architecture. Additionally, in 2025 he was honored with the College of Architecture’s Caldwell Medal, an annual student award given to a first-year Master of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism student who shows commitment to the field.
Upon graduation, Stanfield currently plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania to pursue his master’s degree in city planning.
