Edge Rewrite
location Source code View original
// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a28864aa5e63b40c

Jump to content

Arnold Alanen

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arnold R. Alanen is an American historian of landscape architecture, cultural landscape and built environment. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[1]

His research focuses on cultural landscapes,[2] vernacular architecture, immigrant settlement patterns, and the history of planned communities and company towns, primarily in North America,[3] Finland,[4] Norway, Australia, and Japan. In 1982, he, along with Darrel Morrison, served as the founding co-editors of Landscape Journal. In 2008 he received American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)Communications Honor Award.[5]

Biography

[edit]

Alanen was born and raised in northern Minnesota.[1] He grew up in a bilingual English- and Finnish-speaking household on a dairy farm established by his Finnish immigrant grandparents in eastern Aitkin County, Minnesota, an upbringing that later informed his academic work using Finnish-language sources.[6] He served as National Guard during the 1960s, undergoing basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 1964.[7]

Alanen developed an early interest in cultural landscapes and vernacular buildings, particularly those connected to Finnish and Nordic settlement within the Upper Midwest.[8]

Alanen attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth for two years, before transferring to the university's Twin Cities (UMN) campus, where he earned a B.A. in architectural studies in 1963. While working as a planner for agencies such as the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council, Alanen also enrolled in courses offered by the UMN Department of Geography. Alanen earned both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geography (1968 & 1973); and received the Ralph Brown Graduate Student Award in 1972 for his co-authored publications on Minnesota's population patterns.[9] Also, as the recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Graduate Student Fellowship for the 1968–69 academic year, Alanen was affiliated with the Department of Geography at the University of Helsinki, Finland.[10]

Academic career

[edit]

Alanen began his academic career as a teaching associate in geography at the University of Minnesota from 1971 to 1972, before becoming an instructor in the recently established geography program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from1972 to 1974.[11]

In 1974 he was invited to join the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty as an assistant professor of landscape architecture.[8] He was promoted to associate professor in 1979 and professor in 1984; and served as chairperson of the Department of Landscape Architecture from 1985 to 1988 and again from 2001 to 2003.[11]

Alanen also returned, for one semester in 1982, to the University of Helsinki’s Department of Geography, where he was a visiting research professor.[12] Upon retiring in 2009, Alanen was named professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[13]

Research and scholarly works

[edit]

Alanen's scholarship combines cultural geography and landscape history, with a particular emphasis on the vernacular landscapes and built environments of working-class and immigrant communities, primarily in the Lake Superior region and Upper Midwest.[14]

His research has examined how such environments including rural buildings and farmsteads, saunas, workers’ and miners’ housing and gardens, and other examples of material culture shape and form local and regional landscapes.[15][12]

In the field of cultural landscape studies, Alanen and his graduate students pursued several related projects for the National Park Service in Alaska, Michigan, and Wisconsin; and they also documented the historic cultural landscapes associated with Wisconsin's State Capitol building, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.[16]

In 2000, Alanen and Robert Z. Melnick of the University of Oregon oversaw the publication of their co-edited volume, Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America.[17]

Alanen's other books include Main Street Ready-Made: The New Deal Community of Greendale, Wisconsin (with Joseph A. Eden, 1987; reissued in 2012 and 2023);[18] Morgan Park: Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Company Town (2007);[19] Finns in Minnesota (2012);[20] and The Scenic Route: Building Minnesota’s North Shore (2025), which combines historical narrative with field guide elements.[21][22]

Additionally, after assisting in the 1982 establishment of Landscape Journal, Alanen served as co-editor until 1991, and as consulting editor to 2000.[5] Later, in 2005, he initiated the University of Wisconsin Press series, Wisconsin Land and Life, and was editor until 2016.[23]

Awards

[edit]
  • Honorary Member, American Society of Landscape Architects (2009)[24]             
  • Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the Year (2009–10) [12]                                         
  • ASLA national research and communication awards (1983–2008)[25]                   
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Wisconsin Chapter, ASLA (2007) [11]                                   
  • Academy of Fellows, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (2007) [26]   
  • David Gebhard Award from the Minnesota Society of Architectural Historians for The Scenic Route[11]      

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Hemphill, Stephanie (2025-06-15). "The Scenic Route: Building Minnesota's North Shore". Agate. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  2. ↑ "This Land is Co-op Land". In These Times. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  3. ↑ Gabler, Jay (2025-05-26). "Front Row Seat: 10 things you didn't know about North Shore landmarks". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  4. ↑ Wilson, Richelle (2025-02-19). "Finnish saunas are having a moment in Wisconsin". WPR. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  5. 1 2 "Arnold Alanen honored as founder of Landscape Journal – eCALS". ecals.cals.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  6. ↑ Ann, Markusen. "On the Mark: FinnFest tour was a real North Shore treat". Pine Knot News. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  7. ↑ "About author, Arnold Alanen". MessAge Media. 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  8. 1 2 Simon, Sarah (2025-05-29). "Uncover The Scenic Route: Author Arnold Alanen Visits Two Harbors and Grand Marais | North Shore Journal | Two Harbors, Silver Bay & Lake Superior". Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  9. ↑ "1974 NEWSLETTER Department of Geography". University of Minnesota.
  10. ↑ "One Hundredth Anniversary: Geographical Society of Finland: The Professional Geographer: Vol 41 , No 2 - Get Access". www.tandfonline.com. doi:10.1111/j.0033-0124.1989.00206.x. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Arnold R. Alanen". University of Wisconsin–Madison. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  12. 1 2 3 "Arnold Alanen". Finlandia Foundation National. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  13. ↑ Journal, The North Shore (2025-09-04). "Zenith Bookstore and Split Rock Lighthouse Welcome Author Arnold R. Alanen, September 20, for Events for The Scenic Route | North Shore Journal | Two Harbors, Silver Bay & Lake Superior". Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  14. ↑ Alanen, Arnold R.; Melnick, Robert Z.; Hayden, Dolores (2000). Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-6264-9.
  15. ↑ Regan, Sheila (2025-05-28). "Celebrating the history and beauty of Minnesota's North Shore". MinnPost. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  16. ↑ Mack, Linda (1991). "Beyond Buildings: Preserving Cultural Landscapes". Forum Journal. 5 (1): 19. ISSN 2325-7296.
  17. ↑ Mires, Peter B. (2001). "Review of Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America". Geographical Review. 91 (4): 739–741. doi:10.2307/3594732. ISSN 0016-7428. JSTOR 3594732.
  18. ↑ McElvaine, Robert S.; Alanen, Arnold R.; Eden, Joseph A. (1988). "Main Street Ready-Made: The New Deal Community of Greendale, Wisconsin". The Journal of American History. 75 (3): 1001. doi:10.2307/1901691. JSTOR 1901691.
  19. ↑ Stanger, Howard (2009). "Book Review: Morgan Park: Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Company Town. By Arnold R. Alanen. Minneapolis:University of Minnesota Press, 2007. 338 pp. 24.95 paper". Labor Studies Journal : Official Journal of the University and College Labor Education Association. Labor studies journal : official journal of the University and College Labor Education Association. - Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage, ISSN 0160-449X, ZDB-ID 4396467. - Vol. 34.2009, 1, p. 140–141. 34 (1): 140.
  20. ↑ Budgeteer, Duluth (2012-07-07). "Finnish culture enthusiasts turn the page on immigrants' history". Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  21. ↑ Wurzer, Cathy (7 August 2025). "Hwy 61 north shore scenery and culture captured in new book". MPR News. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  22. ↑ Wright, Pam (2 July 2025). "Review: The Scenic Route". Quetico Superior Foundation. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  23. ↑ Flynn, John J. (1997). "Flynn, J. Book Review of "Wisconsin Land and Life" by ..." (PDF). Wisconsin Geography.
  24. ↑ "Chicago: Pioneers Regional Symposia 2009-10 Arnold R. Alanen, Ph.D., Honorary ASLA". www.tclf.org. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  25. ↑ Garbarini, Jean. "25 Years of the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS)". ASLA. Retrieved 2026-08-06.
  26. ↑ Pennypacker, Eliza (2025-10-21). "CELA Academy of Fellows Through the Years -". CELA (Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture). Retrieved 2026-01-21.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arnold_Alanen&oldid=1368501124"