As many of you probably heard, Dan Kiley passed away this past February.

I came to know Dan professionally through working on one project in particular over the course of two years in Westport, NY. I immediately recognized what a great opportunity it was to work with such a world-renowned landscape architect – and to try and learn and understand his approach to the design process.

Dan was generous to me in that he was willing to fully share his thoughts whenever we met together at the site. The meticulously accurate drawings that came from his office sprung to life when he would wave his arms in explanation of the intent and the detail. Through working together and through studying some of his immense body of work, I came to understand a morsel of the meaning behind his work and thought process.

Dan’s genius was spatial. He could size up a site and its features and in his mind change the dimensions, the focus, and the relation to other spaces. Once mentally designed, the space was as real to him as if it had already been built. Dan Kiley by Charlie Proutt He drove some employees (as well as some landscapers) crazy with his neverending revisions. He would see or feel a change in relationships before his first idea was even drafted, and continue visualizing changes well past a project’s completion.

The definition of space was Dan’s main objective and he let nothing get in his way. On the job we worked on, the space he was creating demanded raising the grade as much as seven feet. Unfortunately, this meant burying a magnificent mature white pine – the kind that has been around so long you’re almost sure they’re hollow inside. Never one to compromise design for practicality, Dan designed a detail of how to bury that tree and still insure water and nutrients would continue to feed and nourish the roots and keep the bark from rotting at the same time. Years later that pine hasn’t missed a beat!

Early in Dan’s career, he spent several years in the office of Warren Manning, at the time one of the premier plantsmen in the United States. He acquired a thorough knowledge of plants and the processes involved with their growing, transplanting, and re-establishment. I found him respectful of both the capabilities and the limitations of the nursery industry and always enjoyed our encounters at Horsfords.

Dan’s influence in the world of design was immense. Scores of landscape architects learned their craft at his drafting tables. Countless others like myself were deeply affected through personal contact. Thousands more know him through courses of study in design and landscape architecture. And literally millions know him through experiencing the landscapes he has designed. Dan Kiley enriches us all for having practiced his art.

In 1999, Dan Kiley, The Complete Works of America’s Landscape Architect by Dan Kiley and Jane Amidon was published. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in landscape architecture or curious to learn more about Vermont’s most accomplished landscape architect.