Julie Bargmann, D.I.R.T. Studio, Charlottesville, Virginia

D.I.R.T. Studio, an acronym for various possible expressions such as “Dump It Right There,” is a critical design practice focused on the regeneration and research of the working urban and postindustrial landscape. Since 1992, Bargmann has joined teams of architects, engineers, scientists, artists, and historians, along with corporate clients and local communities, to find the beauty in derelict sites. “We feel obligated–better yet, inspired–to remake vast trashed sites into renewed landscapes of ecological and cultural production,” she says. “We’re not talking about cleanup or makeup jobs. We mean truly regenerative sites–buildings and landscapes–producing all the stuff we need along with clean air, clean water, and clean dirt.” With a background in sculpture, she evokes the late artist Robert Smithson to describe her connection to the unprivileged landscapes of derelict mines, toxic-waste dumps, landfills, and other so-called brownfield sites. Bargmann is the recipient of a 2001 National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. She teaches at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and taught at the University of Minnesota from 1992-1995. She was recently featured in the New York Times Magazine with an alternative landscape proposal for the World Trade Center site.