Richard Haag

Richard Haag (October 23, 1923 – May 9, 2018) was an American landscape architect who was known for his role in Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington and on the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.

[1] Richard Haag's modernist and minimalist ideals also set the tone for Northwestern landscape design.

Upon the City of Seattle's purchase of the land in 1970, Haag was the lone person who was asked to develop a park design for the site.

[9] While convincing city government to accept this radical plan was challenging, Haag's development of a design which integrated bioremediation methods in order to detoxify the soil without transporting and replacing it amplified the issue.

Through this, Haag took the environmentalist ideal to another level and acknowledged the potential aesthetics of industrial structures without causing harm to the environment.

Haag received his second ASLA award for his design titled "Sequence of Gardens" at Bloedel Reserved located on Bainbridge Island.

[9][12] Haag split the land into four main garden quadrants where each 'room' had a specific theme while maintaining their unique qualities that fluidly connected these spaces together.

Richard Haag standing in a garden (details unknown)
Landscaping at Merrill Court
Haag leading a tour of the "forbidden zone" of Gas Works Park, 2007.
A willow at Bloedel Reserve
Former Battelle campus in Seattle.