2020

Perspectives: Abdias Dalisma

Tommie-Lynne — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 20:02:01 +0000

Perspectives: Abdias Dalisma

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December 17, 2020

Abdias Dalisma is a rising professional currently working in South Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Florida and worked in landscape design for 5 years before starting his own business. He is a strong believer in the power of mentorship, most recently advocating for these values on a panel discussion at the 2020 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture. He challenges emerging professionals to look for opportunities in unlikely places.

What drew you to landscape architecture?

During an architectural design class my senior year of high school, landscape architects were invited as part of a mentorship program. They presented landscape architecture in the form of planning design, so we observed landscape architecture from a "big picture" perspective. The site planning aspect really intrigued me. I loved the idea of influencing the location of buildings within the surrounding landscape as opposed to just designing them. In college I studied architecture at my local community college, where I was able to save money and refine my skills. Those courses also helped me develop a thick skin during critiques! I later transferred to the University of Florida to study landscape architecture. Growing from a wide-eyed teenager into a landscape design professional where my skills can be expressed in a multitude of ways is amazing. I am grateful that I was drawn to this profession.

What is driving you professionally right now?

Opportunity. I formerly worked as a landscape designer at Landscape Architect Consultants in Plantation, FL. After 5 years of a wonderful experience working alongside Tom Laubenthal, who became a true mentor of mine, I was laid off due to business slowdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Something as devastating as losing one’s job can be terrifying, but I saw this as an opportunity to start my own business – and I did! I’m now working as Landscape Design Plus where I focus on project management, residential conceptual design, tree inventory and identification, and arborist reports. This transition is still new to me, and has been both exciting and challenging so far. I have a passion for the landscape architectural design industry, and I believe the knowledge and skills that I have acquired from my mentors and colleagues will bring me great success.

What are the challenges that landscape architecture is allowing you to address right now?

One of the challenges is to bring awareness to the profession and its versatility. Unlike architects and engineers, landscape architects have not gotten the notoriety and recognition they deserve. Landscape architecture can be a very fluid profession that brings in skills from other disciplines. Our work might look like architecture when we’re designing small pavilion structures, or like engineering when designing beams. It requires you to think at different scales – from a master plan to site details – and understand ecologies to determine the right plant for the right location. Not to mention additional specializations, like being an expert on irrigation design or historical preservation. These dynamics within landscape architecture bring forth many opportunities for emerging professionals. Developing and honing this versatility and effectively conveying it to others is a key challenge for us future leaders in the profession.

What challenge would you give emerging leaders?

Never stop learning. A leader benefits from trying new things and contributing to the progress of your community. Over the past few years I've gained a greater understanding of how to foster community health, safety, and welfare through participation in local community development projects and engagement with youth at my church. The broad, systemic issues that challenge my community and many others require a multi-disciplinary plan of action. Understanding the versatility of this profession and how it integrates and overlaps with others is key to emerging as leaders and change-makers. You do not have to be an expert at everything, but know enough to hone your expertise. I would encourage emerging leaders to never stop learning about your profession and how it affects and relates to the people you serve.

Where do you think the profession needs to go from here?

To Mars. I'm joking...or am I? But really, the profession needs to go where technology goes. Pay attention to the advancements of technology. Social media has played a tremendous role in the way society interacts and consumes information, which provides landscape architects with opportunities to engage people in unique ways. Live video feeds can be used to host Q&A sessions, virtual reality sites can simulate the progression and interaction of landscape design, and shared ideas can be expressed in interactive design charrettes via video chats. Landscape architects should be mindful of the latest innovations in technologies for the built and social environment, so that landscape architecture can grow as an industry. And who knows – within 100 years, Mars could possibly be the next landscape architectural playground.

LAF's Perspectives interview series showcases landscape architects from diverse backgrounds discussing how they came to the profession and where they see it heading. Any opinions expressed in this interview belong solely to the author. Their inclusion in this article does not reflect endorsement by LAF.

2021 CSI Teams and Projects Announced

heather — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:05:49 +0000

2021 CSI Teams and Projects Announced

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Ten faculty Research Fellows and ten high-performing landscape projects have been selected for LAF’s 2021 Case Study Investigation program.

Case Study Investigation (CSI) is a unique research collaboration and training program for faculty, students, and practitioners. LAF-funded faculty-student research teams work with designers to document the impacts of exemplary, high-performing landscape projects. Teams develop methods to quantify the environmental, social, and economic benefits of built projects and produce Case Study Briefs for LAF’s Landscape Performance Series.

Faculty Research Fellows lead the CSI collaboration and receive funding to support a student Research Assistant. The academic teams work with liaisons from design firms to evaluate and document each project. LAF provides training, supporting materials, and feedback throughout the process.

The selected projects cover a wide range of project types and geographies with several that explicitly address climate adaptation and diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. These include a New Zealand residential community designed by and for indigenous users, a climate resilient New York City tech campus, a fully accessible trail on the University of Toronto campus, and a linear park developed in partnership with an underserved Los Angeles community. Other selected projects are a University of Miami mixed-use student housing complex with 25 green roofs, a unique rooftop park atop a multi-modal transit center in San Francisco, a New Orleans greenway, an art-filled conservancy and agricultural restoration project in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a cutting-edge landfill rehabilitation project in Montreal, and a riverfront park and greenway in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

The 2021 CSI program kicks off in February and runs through early August. We look forward to working with the teams to document these outstanding projects and their impacts!

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
+ SWA Group
CSI Research Fellow: Claire Latané, ASLA, SITES AP
Student Research Assistants: Jose Guadalupe Gutierrez and Jose Reynoso
Project: Ricardo Lara Linear Park, Lynwood, CA

Cornell University
+ James Corner Field Operations
CSI Research Fellow: Jennifer Birkeland, PLA, LEED AP, FAAR
Student Research Assistants: Kevin Kim and Jeanette Petti
Project: Cornell Tech Campus, New York, NY

Cornell University
+ Lemay Architects
CSI Research Fellow: Jamie Vanucchi
Student Research Assistant: Jihany Hassun
Project: Frédéric-Back Park at Saint-Michel Environmental Complex, Montreal, QC

Florida International University
+ ArqGEO
CSI Research Fellow: TJ Marston, ASLA
Student Research Assistant: Lucia Bayley
Project: University of Miami Lakeside Village, Coral Gables, FL

Lincoln University New Zealand
+ Earthwork Landscape Architects (SI) Ltd
CSI Research Fellow: Jacky Bowring, PhD, FNZILA
Student Research Assistant: Guanyu Chen
Project: Te Whariki Subdivision Stage 1 & 2, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand

Louisiana State University
+ Design Workshop
CSI Research Fellow: Nicholas Serrano
Student Research Assistant: Sasha Mathieu
Project: Lafitte Greenway, New Orleans, LA

The Ohio State University
+ MKSK
CSI Research Fellow: Halina Steiner
Student Research Assistant: Sarah Sanders
Project: Scioto Mile and Greenways, Columbus, OH

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
+ Martha Schwartz Partners
CSI Research Fellow: Vincent Javet
Student Research Assistant: Christopher Ingui
Project: Winslow Farms Conservancy, Hammonton, NJ

University of California, Davis
+ PWP Landscape Architecture
CSI Research Fellow: A. Haven Kiers
Student Research Assistant: Elyse Mack
Project: Salesforce Transit Center Park, San Francisco, CA

University of Toronto
+ Schollen & Company Inc
CSI Research Fellow: Jenny Hill, PhD, OALA, SITES AP
Student Research Assistant: Kanwal Aftab
Project: University of Toronto Scarborough Valley Land Trail, Toronto, ON

Perspectives: Ujijji Davis

Tommie-Lynne — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 17:38:21 +0000

Perspectives: Ujijji Davis

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November 24, 2020

Brooklyn native Ujijji Davis is currently based in Detroit as an Associate at SmithGroup. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. She is also an educator and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Detroit Mercy. She is increasingly leveraging her skillset and influence to foster inclusive, community-activated public spaces.

What drew you to landscape architecture?

I started my undergraduate studies in urban planning. A critical piece of our studies was about parks and urban spaces. So many sociologists, historians, and planners cite parks as the heart of urban life and I wondered to myself, “Who is creating these spaces?” That’s how I learned about landscape architecture and what it could do – create dynamic urban spaces for the people that live, work, and play in the places in between. I am originally from New York City, and I was amazed by the idea that my daily experience was something that people studied and scrutinized – and made decisions about. I wanted to help shape those daily experiences, especially for communities of color that often do not have access to great urban spaces. As a young black girl walking through the city, I knew which places and spaces felt welcoming, and which did not. I wanted to help craft places that offered a sense of belonging (and relief) that could be beloved by everyone

What is driving you professionally right now?

I am becoming more interested in the implications racism has on climate policy and climate response. I think landscape architecture can be a real leader in the climate change conversation, and racism, land policy, and action are tied to that. There’s no real way to initiate change if we don’t confront why lands were degraded to begin with, why other lands were stolen, and why the response to reconcile those offenses has taken so long. I am interested in answering those questions and helping to charge a new generation of landscape architects to consider it as well.

What challenges is landscape architecture allowing you to address right now?

I have been working with several community groups around basic land acquisition for community-activated spaces. My training as a landscape architect (and skillset of reading building code) has allowed me to help facilitate the transition of public land ownership to community land ownership in Detroit. There is a lot of red tape and limitations on releasing public lands to small, under-resourced groups, but I have been able to help many block clubs and informal organizations acquire parcels to activate with what they believe will best serve their communities. I believe it is important to be an advocate, and this is one way I can help.

What challenge would you give emerging leaders?

Be the person you needed when you were growing up. It’s not professional advice but it can help.

Where do you think the profession needs to go from here?

Climate change! We need to address climate change at every scale: physically through design intervention and politically through policy and reform. We will soon be out of business if we don’t put this at the forefront of our work.

2020: A Year of Adaptation and Resilience

Tommie-Lynne — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:00:00 +0000

2020: A Year of Adaptation and Resilience

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As this unprecedented year comes to an end, LAF would like to thank our many friends, partners, and donors for their commitment and willingness to explore and support new ways of delivering on our mission.

It goes without saying that 2020 was not the year anyone imagined it would be. The COVID-19 pandemic required creative and flexible adjustments, but LAF’s programs continued uninterrupted. Through our signature programs we:

Awarded $167,000 to students through our scholarships and LAF Olmsted Scholars Program.
Supported the big ideas that will shape the future of the discipline with $110,000 awarded through the LAF Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership to the fourth cohort for the 2020-2021 fellowship year.
Invested $45,000 in landscape performance research to support eight faculty-student research teams in producing case studies of high-performing landscape projects.
Recognized the visionary Bill Johnson, Co-founder of JJR and the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition (SUFC) with the 2020 LAF Medal and Founders' Award.

Beyond our core programs, LAF rose to the moment with a number of new initiatives. To support the discipline in the first months of the pandemic, LAF hosted two candid conversations on how design firms were adapting and a “Tales from a Recession Grad” series on Instagram Live aimed at students. We also offered other webinars and shifted all of our in-person events to online, making participation more accessible than ever before.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Heightened awareness and activism surrounding racial injustices in the US reinforced the need to continue and expand LAF’s efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in landscape architecture. Our Perspectives interview series and impact stories shine a light on practitioners of all different backgrounds while providing a platform to share how unique experiences and tailored approaches enrich the discipline as a whole. Thanks to increases in the number and amount of scholarships for underrepresented groups, LAF’s 2021 scholarship offerings include at least $25,000 specifically for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) landscape architecture students.

Green New Deal Superstudio

As part of our continued efforts to build capacity and empower landscape architects to take action, LAF and partners launched the Green New Deal Superstudio, an open call for designers to translate Green New Deal principles—decarbonization, justice, and jobs—into design and planning projects for their respective regions. In the fall semester, 96 university courses participated, as well as dozens of groups and individuals. The Superstudio runs through June 2021. The work produced will inform a forthcoming summit and be cataloged to form a national vision and regional concepts that can support policymakers and advocates.

Superstudio participants from Washington University in St. Louis used mapping to explore and communicate regional issues. (Image provided by Professor Linda C. Samuels. Student credits from left to right: Yu Tang, Dylan Sabisch and Catherine Hunley, Jennifer Wang and Bruce Zhao.)

Research

LAF’s commitment to research held strong as we awarded the first $25,000 LAF Research Grant in Honor of Deb Mitchell. The winning proposal, “Greenscapes to Brownscapes: A Study on Impacts to Contaminant Levels in Landscapes Adjacent to Highways,” will add to the limited existing research on deposition in urban parks and augment the resources available to designers. Additionally, we celebrated 10 years of LAF’s Landscape Performance Series. The award-winning online portal has received 1.7 million pageviews and attracts over 40,000 users annually.

Broadening the Definition of Design

In June, LAF hosted our first virtual Symposium for Innovation + Leadership, which attracted over 1,000 registrants. The symposium featured the 2019-2020 LAF Fellows presenting their work on design activism, reimagining resiliency projects, indigenous knowledge leading design interventions, landscape as foundation for revolution and resistance, and more.

Your Support Makes It Possible

Generous support from donors allows LAF to inspire, grow, strengthen, and embolden the discipline of landscape architecture. To sustain our innovative and influential programs and support our timely initiatives, please consider investing in the Landscape Architecture Foundation in your year-end giving. Together we can expand our impact and make our collective aspirations for change a reality. Give online today or learn more about the many ways to support LAF.

LAF is a tax-exempt organization under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Your charitable contribution is deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

LAF at the Virtual 2020 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture

Tommie-Lynne — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 17:00:00 +0000

LAF at the Virtual 2020 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture

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Like nearly every event that took place this year, the 2020 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Conference on Landscape Architecture looked a little different than it has in the past. Though the LAF Annual Benefit (and other events usually held in conjunction with the conference) took place virtually last month, we still hosted an EXPO booth, held a Green New Deal Superstudio Meetup, tuned in for sessions, attended partner happy hours, and reflected on all of the thought-provoking content. It was great to see so many of you in the virtual space!

We were energized to see many of our program participants speaking at the conference. It is wonderful to see the people that LAF has invested in carrying their ideas forward. Past and present LAF Fellows, Olmsted Scholars, and scholarship winners contributed their expertise to conversations intended to spark dialogue and inspire bold ideas about the future of landscape architecture over the 3-day conference. Check out their sessions and keep an eye on these world changers!

If you were unable to attend the live conference, made tough calls between conflicting discussions, or simply wish to revisit a favorite, ASLA will make the recordings available to all conference registrants from November 23, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Take Action! Three Stories on Mentorship, Representation, and Leadership
Three presenters with diverse backgrounds come together for a discussion on how landscape architects can mentor through leadership and youth engagement to promote inclusivity and diversity within our profession. Featuring:

2017-2018 LAF Fellow Nicole Plunkett
2015 Olmsted Scholar Kendra Hyson
2015 LAF scholarship winner Abdias Dalisma

The “Not So Inconvenient” Truth of Carbon and Landscape Architecture
With the global imperative for carbon emission reductions and sequestration, landscape architects can play a critical role in maximizing their capacity to realistically mitigate climate change. This session reviews the carbon conundrum from our profession’s perspective and provides context, tools, and strategies toward achieving climate-positive design. Featuring:

2018-2019 LAF Fellow Pamela Conrad

DeafSpace, DeafScape, and Beyond: Universal Design in Landscape Architecture
Although disabled people make up the largest global minority, they spend their lives adapting to the built environment, which limits human experience, inclusion, and participation in the public realm. DeafScape explores ways to design with the Deaf community, and beyond, through Universal Design. Featuring:

2020-2021 LAF Fellow Alexa Vaughn

Fill for Habitat? Design Processes for an Adapting Regulatory Environment
Climate change and habitat loss are triggering shifts in the regulation of coastal water bodies. Take a look “behind the renderings” to see how regulation impacts designs across the East and West coasts and hear from a bay front regulator on policy changes that enable fill for habitat projects. Featuring:

2018-2019 LAF Fellow Sanjukta Sen
2008 National Olmsted Scholar Andrea Gaffney

Landscape Heritage: Revealing Invisible Landscapes
The study and amplification of cultural landscapes offer practitioners and students new opportunities to understand the impact of uncovering historic landscapes and landscape strategies to reflect multicultural stories and histories that promote more inclusive and creative placemaking. Featuring:

2019 LAF scholarship winner Whitney Barr
2019 National Olmsted Scholar Anjelyque Easley

LAF Fellows Andrew Sergeant and Diana Fernandez were among the panelists on the Expression of Hope panel that opened the third day of the virtual conference.

Day 3 General Session: An Expression of Hope
Through an opening session on the last day of the program, practitioners share a collective acknowledgement of what it is like to navigate the profession as people of color and their expressions of hope for change and growth in the profession. Featuring:

2018-2019 LAF Fellow and 2016 Olmsted Scholar Andrew Sargeant
2019-2020 LAF Fellow Diana Fernandez

Spiriting Impactful Practice: Research, Teaching, and Service Relevant to Black Culture
These socially conscious landscape practitioners expand the utility of the profession to impact some of the most vulnerable communities in the USA and abroad. They share experiences of success to forge collective transformations in communities they serve. Featuring:

2016 National Olmsted Scholar Azzurra Cox

Design Activism: Uplifting Black and Immigrant Leadership in American Public Space Design
The panel discusses their work within Black & immigrant communities in the US and shares how collaborative design can help celebrate the outstanding historical and cultural contributions of these communities. Featuring:

2019-2020 LAF Fellow Jeff Hou

Making a Difference: Transforming Professional Practices for Proactive Change
Climate resilience and social justice have become issues central to the landscape architecture profession. However, opportunities to pursue careers outside mainstream practices to address these issues remained limited. This session provides insights from award-winning professionals who have pursued alternative careers, as well as opportunities within the current model of practice. Featuring:

2017-2018 LAF Fellow Brice Maryman
2013 National Olmsted Scholar Leann Andrews

LAF Fellowship Spotlight: Toward Universal Design

Tommie-Lynne — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 19:27:14 +0000

LAF Fellowship Spotlight: Toward Universal Design

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Alexa leading an Inclusion and Access series at OLIN in the summer of 2019. (Image credit: You Wu / OLIN.)

Members of the 2020-2021 cohort of the LAF Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership have been exploring big ideas and refining their proposed projects. The Fellows will present the culmination of their work at LAF’s Innovation + Leadership Symposium in the summer of 2021. In the meantime, LAF is profiling each Fellow to share more about their progress and personal journeys.

Passed into legislation in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures numerous protections to people with disabilities, including access to the built environment, and the accompanying ADA Standards for Accessible Design sets minimum requirements to that effect. While the standards make ample mention of wheelchair design protocol, LAF Fellow Alexa Vaughn knows firsthand that they neglect the range of reasonable accommodations that a broad community of 1 billion disabled persons globally requires for their use of public space. For instance, there is little to no mention of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) community, nor the Autistic and Neurodivergent communities.

Over her fellowship year, Alexa sets out to shift the common design approach from one that simply complies with the ADA Standards to one that regards them as a bare minimum and creatively expands the possibilities of inclusive design for and with the disabled community. As she develops a suite of disability-specific, mini toolkits to be housed on a forthcoming website, Alexa envisions a public realm in which inclusive design is a natural consideration and prevalent reality. “I truly believe it’s a civil right, not a privilege, for disabled people to be able to freely use public space.”

A Landscape Designer at OLIN and Deaf woman, Alexa brings prior know-how to this endeavor. In 2018, she authored DeafScape, a series of design concepts that apply Gallaudet University’s DeafSpace principles to the public landscape with a mind towards accommodating Deaf and HoH people. Now, she seeks to broaden her arsenal of design solutions through collaboration with disabled stakeholders and experts representative of various disabilities.

“Lack of space and lack of options to move through space can be debilitating for disabled people. We are constantly adapting ourselves to the built environment (which wasn’t built with us in mind), and it can be anxiety-provoking, physically and sensorially demanding, and even traumatic for disabled people to use certain public spaces that exclude them or disregard their needs.” One of the most egregious disservices, in her view, is the preponderance of narrow sidewalks and walkways. Without proper space for two people to walk side-by-side comfortably (that’s at least 10ft wide in busy areas) Deaf and HoH people will experience difficulty communicating since they need to look at one another to sign, lip-read, and/or rely on other visual cues.

Wheelchair users may also encounter obstacles, especially if in the company of other wheelchair users. “We often assume only one disabled person will use a public path at a given time – we need to stop assuming this!” With her toolkits, Alexa hopes to express how Universal Design principles can empower designers to think of ADA Standards as a starting point, not a limitation.

Beyond the physical ramifications of her work, there is a powerful social dimension of Alexa’s fellowship project that is, at once, general and deeply-personal. In broadening the scope of available resources on inclusive design, Alexa is challenging the dominant medical model-thinking, which positions disabled people as needing to be “fixed” or cured, to the social model, which views the built environment as the factor in need of fixing. The social model embraces the idea that having a disability is just another component of identity, rather than something which needs to be rectified to the abled norm. Alexa has been working to strengthen her identity as a Deaf woman, which she hopes will “encourage other folks in design (and in general) to claim their disabled identity if they are struggling to do so... and to be proud of who they are. We all have profound contributions to make to society.

Alexa seeks to accomplish a lot in one year, and her goals extend long beyond the LAF Fellowship. She realizes that as Universal Design becomes more mainstream, it will undergo several iterations before it can address the complete spectrum of accommodations disabled people need. New design elements will need to be tested and informed by qualitative analysis driven by disabled people. And ensuring that these elements become truly ubiquitous may require leveraging additional legal instruments or normative enforcement from professional associations.

For now, Alexa appreciates the opportunity to steer this movement and is dedicating her energy to utilizing the resources at her disposal through the LAF Fellowship, which she sees as the foundation for the next decade of her research. “Starting something this big is never easy. LAF has reminded me that by starting, I am taking a step in the right direction, that my actions and knowledge can have a profound effect on the profession, and even if I am unable to do all the things I want to do in just one year, that I have the power and the budding leadership skills to continue this work throughout my life.”

UPDATE: You can watch Alexa's presentation from the 2021 LAF Innovation + Leadership Symposium here.

Final Reviews for Green New Deal Superstudio Fall Studios

Tommie-Lynne — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 18:52:15 +0000

Final Reviews for Green New Deal Superstudio Fall Studios

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As the fall semester winds down, studios are conducting their final reviews and many would like to invite all interested to attend virtually and/or serve as reviewers.

This past summer, the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) in association with the Weitzman School of Design McHarg Center, the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) invited designers to be part of the Green New Deal Superstudio, an open call for design responses to inform and advance these policy ideas. In the academic realm, 96 university and college design studios are participating in the Superstudio this fall. Across the US and beyond, approximately 1,500 students are translating the core goals of the Green New Deal—decarbonization, justice, and jobs—into design and planning projects for their respective regions.

The scope and breadth of these efforts reflect the all-encompassing character of the Green New Deal itself, and are a testament to the diverse thinking and solutions that the design disciplines are poised to deliver:

A studio at the University of Arkansas is exploring and planning for resilient low-carbon food systems and technologies in the Fayetteville region to ameliorate environmental injustice.
At the University of Michigan, students are applying Green New Deal principles to the built environment to envision what four Rustbelt cities could look like in 2050.
Students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Architecture are investigating hydrological risk and adaptation in the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.
A studio at Pratt Institute is working with a consortium of local organizations and experts to examine socio-ecological systems in the Jamaica Bay region of New York City with the goal of formulating radical forms of re-investment.

If you’ve been wanting to get involved with the Superstudio, here is your chance.

As the fall semester winds down, studios are conducting their final reviews and many would like to invite all interested to attend virtually and/or serve as reviewers. Reviews take place from mid-November through the end of the year, and there are a wide variety of topics and geographies.

Whether it’s developing a master plan for Miami watersheds, revitalizing economically-marginalized neighborhoods in Pittsburg, generating solar energy in Berkeley, or some other aspect of the Green New Deal principles relevant to your locale or interests, there are plenty of opportunities to check out and inform projects that tackle the range of pressing challenges we face in the 21st century

Browse the studio catalogue to learn more about the variety of projects taking place, then sign up to receive information and connect with the studios that most interest you.

Welcome 2020-2021 Board of Directors!

Tommie-Lynne — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 16:42:55 +0000

Welcome 2020-2021 Board of Directors!

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The 2020-2021 LAF Board of Directors began its term on September 29, 2020 at the virtual LAF Annual Board Meeting. Monte Wilson of Jacobs became President, succeeding now Past-President Lisa Switkin of James Corner Field Operations whose leadership helped the foundation navigate the changes, uncertainty, and opportunities of these exceptional times. Kofi Boone, ASLA, becomes President-Elect following two years of service as Vice President of Education.

Roberto Rovira moved from Vice President of Research to become the Vice President of Leadership, succeeding Brian Jencek in this role. Director Michael Johnson became the Vice President of Research, Director Diane Jones Allen became the Vice President of Education, and three other officers continue in their positions on the executive leadership team.

Vice President of Research: Michael Johnson, ASLA, Smithgroup
Vice President of Education: Diane Jones Allen, PhD, FASLA, University of Texas at Arlington, DesignJones
Vice President of Leadership: Roberto Rovira, ASLA Florida International University, Studio Roberto Rovira
Vice President of Communications: Rebecca Bradley, ASLA, Cadence
Vice President of Finance: Po-Sun Chen, Brightview Landscapes
Vice President of Development: Daniel Martin, Hon. ASLA, Permaloc Corporation

Stephanie Rolley, FASLA, AICP of Kansas State University, Skip Graffam, FASLA, of OLIN, Stephanie Grigsby of Design Workshop, Richard Heriford of Landscape Forms, Deborah Marton of New York Restoration Project, and Andrew Zientek of A\Z Landscape Architecture retired off at the end of their terms, which included a three-year extension for Stephanie Rolley and a two-year extension for Richard.

Nine new Directors joined the LAF Board, bringing experience and insights from a variety of landscape architecture practices. Breeze Outlaw, a 2016 Olmsted Scholar, and Chris Torres, a 2012 Olmsted Scholar, were selected for the open Director positions for Olmsted Scholars. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) soon-to-be Immediate Past President Wendy Miller, FASLA, and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Vice President of Research and Creative Scholarship Taner Özdil, PhD, serve on the LAF Board of Directors in an ex-officio capacity. Welcome to the new board members:

Keith Bowers, FASLA, RLA, PWS Biohabitats
Alexa Bush, City of Detroit Planning Department
Keiko Tsuruta Cramer, ASLA, WRT
Emily McCoy, ASLA, Design Workshop
Alpa Nawre, Critical Places | University of Florida
Breeze Outlaw, ASLA, Sasaki
Richard Roark, ASLA, OLIN
Margie Simmons, Landscape Forms
Chris Torres, Superjacent

These changes bring the total number of board members up to 34. LAF is honored to have such an accomplished, passionate, and engaged board of directors! We look forward to working together to advance our many programs and initiatives that increase the influence and impact of landscape architects to create a more sustainable, just, and resilient future. Thanks to all for your commitment and service.

10 Years of LAF's Landscape Performance Series

heather — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 10:17:02 +0000

10 Years of LAF's Landscape Performance Series

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In September 2010, the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) launched its Landscape Performance Series as a new long-term strategic research initiative. This online portal and set of initiatives was developed to build capacity to achieve sustainability and transform the way landscape is considered in the design and development process.

Landscape performance can be defined as a measure of the effectiveness with which landscape solutions fulfill their intended purpose and contribute to sustainability. It involves assessment of progress toward environmental, social, and economic goals based on measurable outcomes. By focusing on research and metrics that are understandable and accessible to a wide array of decision-makers, landscape performance helps to bridge the knowledge gap in the design, development, and policy realms about the importance of landscape solutions. The evidence-based benefits demonstrate return on investment and allow advocates to better make their case. In addition, understanding the performance of built landscapes leads to more effective management, incremental improvements, and better future designs.

Although forms of landscape performance research and evaluation have existed for decades in various disciplines and under different names, LAF has made landscape performance a well-known term, brought it to scale, catalyzed a discipline-wide dialogue, and ultimately cemented the status of landscape performance as a key aspect of landscape architectural research, education, and practice.

The resources on LAF’s LandscapePerformance.org website have increased substantially over the years and now include more than 160 performance case studies, 170 fast facts from published research, LAF’s guidebook to landscape performance metrics and methods, example materials for educators to integrate landscape performance into their courses, and more. The website received the American Society of Landscape Architect’s 2015 Award of Excellence in Communications.

In ten years, landscape performance has had a major impact on the discipline of landscape architecture and beyond.

“LAF's leadership in landscape performance studies have set a foundation for understanding the implications of design on a site.”

“By serving as a convener of academics, practitioners and other industry thought leaders, LAF has developed landscape performance methods and best practices and advanced the profession’s capacity for rigorous research…arming landscape architects with language to articulate the benefits delivered by designed landscapes and the methods to make the case for investment in landscape architecture has augmented the stature of the profession as a whole.”

“The Landscape Performance Series is one of the most significant academic and professional collaborative endeavors in our field in recent decades."

Awareness and use of landscape performance information and evaluation has increased from a near-zero baseline.

In 10 years, LandscapePerformance.org has received a total of 1.7 million pageviews and attracts 50,000 users annually.

Over 12,000 people have attended LAF presentations on landscape performance. This includes over 70 conference presentations, presentations for at least 80 firms and organizations, and at least 50 presentations to universities and classes throughout the U.S. and internationally.

In a 2020 survey, of the 34 practitioners who responded to questions about their integration of landscape performance evaluation and reporting, 88% communicate a project’s value in terms of benefits, 85% estimate benefits of design options, 79% collect baseline data, 79% set quantifiable performance objectives, and 61% conduct post-occupancy evaluation.

User surveys indicate that while landscape architects are the primary audience, professionals from related disciplines like planning and architecture, as well as developers, site managers, and government employees, also use the LandscapePerformance.org resources.

Landscape performance is leading to better, higher-performing landscape solutions.

Of the 34 practitioners who responded to a 2020 survey, 62% report designing better-performing spaces thanks to landscape performance data and monitoring.

62% use information on LandscapePerformance.org to advocate for a landscape approach to other members of a project team, effectively combatting the perception that the landscape is an “extra” that can be value-engineered out of a project with no impact.

LAF has trained hundreds in landscape performance evaluation.

In its first 10 years, LAF’s Case Study Investigation (CSI) signature research collaboration and training program has had 84 faculty, 94 students, and 89 design firms participate.

More than 500 individuals have received intensive training in landscape performance evaluation through CSI and LAF’s half-day landscape performance workshops.

Evaluating Landscape Performance: A Guidebook for Metrics and Methods Selection has been downloaded over 1,500 times.

Landscape performance has been widely integrated in landscape architecture education.

In 2016, the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) included landscape performance as one of the “Assessment and Evaluation” topics to be covered in the Professional Curriculum section of the revised 2016 LAAB Accreditation Standards.

Of the 72 universities with LAAB-accredited programs, 88% of have directly engaged with LAF on landscape performance through program participation and/or classroom presentations.

Landscape performance has become a focus of landscape architecture research.

In 2013, the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) added a “Landscape Performance Track” to the content area categories at its annual conference.

Numerous journal articles and books have been published on landscape performance.

The LAF case studies and guidebook are frequently cited in journal articles, books, and research papers. Their Digital Object Identifier (DOI) links are clicked more than 5,000 times per year.

In these first 10 years, landscape performance has emerged as a vital way to represent and articulate the value of excellent design and to provide reliable and valid evidence to support design decisions. It also supports and aligns with burgeoning built environment practices, including adaptive management, site commissioning, and performance verification as a pathway for regulatory and rating system compliance.

Landscape performance is clearly helping to strengthen the landscape architecture profession, and we look forward to continuing this work for many more years and tackling new frontiers. Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us over the years!

LAF 35th Annual Benefit: An Out of the Ordinary Evening

heather — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 14:34:21 +0000

LAF 35th Annual Benefit: An Out of the Ordinary Evening

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Thank you to all who participated in our first virtual Annual Benefit and online auction. Together, we raised $230,000 to support LAF's research, scholarships, and leadership initiatives!

On October 15, LAF hosted a playful virtual re-imagining of our Annual Benefit with Miami vibes and a variety of experiences, surprises, and glimpses into the worlds of friends and colleagues. From spoken word and house plant show-and-tell to drawing games and film review, the 20+ hosted rooms hosted by leaders in landscape architecture offered something for everyone.

Running for a week following the Annual Benefit, the LAF Online Auction featured 40 items donated by LAF friends and supporters, including virtual tours of notable landscape projects, vacation home getaways, wine-tastings, designer furniture, book sneak peeks and more. Congratulations to the winners, including those who took advantage of the "Early Professionals Tier."

Special Thanks to our room hosts and auction donors!

In addition to supporting LAF, we know that our Annual Benefit attendees come to network and catch up with friends and colleagues, so we used an innovative platform to create virtual "rooms" to bounce to and from. Our 29 room hosts used their creativity to devise novel ways to share and connect during these unusual times.

For the auction, 25 LAF friends and supporters contributed 40 items and one-of-a-kind experiences. The eclectic mix of prizes encouraged relaxation and appreciation of all things landscape architecture.

Photo: Cadence hosted a room with discussion and live performances by Miami-based spoken word artist Arsimmer McCoy and Danyealah Green Lemons.

Thank you to our Annual Benefit sponsors!

The support of our sponsors ensures that all proceeds from ticket sales go directly toward LAF research, scholarships, and leadership initiatives.

LAF 35th Annual Benefit Sponsors

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Interested in sponsorship?

For information on becoming a sponsor of the LAF Annual Benefit, contact Christina Sanders at csanders [at] lafoundation.org (csanders[at]lafoundation[dot]org).