Historic Preservation Highlights in Denver

Denver's Civic Center image: © Scott Dressel-Martin — Denver’s Civic Center
image: © Scott Dressel-Martin

Let’s connect in Denver!

‘Resilience,’ the theme of the 2014 ASLA Annual Meeting, is particularly relevant to our PPN’s collective work in cultural resources and historic preservation. This meeting is a great opportunity to join colleagues and friends in the great ‘Queen City of the Plains’ for discussions, outings, and exploration of the most current issues and ideas in our design and planning for historic places.

Five field sessions offer opportunities to explore Denver’s history, from urban neighborhoods to CCC landscapes of the Denver Mountain Parks to works by Garrett Eckbo and Lawrence Halprin. Eight+ education sessions explore topics as diverse as social and cultural influences in design and planning to how-to’s for working with historic designed landscapes.

The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) booth will be located in ASLA Central on the EXPO floor, along with Meet the Editors—Martha McDonald, editor of Traditional Building magazine, is participating—and TCLF will launch the new What’s Out There Guide to Denver.

Special Events

PPN Networking Reception
Friday, November 21, 5:15-7:15 PM
Meet colleagues, connect with old friends, and make new acquaintances at all these great events. Let’s get the word out—historic landscapes and cultural resources are current and fundamental to landscape architecture and ASLA.

TCLF What’s Out There Denver Launch Reception
Friday, November 21, 4:30-6:00 PM
Join TCLF at the Denver Botanic Gardens to launch the new WOT guide and enjoy the Chihuly art exhibit as a bonus!

HP PPN Meeting
Saturday, November 22, 4:15-5:45 PM
Let’s discuss our Resilience as a PPN, and what the future holds. Let’s explore promoting the integral role of cultural landscapes within our own profession, discuss relationships with like-minded entities, and share ideas for Online Learning webinars and postings for The Field. Bring recent success stories to share!

HALS Meeting
Saturday, November 22, 6:00-7:00 PM
Join colleagues, HALS chapter liaisons, and the HALS Subcommittee of the HP PPN to hear the results of the 2014 HALS Challenge: Documenting Landscapes of the New Deal, ideas for the HALS Liaisons Network, and progress made on the addition of historic landscape architects as qualified professionals to the Secretary of Interior Standards.

Field Sessions
Denver’s rich cultural history is most evident in its historic landscapes and public places. These field sessions have historically significant places with new layers of contemporary needs and design. Sign up, explore, and engage!

Friday, November 21
FS-002 Intimate Gardens in Denver’s Historic Neighborhoods
FS-008 Lariat Loop: Denver’s Mountain Parks and CCC Legacy
FS-009 You Will Never Forget Boulder’s Landscapes and Landmarks
FS-011 Legacy Space, Contemporary Use: 16th Street Mall (I.M. Pei) and Skyline Park (Lawrence Halprin)
FS-012 Sketch Denver: Discover Denver’s History and Pulse
FS-014 They’re Growing Art in Denver Botanic Gardens (Garret Eckbo)

Education Sessions
Cultural influences, connections between built works and extant sites, ideas of integrating the new and old are all relevant to cultural landscapes. Try out these sections—some are clearly historic preservation, and others are interesting for how they may or may not engage cultural resources. All seem worthy of discussion and inquiry.

Friday, November 21
FRI-B06 Embedding Resilience in Cultural and Religious Fabric: Al Jamea Campus, Nairobi
FRI-C01 Transforming the Summit: From Contour Mining to Tree House Climbing
FRI-C03 Designing, Implementing and Managing Improvements to the National Mall
FRI-D04 Change in the Academy: The Shifting Landscape in Campus Design

Saturday, November 22
SAT B09 A Dialogue Between Two Friends: Reflections on How Cultural Fabric Informs Design

Sunday, November 23
SUN-A06 21st Century Stewardship for Master Landscapes
SUN-B11 From Gray to Green: Revitalizing Milwaukee’s Industrial Heart

Monday, November 24
MON-A07 A Critical Look at Retrofitting Suburbia
MON-B06 Creating New Expressive Landscapes from Old Industrial Sites
MON-C05 Preserving the Patterns of Olmsted’s Historic Communities and Parks
MON-C06 Claiming Territories: Signifying Art and Design in the Landscape

Historic Not-to-Miss Places
Denver is wonderful in every season. Make sure you set aside time to explore the city and environs. These top sites are not-to-miss historic places. See LAM’s August issue (“I’ve Got a Secret: Some Lesser-Known Stops When You’re in Denver this November,” pages 120-127) for other fun ideas.

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