Month: October 2015

Help Brainstorm the Future of Parks

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ASLA 2008 Professional General Design Award of Excellence. The Lurie Garden is prominently sited at the southern edge of Chicago's Millennium Park, adjacent to the Great Lawn with bandshell and trellis designed by Frank O. Gehry & Associates. Chicago's skyline and Lake Michigan are visible on the horizon. image: Linda Oyama Bryan
ASLA 2008 Professional General Design Award of Excellence. The Lurie Garden is prominently sited at the southern edge of Chicago’s Millennium Park, adjacent to the Great Lawn with bandshell and trellis designed by Frank O. Gehry & Associates. Chicago’s skyline and Lake Michigan are visible on the horizon.
image: Linda Oyama Bryan

Help us brainstorm the future of parks and public spaces (we’d really like to know what you know…and what you are thinking about)!

At the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Chicago this November, be sure to attend an engaging gathering of your fellow Parks & Recreation PPN members on Sunday, 11/8 @ 12:45 PM. Given the rare opportunity to tap into the collective knowledge and experience of landscape architects from across the country, we couldn’t resist the idea of facilitating a hands-on session to capture your thoughts about the trends influencing your work, the sites and experiences that are informing your thinking, and the information you need to improve and enrich your practice.

We will be using this networking opportunity to hear the experiences that are influencing your practice; to identify the specific trends, subject matter, and areas of interest that will be most important to in the immediate and far future; and to have your input on a content management plan that we can use to set the specific direction of the PPN in the year ahead.

In addition to facilitating and disseminating the collection of expert ideas on parks and public spaces, we want to offer Parks and Recreation PPN members the opportunity to actively contribute to the PPN community in a meaningful way that will directly influence future PPN activities. The PPN is a resource that is only as strong as we all can make it.

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A Guide to Urban Design Activities at the Annual Meeting

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image: T.R. Ozdil
image: T.R. Ozdil

Join Urban Design PPN Members in Chicago!
The ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO is approaching quickly. Below you will find a preview of the Urban Design PPN Meeting and highlights from urban design related events in Chicago. If you are interested in urban design, please make an effort to join the Urban Design PPN Meeting on Saturday, November 7 for short presentations, discussions, and networking with your fellow members. Don’t forget to ask for your Urban Design PPN pin! The following list includes must attends for Urban Design PPN members:
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Campus Planning & Design at the Annual Meeting

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The Illinois Institute of Technology's McCormick Tribune Campus Center image: Alexandra Hay
The Illinois Institute of Technology’s McCormick Tribune Campus Center
image: Alexandra Hay

This year’s ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Chicago is almost here and we look forward to seeing many of you there. The meeting is full of social and educational opportunities for those of us involved in campus planning and design. In addition to the events listed below, there are two additional opportunities we have created for those interested in campus planning and design:

  • Anyone (PPN member or not) is invited to an informal gathering for drinks, conversation, and networking on Saturday, November 7 starting around 6:15 PM (immediately after the Alumni Tailgate) in the M/X Lounge/POI Bar of the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place (2233 South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive).
  • Northwestern University Campus Tour: on Tuesday, November 10 from 9:30 AM to noon, Ann Ziegelmaier, landscape architect for Northwestern University, will lead an informal tour of the main Northwestern campus for all who are interested. The Northwestern campus is about a 45 minute trip via public transit from the downtown hotels. Although reservations are not required, please RSVP if you think you may attend for additional details.

Among the Annual Meeting’s field and education sessions, on Friday, November 6, you can tour the picturesque Gothic campus of the University of Chicago. Tickets for the field session “Stewardship of a Grand Campus Legacy: the University of Chicago” must be purchased in advance. For those not interested in the all-day tour, there will be an education session at 1:30 PM on Friday: “Resiliency in University Planning: Risks and Opportunities” asks how prepared are university campuses to resist and recover—in a timely, economical, and efficient way—from disasters, climate change, and natural hazards?

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Annual Meeting Preview: Planting Design

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Ball Horticultural garden design by Roy Diblik image: Brooke Ryan, Ball Horticultural Company
Ball Horticultural garden design by Roy Diblik
image: Brooke Ryan, Ball Horticultural Company

Planting Design Professional Practice Network (PPN) Meeting
Sunday, November 8, 5:10-5:45 PM in PPN Room 3 on the EXPO floor

At the Planting Design PPN meeting Sunday afternoon during the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO, we will discuss our PPN’s goals for the upcoming year, meet the members who have been shaping blog posts for The Field and plans for Online Learning webinars, and have an opportunity to sign up and volunteer to join the Planting Design leadership team. We will have three very special guests at our event, who will make short presentations to the group and be available to meet and answer questions:

Roy Diblik
Noted plantsman and designer Roy Diblik has spent more than 30 years studying, growing, and enjoying plants. His passion for native plants and other perennials began with his work at the Natural Garden Nursery in St. Charles, Illinois, and has been cultivated through his establishment of Northwind Perennial Farm, a nursery in Burlington, Wisconsin.

Roy’s recent work includes a planting of the new Oceanarium at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and a garden for the modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is best known as the plantsman behind Piet Oudolf’s midwestern garden designs, including the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park in Chicago.

Jim Urban, FASLA
Jim is well known for his skills in the areas of urban arboriculture and soils, including the preservation and installation of trees in the urban environment and the specification and installation of specialized planting soils for roof gardens, urban landscape plantings, and rain water management. Jim will present to the group about the TREE Fund, a non-governmental source of funding for research and education programs in the field of arboriculture.

Nancy Buley, Hon. ASLA
Nancy, Director of Communications at J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., will speak about the health benefits of trees and green space with an emphasis on new research, and will share a handout with links to resources and research available on this important topic.

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Historic Preservation in Chicago

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The Arthur B. Heurtley House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Oak Park, Illinois, the subject of an ASLA Annual Meeting field session image: Alexandra Hay
The Arthur B. Heurtley House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Oak Park, Illinois–the subject of an ASLA Annual Meeting field session
image: Alexandra Hay

I look forward to seeing all our members and new colleagues in Chicago for the 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO, and I hope you will attend the Historic Preservation Professional Practice Network (HP PPN) meeting on Saturday, November 7 from 12:45 to 2:15pm. We will be sharing the new initiatives that the leadership group has been working on, and we hope to hear about the work of members as well.

Storytelling Your Project. Please consider submitting a brief paragraph describing one or more of your current or recent projects. We will a few submissions and ask that you prepare 3 images and present these in a brief 3-minute story to the members at the HP PPN meeting in Chicago. Submit your paragraph to Alexandra Hay, Professional Practice Coordinator at ASLA, by this Friday, October 23.

Share Your Perspectives in Chicago!

‘Perspectives,’ the theme of the Annual Meeting, is particularly relevant to our PPN’s collective work in cultural resources and historic preservation, providing multiple tours and sessions on landscapes of contrast and comparison. Please join colleagues and friends in Chicago for discussions and dialogue on current issues and ideas in our design and planning for historic places.

Many field sessions and events explore Chicago’s rich history and cultural development from ‘Paris on the Prairie’ to the ‘Second City.’ Education sessions offer insight into a range of relevant topics: cultural authenticity, maintenance and funding strategies, past successes that inform future needs, and more.

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A Legacy of Collaboration: Peter L. Schaudt, FASLA

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Peter Lindsay Schaudt image: courtesy of Hoerr Schaudt
Peter Lindsay Schaudt
image: courtesy of Hoerr Schaudt

This past summer, our profession lost one of its greatest champions and collaborators. Our dear friend and esteemed colleague, Peter Lindsay Schaudt, passed away unexpectedly on July 19th, 2015, at his home in Villa Park, Illinois. He was 56.

An architect by training, a recipient of the Rome Prize and a protégée of the legendary landscape architect Dan Kiley, Peter brought to landscape design a focus on research and history and a deep love of learning. An American Institute of Architects award-winner for collaborative achievement, Peter was best known for his ability to work with a broad range of architectural practices, which he often likened to a lifelong education. Throughout his career, Peter’s talent for collaboration was invaluable to the success of each project within his diverse portfolio. This was most evident in his academic and campus work.

Peter strove to create coherent, dynamic and timeless landscapes at every scale. A patient visionary, Peter emphasized the importance of maintaining a long-term relationship with campus clients, knowing that a cohesive landscape is best formed over time. Carefully cultivating and nurturing relationships throughout the country, Peter’s ability to build and maintain trust earned him the opportunity to implement multiple projects at a campus over an extended number of years.

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Environmental Justice at the Annual Meeting

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Lafitte Greenway + Revitalization Corridor image: Design Workshop, Inc.
Lafitte Greenway + Revitalization Corridor
image: Design Workshop, Inc.

Partners in Justice!
Join the Environmental Justice PPN members at our very first Annual Meeting this year in Chicago! The Environmental Justice PPN will be meeting Sunday, November 8 at 1:40-2:15pm in PPN Room 2 on the EXPO floor near ASLA Central. Please join us as we discuss initiatives and goals for 2016!

Environmental Justice Sessions
The 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting in Chicago offers a variety of learning opportunities for professionals interested in environmental justice. Be sure to check out the EJ education sessions at this year’s Annual Meeting:

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SITES at the ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, TX image: James Wilson Photography
Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, TX
image: James Wilson Photography

Are you attending next month’s Annual Meeting in Chicago? Then take advantage of these opportunities to engage with SITES experts, staff, and project leaders.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES®) is a set of comprehensive, voluntary guidelines together with a rating system that assesses the sustainable design, construction, and maintenance of landscapes. By aligning design and development practices with the functions of healthy ecosystems, SITES provides a valuable tool that demonstrates how designers and other stakeholders can improve upon the value of a site through regenerative landscapes and an ecosystem services framework. Administered by GBCI, the SITES rating system can apply to developed projects located on sites with or without buildings—ranging from national parks to corporate campuses, streetscapes, homes, and many more.

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LAAB Announces Proposed Revisions of STANDARDS and PROCEDURES

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image: LAAB
image: LAAB

As a recognized accrediting agency by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) is required to conduct a comprehensive review of its standards on a periodic basis. LAAB conducts a formal, comprehensive review of the accreditation standards every five (5) years (page 4, LAAB STANDARDS & PROCEDURES). LAAB last approved revisions to the standards in 2010, which were subsequently revised Spring 2013.

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Stewards of the Land

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Neighborhood Strong Plantings image: Tim Garland
Neighborhood Strong Plantings
image: Tim Garland

After pondering various topics of interest in our field with Chris Miracle, Design-Build PPN Co-Chair, and reflecting upon my experience as a landscape architect, both in the pure design field and now in the design-build industry, I had an epiphany on an important subject to be discussed. I believe that as we move forward in our professional careers, we need to reflect back to the father of landscape architecture, and the works of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Central Park, his iconic piece of work, was and is currently a true treasure. If we distill down the concept of Central Park, it was a response to a strong social need at that time in the history of our country. Somewhere along the course of his career and the spawning of landscape architecture, the narrative of landscape architects being stewards of the land became prevalent. I would like to take a few moments and reflect on this concept of stewards of the land, and stewardship in general.

As landscape architects in the design-build sector of our industry, stewardship is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. One of our largest resources is the landscape, and as landscape architects we truly are the stewards of this land.
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3 Tools That Will Change How You Design

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image: Ryan Deane
image: Ryan Deane

Emerging Technology

While the projects we do as landscape architects are slowly evolving, the ways we are able to execute and deliver these projects are progressing at light speed. Every day there are new technologies being developed that will redefine how we work in years to come. This blog is just a sample platter of what will likely be a part of your daily workflow in the not so distant future.

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