The Field

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.

We look forward to seeing you Sunday, 11/8 @ 12:45, in PPN Room 2 on the EXPO floor near ASLA Central. Drop by please! Tell us what you’re thinking at the meeting and online using #ParksPPN.

Here is a list of great education sessions and events related to parks and recreation at #ASLA2015 in Chicago this year—check these out:

Friday, November 6

8:30 – 10:00 AM
FRI-A03 – The Design of Europe’s Largest New Park: Metropolitan Park, Athens
Presenters: Charles Anderson, FASLA, Principal/Founder, Werk, Venice, California and Thomas Doxiadis, ASLA, Principal/Founder, Doxiadis+, Athens, Greece

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
FS-008 – Legendary Chicago Sports Fields: Behind the Scenes of Safe, Sustainable, and Beautiful (Field Session – register in advance)
Leaders: Eric Simmons, ASLA, Midwest Specification Sales Manager, Hunter Industries, Oswego, Illinois; George Jimenez, ASLA, Sales Manager – Specifications, Florida, Hunter Industries, Tierra Verde, Florida
Presenter: Lynda Wightman, ASLA; Industry Relations Manager , Hunter Industries, Missoula, Montana

12:00 – 4:30 PM
FS-014 – Developing Chicago Lakefront Parks: Means, Methods, Strategies, and Partners (Field Session – register in advance)
Leaders: Michelle Inouye, ASLA, LEED AP, Associate Principal, AECOM, Chicago, Illinois; Paul Wiese, ASLA, LEED AP, SmithGroupJJR, Vice President, SmithGroupJJR, Chicago, Illinois
Presenters: Dean Welch, Project Manager – Development, McCaffery Interests, Inc., Chicago, Illinois; Linda Daly, Deputy Director Construction, Chicago Park District, Chicago, Illinois

12:00 – 5:00 PM
FS-015 – Walking the 606 (SOLD OUT)
Leaders: Andrew Gutterman, ASLA, Associate Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Belmont, Massachusetts; Matthew Urbanski, ASLA, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Brooklyn, New York
Presenter: Jamie R. Simone, AICP, LEED-AP, Program Director, The Trust for Public Land, Chicago, Illinois

1:30 – 3:00 PM
FRI-C04 – Mock Ups: The Journey Between Ideas and Making
Presenters: Laura Solano, ASLA, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Gullivar Shepard, ASLA, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Brooklyn, New York

3:30 – 5:00 PM
FRI-D03 – Building a Technical Landscape: Maggie Daley Park
Presenters: Martin Roura, ASLA, Senior Associate, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Jim Maland, Associate, Stantec, St. Paul, Minnesota; Jeff Rodgers, LEED AP, Project Manager, Walsh Construction Company, Park Ridge, Illinois

5:30 – 7:30 PM
PPN Networking Reception (Ticketed event)

Saturday, November 7

8:00 – 9:00 AM
GS-01 – The Making of 10 Parks That Changed America
Panelists: Geoffrey Baer, Program Host and Producer, WTTW Channel 11 Chicago, Evanston, Illinois; Dan Protess, WTTW Channel 11 Chicago; Peter Harnik, Trust for Public Land; Thaisa Way, ASLA, University of Washington

2:30 – 4:00 PM
SAT-B03 – Everything to Know About Public Work You Were Afraid to Ask
Moderator: Adrian Benepe, Hon. ASLA, Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development, The Trust for Public Land, New York, New York
Panelists: Matthew Urbanski, ASLA, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Brooklyn, New York; Phil Ginsburg, General Manager, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, San Francisco, California; Michael P. Kelly, ASLA, General Superintendent and CEO, Chicago Park District, Chicago, Illinois

SAT-B10 – Bridging the Gap: Klyde Warren Park and the Revitalization of Central Dallas
Moderator: Nathan Elliott, ASLA, Principal, The Office of James Burnett, Solana Beach, California
Panelists: James D. Burnett, FASLA, President, The Office of James Burnett; Tara Green, President, Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation, Dallas, Texas; Willis C. Winters, FAIA, Director, City of Dallas, Dallas, Texas

Sunday, November 8

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
SUN-A09 – Owner, Designer, Construction Manager: Three Landscape Architects Shape Governors Island
Presenters: Will Johnson Jr., ASLA, Associate, SiteWorks Landscape Architecture, New York, New York; Jamie Maslyn Larson, ASLA, Partner, West 8, New York, New York; James Reed, ASLA, Director of Park and Public Space, Trust for Governors Island, New York, New York

12:45 – 1:20 PM
Parks & Recreation PPN Meeting

Monday, November 9

10:00 – 11:30 AM
MON-B08 – Public Parks and Private Partners: United They Stand?
Moderator: Candace Damon, Vice Chairman, HR&A Advisors, New York, New York
Panelists: Edward K. Uhlir, FAIA, Executive Director, Millennium Park Foundation, Chicago, Illinois; Catherine Nagel, Executive Director, City Parks Alliance, Washington, District of Columbia; Kathy Blaha, President, Kathy Blaha Consulting, LLC, Miami Beach, Florida

3:30 – 5:00 PM
MON-D08 – Public Space Prototypes: Temporary Parks Transform the City
Moderator: Inga Saffron; Architecture Critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Panelists: Julie A. Bush, ASLA, Principal, LRSLA Studio, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; David Fierabend, ASLA, Principal, Groundswell Design Group, LLC, Hopewell, New Jersey; Joseph T. Sikora, RLA, ASLA, Principal of Sikora Wells Appel, Sikora Wells Appel, Haddonfield, New Jersey

by Jennifer Nitzky, ASLA, and Amanda Bayley, ASLA, Parks & Recreation PPN Co-Chairs, and Scott Reese, ASLA