Month: October 2016

Icons of Healthcare & Therapeutic Garden Design

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Anne's Garden, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, Georgia image: © The Fockele Garden Company / courtesy of Naomi Sachs
Anne’s Garden, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, Georgia
image: © The Fockele Garden Company / courtesy of Naomi Sachs

Healthcare & Therapeutic Garden Design Interview Series: Naomi Sachs, ASLA

In starting this series, we are reaching out to landscape architects who have been instrumental in leading the design and development of Healthcare and Therapeutic Gardens. We want readers to get to know the leaders in this field, and also see the relevance of therapeutic design and its connections to other practice areas. The aim of this interview series is to tell the story, through firsthand accounts from key individuals, of recent developments and innovations in healthcare and therapeutic design. With input from a range of professionals, we hope to create a better picture of what landscape architects in therapeutic design are working on, and also get to know the people behind the projects that are being done.

One of the first people we have spoken with is Naomi Sachs, ASLA. Naomi has her Masters from UC Berkeley in Landscape Architecture and is currently pursuing her PhD in Architecture at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. She has been a tireless advocate for the recognition of the importance of our connection to nature and the benefits that are derived from this interaction. Naomi may be most widely known from her work in developing the Therapeutic Landscapes Network, a tremendous resource for information related to the field of healthcare gardens and landscapes for health. Naomi’s most recent venture has been the publication of the book Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces with Clare Cooper Marcus. (Further information on Naomi’s background can be found at www.naomisachsdesign.com).

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Sensory Gardens

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Tactile nourishment for the feet image: Amy Wagenfeld
Tactile nourishment for the feet
image: Amy Wagenfeld

Mention a sensory garden and what often comes to mind is an outdoor space resplendent with aromatic plants and lush plantings abounding with splashes of color. While certainly part of the picture, it is perhaps not the complete one. In this post, we share strategies to create gardens that nurture and enrich all of the sensory systems. Our ideas to create a naturalized outdoor space for sensory exploration and enrichment are general. If you have the opportunity to create specialized sensory gardens for children with complex sensory integrative challenges, we recommend teaming up with occupational therapists with extensive training in sensory integration (it was introduced and the theory was developed by an occupational therapist, A. Jean Ayres), to make it as usable as possible. Because occupational therapists are also well versed in child development, it is a bonus for great sensory garden design.

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Digital Technology at the ASLA Annual Meeting

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University of Miami: Medical Campus using Rhino, Sketchup and Lumion image: Ryan Deane, ASLA, Julija Singer, AIA – The SLAM Collaborative
University of Miami: Medical Campus using Rhino, Sketchup and Lumion
image: Ryan Deane, ASLA, Julija Singer, AIA – The SLAM Collaborative

We are very excited to announce that there will be several events for the Digital Technology PPN at the upcoming ASLA Annual Meeting in New Orleans! This past year we have seen many advances in digital technologies and have discussed many of these new technologies and topics in our various Field posts. This conversation will continue at the annual meeting and we are happy to announce that there will be various education sessions, meetings, and events for the Digital Technology PPN. Below are a few events and meetings to keep an eye out for during your time in New Orleans.

Digital Technology Professional Practice Network (PPN) Meeting
Saturday, October 22, 9:15-10:00 AM
Come meet us at the PPN Lounge located in PPN Live on the EXPO floor for the Digital Technology PPN meeting. We will meet the members of the PPN, discuss our goals for the upcoming year, discuss our plans for Online Learning webinars, and chat about the latest and greatest tools out there. We will also have a discussion regarding new incoming PPN chairs and how to inspire others to join our PPN through various PPN leadership opportunities.

Digital Technology PPN EXPO Tour (1.0 PDH LA CES/non-HSW)
Saturday, October 22, 1:00-2:00 PM
This year, the ASLA PPN’s will host EXPO Tours at the annual meeting. We will be meeting with various vendors to discuss new software, products, and technology that is out on the market. We will be visiting the following exhibitors during the tour: ANOVA, Keysoft Solutions, Land F/X, and Vectorworks. Sign up online to attend the Digital Technology PPN EXPO Tour or show up to PPN Live 15 minutes prior to the meeting to check availability! Tours will start from PPN Live on the EXPO floor.

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Campus Planning & Design and Education & Practice at the Annual Meeting

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Tulane University image: Paula Burch-Celentano / Tulane University
Tulane University
image: Paula Burch-Celentano / Tulane University

Welcome to our meeting preview for the 2016 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in New Orleans from October 21 to 24. This year two of ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) are trying something new: Campus Planning & Design and Education & Practice are partnering for a joint PPN meeting featuring several short presentations and discussion on the topic of: How has technology changed the nature of the university campus?

This will take place on PPN Live’s City Park Stage on the EXPO floor, and will be open to all attendees, giving greater exposure to some of the innovative work being done in the campus landscape. It will also provide an opportunity to network with landscape architect educators and practitioners that use our campus landscapes as a living learning classroom. For those of you that are not able to make it to New Orleans, we will be posting these presentations on the PPN webpage after the meeting.

Check out this list of events at the Annual Meeting that may be of interest to you:

PPN Events

Campus Planning & Design PPN / Education & Practice PPN Joint Meeting
Saturday, October 22, 1:30 – 2:15 PM
City Park Stage, PPN Live area of the EXPO floor

PPN Meeting Agenda:

  • Kick off introductions
  • Presentation 1: The High Efficiency Campus
    Lauren Williams, ASLA
  • Presentation 2: Technology and the 21st Century High-Performance Campus Landscape
    Gregory Tuzzolo, ASLA, and Milee Pradhan, ASLA
  • Presentation 3: Visualizing Campus Activities from 5, 10, and 1000 Feet
    Todd Robinson, ASLA
  • Presentation 4: Campus Constants, Digital Flux
    Katharyn Hurd, Associate ASLA, and Andrew Sullivan, ASLA
  • Q+A

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A Celebration of Place

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Oak Alley image: Alexandra Hay
Oak Alley
image: Alexandra Hay

Historic Preservation at the 2016 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO in New Orleans

As historic preservation professionals, we are especially well versed in ‘a celebration of place,’ the theme of the 2016 ASLA Annual Meeting. Our collective work as Historic Preservation Professional Practice Network (HP PPN) members is particularly relevant, and at its most inspiring, when we are advocating for, and planning and designing toward, a celebration of the individualistic qualities and character of each place in which we work. Please join colleagues and friends in New Orleans for discussions and dialogue on current issues and ideas related to historic places.

New Orleans is a particularly exciting place to celebrate, and explore. Be sure to join in on the many field sessions and events that reveal the city’s fabulously rich and diverse history. Education sessions offer insight into a range of relevant topics: cultural authenticity, maintenance and funding strategies, past successes that inform future needs, and more.

Special Events: Meet colleagues, connect with old friends, and make new acquaintances at these events. Let’s get the word out—historic landscapes and cultural resources are current and fundamental to landscape architecture and ASLA.

TCLF’s New Orleans Excursion: A Cultural Continuum from Antebellum to Modernist
Daylong Excursion: Friday, October 21, 9:00 am to 6:30 pm
Reception at the Curtis House: Friday, October 21, 4:30 to 6:30 pm
Tickets and waiting list available through TCLF

SITES® Workshop: Navigating the Submittal Process and Trouble-shooting Challenges with the Experts
Friday, October 21, 1:30 to 5:00 pm

Opening General Session: Shared Wisdom: Legacy, Practice and Partnership
Saturday, October 22, 8:00 to 9:00 am

Historic Preservation PPN Meeting
Saturday, October 23, 12:45 to 1:30 pm in the Jackson Square Meeting Room

EXPO Reception featuring the Professional Practice Networks
Sunday, October 23, 4:30 to 6:30 pm

Women in Landscape Architecture Walk
Monday, October 24, 7:00 to 8:30 am

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WILA at the Annual Meeting

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The 2015 WILA Walk in Chicago image: Event Photography of North America Corporation (EPNAC)
The 2015 WILA Walk in Chicago
image: Event Photography of North America Corporation (EPNAC)

The ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in New Orleans is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to see you there!

Women in Landscape Architecture (WILA) events for this year’s meeting include a discussion during our WILA Professional Practice Network (PPN) Meeting about Working Families and Navigating Work Relationships on Behalf of Your Family. Join us on Sunday, October 23 at 9:15 AM in the Garden District Meeting Room on the EXPO floor. Find us again at the EXPO Reception featuring the PPNs at 4:30 PM Sunday afternoon.

Once again, we are delighted to join the host chapter, ASLA Louisiana, for the Women in Landscape Architecture Walk on Monday morning, 7:00 – 8:30 AM. This is a FREE walking tour led by local landscape architects from the host chapter. Join ASLA Louisiana for a walk along the Mississippi River to visit existing and proposed riverfront projects designed to bring the City of New Orleans back to the River. Walk co-leaders Dana Brown and Gaylan Williams will lead us from the Convention Center to the Riverwalk, through Spanish Plaza and the future Four Seasons Hotel, through the Audubon Aquarium’s riverfront plaza, to Woldenberg Park and on to the cruise ship dock and the Mookwalk in front of the French Quarter. A new Riverfront Master Plan is underway to make walking more seamless, integrated and compelling. Spanish Plaza, a gift to the City in 1976 from Spain, is being re-imagined to commemorate the 300th birthday of the City of New Orleans in 2018.

Many education sessions this year explore topics relevant in particular to women in landscape architecture. WILA PPN Co-Chair Tanya Olson will be introducing one of these sessions: SAT-A10: Women in Landscape Architecture: Pathways to Success, on Saturday morning. More information on these events and education sessions which might be of interest to WILA members are listed below.

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Environmental Justice at the Annual Meeting

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Fallow Ground | Future City, 2015 Student ASLA Honor Award, Analysis and Planning Category image: Margaret Baldwin, Hannah Barefoot, Alexandra Dimitri, Jennifer Livingston, Mary McCall, Lucy McFadden, Margaret Plumb, Scott Shinton
Fallow Ground | Future City, 2015 Student ASLA Honor Award, Analysis and Planning Category
image: Margaret Baldwin, Hannah Barefoot, Alexandra Dimitri, Jennifer Livingston, Mary McCall, Lucy McFadden, Margaret Plumb, Scott Shinton

PPN Live Session: Saturday, October 22, 9:15 – 10:00am, Jackson Square Meeting Room

Fall is in the air and the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO is just around the corner! Please join us for the second annual Environmental Justice (EJ) PPN meeting on Saturday, October 22 from 9:15 – 10:00am in the Jackson Square meeting room at PPN Live. We have been busy planning and networking since the inception of the EJ PPN less than two years ago and now we are looking forward to tackling some bigger agenda items.

At our first meeting, we created a list of EJ projects and people who are leading the charge to eliminate injustices in landscapes and communities around the world. This year, we invite you to engage in a conversation about environmental justice in landscape architecture. Do you have questions or topics that you’d like to share? If so, send them to Julie Stevens jstevens@iastate.edu. Additionally, we would like to know about your projects, so feel free to bring project profiles to share with the group. Suggested format is 2-4 letter or tabloid sized pages. Project profiles will be available throughout the conference in the PPN Live area.

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Transportation at the Annual Meeting

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Canal Street in New Orleans image: Alexandra Hay
Canal Street in New Orleans
image: Alexandra Hay

PPN Live in New Orleans: Network. Learn. Have fun!

The ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO is the place to connect with your Professional Practice Network (PPN) peers in person. If you’re coming to New Orleans, please join us for any or all of our events on the EXPO floor on Sunday, October 23:

PPN Live Session: Sunday, October 23, 9:15-10:00 AM, Jackson Square Meeting Room

The Transportation PPN Leadership Team will share updates on our work and highlight opportunities for you to share your expertise and expand your network through ASLA. In addition, Roxanne Blackwell, ASLA’s Director of Federal Government Affairs, will present the latest news on federal transportation legislation and advocacy. Have an idea for an education session for the 2017 Annual Meeting? We’ll connect PPN members with each other to plan for next year in Los Angeles. For one panel that teamed up last year after meeting in Chicago, it led to a successful education session proposal to present in New Orleans!

Network and Learn at the ASLA EXPO – Transportation Tour: Sunday, October 23, 1:00-2:00 PM, starting from PPN Live

Meet with Transportation PPN members and product exhibitors in a show floor tour that will provide 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW). The tour will offer the opportunity to learn about new and improved products and services for transportation-related projects. We’ve got a great lineup that includes Victor Stanley, Duo-Gard Industries, HessAmerica, and Custom Rock FormLiner. Sign up online to join us on the tour!

EXPO Reception featuring the PPNs: Sunday, October 23, 4:30 – 6:00 PM

Network with your peers at the EXPO Reception featuring the PPNs. It’s now free to all registered annual meeting attendees, and non-PPN members are welcome to attend. Be sure to stop by to get your PPN pin!

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Planting Design Annual Meeting Preview

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ASLA 2016 Professional General Design Honor Award - Converging Ecologies as a Gateway to Acadiana by CARBO Landscape Architecture image: Alan Karchmer
ASLA 2016 Professional General Design Honor Award – Converging Ecologies as a Gateway to Acadiana by CARBO Landscape Architecture
image: Alan Karchmer

Planting Design at the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in New Orleans, October 21-24, 2016

Planting Design Professional Practice Network (PPN) Meeting
Saturday, October 22, 12:45-1:30 PM
Jackson Square Meeting Room, PPN Live on the EXPO floor

At the Planting Design PPN meeting Saturday 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. The short 45-minute meeting will also give us some time for a discussion about designing for intermingled plant combinations led by David Hopman, landscape architect, associate professor, and chair of the PPN, and Nigel Dunnett, Professor of Planting Design, University of Sheffield, UK. This is intended as a participatory event so bring your toughest concerns and best ideas to share about this important and emerging trend in planting design.

In addition to the Planting Design PPN meeting, there will also be a planting design-focused EXPO tour on Saturday, and the EXPO Reception featuring the PPNs on Sunday, 4:30-6:00 PM.

Planting Design PPN EXPO Tour (1.0 PDH LA CES/non-HSW)
Saturday, October 22, 9:45-10:45 AM
Tours will start from PPN Live on the EXPO floor

The Professional Practice Network (PPN) EXPO Tours at the Annual Meeting highlight new and improved products and how these improvements and services can assist in creating a successful design project. This tour of the EXPO floor will include the exhibitors: J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., Bold Spring Nursery, The Plantium, and Star Roses and Plants. Sign up online to attend the PPN EXPO Tour!

Below, we highlight sessions with an emphasis on planting design.

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Making a Case for Divergent Thinking

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image: Brian LaHaie
image: Brian LaHaie

Creative thinking is the foundation of our profession. Of all the skill sets that a landscape architect must possess, the ability to imagine, create and evaluate unique solutions to complex social and environmental challenges is our most valuable asset.

Creative thinkers possess the ability to identify multiple possibilities when confronted with challenging problems. This type of thinking is found among people with personality traits such as non-conformity, curiosity, risk taking, and persistence. It is also found naturally in children. This ability to generate multiple solutions and to think outside a set of linear constraints is called “divergent thinking” or “lateral thinking.”

The term divergent thinking was first introduced by psychologist J.P. Guilford in 1967 (nearly 50 years ago). Together with convergent thinking, these terms represent opposing thinking styles.

Convergent thinkers quickly seek a solution by reducing options and limiting choices to arrive at an appropriate answer. Convergent thinking is what you use to answer a multiple choice question or calculate a simple mathematical equation. You are seeking “the one right answer.” The process is systematic and linear.

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