Welcome to the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture

The inaugural LAM Lecture on March 9, 2017 featured Elizabeth Meyer, FASLA, in conversation with Bradford McKee, Editor, LAM / image: Alexandra Hay

Last Thursday, Landscape Architecture Magazine (LAM) presented the first public event held in the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture in Washington, DC. The inaugural LAM Lecture, featuring Elizabeth Meyer, FASLA, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, was just the start of a new phase for ASLA as a year of construction wraps up and we settle into our new space, designed by architecture firm Gensler and landscape architecture firm Oehme van Sweden.

Below, we recap how the transformative renovation of ASLA headquarters in Washington’s Chinatown neighborhood has progressed in recent months, giving ASLA a bright new home that embodies the mission, vision, and values of the Society and is also a showcase for sustainable design excellence.

Late 2015 – Late 2016: Construction

Significant structural work was needed to open up the dim, compartmentalized series of cubicles found on each floor of the building prior to the renovation. The basement-level conference space was moved up to street level, the interior staircase was completely opened up, and the closed-off workspaces are no more.

The new, open stairs under construction / image: Alexandra Hay

The ground floor conference room and exhibition space / image: Alexandra Hay

January 2017: Moving In

Sustainable office furniture by Haworth / Price Modern include Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified woods. / image: Alexandra Hay

Gensler’s Abram Goodrich, AIA, talks to ASLA staff about how the new design embodies the profession’s core value of stewardship, reflects the Society’s leadership in the industry, and serves as a model for sustainable building. / image: Shawn Balon

The four-story atrium that was punched through the building provides greater cohesion among the floors, connecting the first floor welcome center to the award-winning green roof designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates in 2005. / image: Alexandra Hay

The expanded entry way to ASLA’s green roof / image: Alexandra Hay

Biophilic elements, such as plants, lighting, and natural wood, fibers, materials, and patterns, are used throughout the interior and exterior to nurture our innate connection to nature. / image: Alexandra Hay

The ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture features flexible meeting, reception, and exhibition space on the street level. / image: Alexandra Hay

March 2017: Inaugural LAM Lecture

The first event in the new LAM Lecture Series took place on March 9. In a presentation titled “Beyond Sustaining Beauty: Aesthetic Entanglements with Climate Change Science,” Elizabeth Meyer, FASLA, touched on an array of projects and ideas, from Natalie Jeremijenko’s Butterfly Bridge to the extraordinary way Cranbourne’s Australian Garden manages to engage all the senses.

The presentation was livestreamed for those who could not attend, and the video can be found on LAM‘s Facebook page.