ASLA’s celebration of Pride Month continues on The Field as we share a second set of landscape architect profiles to promote LGBTQIA+ visibility and acceptance in the landscape architecture and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professions. Last week’s post highlighted the panelists from ASLA’s June 12 webinar, Queer Emergence: An LGBTQIA+ Conversation in Landscape Architecture: Cheri Ruane, FASLA, Kelley Oklesson, ASLA, Max Dickson, Jordan Chiang, Assoc. ASLA, and Sam Dent, ASLA.
Today, we’re sharing the next set of profiles, of Natalia Bezerra, Matthew Mitsuaki Higa, Associate ASLA, Alyssa Gill, Arturo Merino, ASLA, Margot McLaughlin, Associate ASLA, and Shawn Balon, ASLA.
Natalia Bezerra
How has being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community influenced your work in landscape architecture?
As a queer woman, I often think about how people from different backgrounds and experiences, especially those who are “othered” in society, can connect to a place and feel heard during the design process. Marginalization can occur when designers and developers disregard the needs of communities. I started my career working in community design and realized the importance of connecting with communities as your authentic self…finding common ground and interests among groups who are underserved, lack the capacity or funding to seek design and planning services. By actively listening to community groups, I learned to be an advocate for their needs in addition to being a designer. Diversity and inclusion should always be at the forefront of landscape architecture and any discipline that serves the public realm.
How can built environments better support LGBTQIA+ communities?
Built environments can better support the LGBTQIA+ community by ensuring safety and inclusion are at the heart of the design process. Everyone should feel like they can fully express themselves wherever they are, whether it’s in a park, workplace, or classroom setting. The most recent legislative and physical assaults on the queer and trans community fuel a sense of determination to make inclusive spaces accessible to all marginalized groups. As design professionals, we can use our skills to engage with the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as colleagues, stakeholders, and allies to create queer friendly and safe spaces that are so fundamental for a healthy quality of life.
Matthew Mitsuaki Higa, Associate ASLA
How did you find your way into landscape architecture?
I chose to become a landscape architect because of my deep passion for nature, art, practicality, and culture. Growing up in the serene valleys of Honolulu, surrounded by verdure, had a profound impact on my upbringing. I spent countless hours mauka, whether tending to our yard or exploring the watershed areas nearby.
Influenced by my incredibly creative parents, I was fortunate to witness different forms of artistic expression. My mother, a preschool teacher, instilled in me the idea that art is a powerful means of self-expression. Meanwhile, my father, an architect, consistently demonstrated innovative and practical ways to enhance our home. Their combined influence nurtured my love for both artistry and functionality.
Living in a multigenerational household provided me with a unique perspective. My grandparents often recounted life on the sugar plantation. They taught me invaluable lessons in resourcefulness and self-sufficiency, especially in regard to growing food, and saving water. Their teachings further shaped my understanding of how to make the most of the available resources.
It is the combination of these experiences and influences that led me to pursue a career as a landscape architect. I am driven by a genuine passion for preserving and celebrating our natural landscapes, embracing our biocultural relationships, and integrating practicality into my designs. Through my work, I strive to create spaces that not only reflect the beauty of nature but also enhance the lives (human and other) of those who inhabit them.
How has being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community influenced your work in landscape architecture?
As a proud member of the Alphabet Mafia, my design process is heavily influenced by the empathy and understanding. I strive to create socially inclusive spaces through community outreach, accessible design, Public Interest Design, and embracing diversity. By leveraging the power of landscape architecture, I hope to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society for all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, age, or cultural background.
Alyssa Gill
How did you find your way into landscape architecture?
When I initially found landscape architecture I was working on an events project at a zoo, spending my days walking through the various themed areas. It dawned on me that somebody must have designed the space, and upon further research I became interested in the practice as a whole.
Can you share a project you have worked on that you’re particularly proud of?
I graduated last May with my master’s from LSU, and since joining my firm (RHAA) I’ve worked on a landscape improvements project for the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. The Goldman School is the top ranked public policy program in the country, and it’s wonderful to have a client who is teaching the next generation of social and environmental policymakers. It’s interesting to think that some of the students who graduate may have a direct impact on influencing our profession. The project transforms the school’s outdoor courtyard space from a sloping lawn to a terraced seating and events area with an updated accessible entryway. This was an incredibly fast-paced project, and as a relatively young designer I’m thrilled to have been involved from concept through 100% CDs. I am particularly proud of grading studies that I produced for the accessible ramp. Grading is something that I initially struggled with in school, so seeing how far I’ve come and getting the chance to apply what I’ve learned is rewarding. Additionally, as a queer designer I want to think about inclusion in our built environment across all levels, and accessibility is such a key component of creating inclusive environments.
How can built environments better support LGBTQIA+ communities?
LGBTQIA+ communities are currently under attack by harmful rhetoric and policy across the country and world. As much as I’d love to say that the built environment can directly combat this, our reach doesn’t always necessarily extend into areas of policy and politics. At the same time, I believe that built environments, and our work as designers is inherently political. So the question, for me, becomes: where do we have the room to fight back? Is it showing support as firms and companies through pro-bono work, or through boycotting work in specific areas that are passing harmful legislation? Who is already doing the work to create inclusive and safe spaces within our existing communities? I’m particularly inspired by the Transgender District in San Francisco. Their work simultaneously encompasses and transcends the intersections of arts and culture, supportive housing, entrepreneurial programs, and cultural preservation. As our field continues to grow, I look forward to seeing the ways in which we can expand our project types to follow their lead.
Arturo Merino, ASLA
How did you find your way into landscape architecture?
I practiced architecture in Mexico and was always interested in landscape design, water conservation, and environmentalism, then decided to move to the US to pursue a career in landscape architecture.
Can you share a project you have worked on that you’re particularly proud of?
I have a few. One I am very proud of is the design of the site playgrounds of a kindergarten and elementary school in Ruidoso, NM. I am proud of it because I worked on the project from conceptual to construction administration. And it was my first project when I started working for a great firm and landscape architecture principal and team. It was also a challenging project, and I learned a lot.
How can built environments better support LGBTQIA+ communities?
By adding monuments of iconic and historic LGBTQIA+ events. By adding welcoming signage. By supporting artists, performers, and other events.
Margot McLaughlin, Associate ASLA
How did you find your way into landscape architecture?
I was initially planning to go to college for industrial design, and I didn’t really know what landscape architecture was. Once I did more research, I realized that my interests were more aligned with landscape architecture, and I found its relationship with the natural environment really exciting.
How has being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community influenced your work in landscape architecture?
A lot of the conversations happening within queer communities has shaped the way that I approach landscape architecture. It helped me to ask critical questions about our built environment from a lens of inclusion and activism and has taught me so much about how to be in community with people. It has really shaped the way I view community building and the role of design in that process.
Shawn Balon, ASLA
How did you find your way into landscape architecture?
I found my way very much like other landscape architects I know. I had never heard of landscape architecture until my undergraduate freshman orientation. While standing in line, the person in front of me told me she was majoring in landscape architecture and told me all about it. I was hooked from the start and that same week I had the opportunity to talk to the program chair about the profession. Soon enough, I was switching my major to landscape architecture!
Can you share a project you have worked on that you’re particularly proud of?
I’m proud of many projects I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate on across the world, but I’m most proud of a recent one here in Richmond, Virginia. Over the past two years I’ve had the opportunity to work on a community plan for Jackson Ward, a neighborhood known as the birthplace of Black entrepreneurship and the “Harlem of the South.”
In collaboration with architects, planners, the City of Richmond, the Housing Authority, and the Health District, a two-year engagement strategy and process was developed to reach an informed, shared vision for the future of the neighborhood.
I’ve participated in a lot of community visioning projects as a landscape architect and this is by-far the most intentional and creative process that I have been a part of. I’ve learned a lot through this process.
To connect with LGBTQIA+ professionals in landscape architecture, follow @PridexASLA on Instagram.