Month: December 2024

The Field’s Greatest Hits of 2024

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We would like to thank all the Professional Practice Network (PPN) leaders and members who shared their experiences and expertise as authors for The Field blog this year. Thank you for contributing to ASLA’s shared body of knowledge in 2024!

Contributions to The Field are by members and for members, and we encourage all ASLA members with an idea or an experience to share with their peers in landscape architecture to write for The Field. Fresh content appears weekly, and 89 posts were published in 2024—more than 120,000 words by 100+ contributors.

Here are the top 10 most-viewed posts of the year:

1. Putting AI to Work: Practical Applications of AI in Landscape Architecture
by Lauren Schmidt, PLA, ASLA
Digital Technology PPN

2. The 2024 HALS Challenge Competition
by Scott Keyes
Historic Preservation PPN

3. My Meadow Lab, Part 1
by Dan Greenberg, ASLA
Planting Design PPN

4. From Landscape Architecture to Art (and Back?): “Realities” of Nature, Layered Up
by Darren Sears

5. Words of Wisdom for Our 2024 Landscape Architecture Graduates
by Chloe Gillespie, Associate ASLA, Magdalena Aravena, PLA, ASLA, Jennifer Ng, PLA, ASLA, Adrian Alexander, Associate ASLA, Megan Barnes, Lexi Banks, Associate ASLA, Gretchen Wilson, PLA, ASLA, LEED, WEDG, Emily Siler, Associate ASLA, Kim Case, PLA, ASLA, CSI CDT®, and Dr. Bo Zhang, ASLA
Education & Practice PPN

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The Culture Conundrum: Why Your Company’s Vision Falls Flat

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image: Adobe Stock photo courtesy of PuzzleHR

ASLA announced an affinity partnership with PuzzleHR earlier this year. Our organizations share a commitment to professional growth, organizational development, and continuous learning. We believe our collaboration will enhance the professional development of ASLA members and contribute valuable learning opportunities for leaders in landscape architecture.

Executive Summary:

  • Leaders do not feel accountable for demonstrating the desired company culture, and many do not enforce company culture on their teams, leading to a fractured employee experience.
  • Over 75% of employees understand the values driving their company’s culture.
  • Workplace cultures frequently suffer from communication breakdowns, misaligned performance expectations, and burned-out employees.
  • 90% of organizational leaders believe that company culture is more important than ever in today’s business climate.

Is culture a top priority for your organization in 2025? If not, it should be. Company culture is an invisible force that impacts every facet of your business, but HR leaders have noticed a growing disconnect between cultural aspirations and actual implementation.

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The Role of Landscape Architects in Roadway Design Projects

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by Liia Koiv-Haus, ASLA, AICP

Historic Colorado bridge at US-24 over the Arkansas River / image: Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Region 5

State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) employ landscape architects who often serve as the aesthetic “eye” for transportation construction projects, selecting colors and textures, developing seed mixes, and providing other expertise to help projects blend into the surrounding context. Many DOT landscape architects conduct visual resource clearances through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process with the end goal of producing visual mitigation measures (see Visual Resources in the Practice of Landscape Architecture for more on this). This article is the first in a series that aims to outline gaps in visual mitigation guidance as well as provide opportunities and solutions to fill these gaps. The first gap that will be addressed is the disconnect between visual mitigation and the timing of project delivery. This article will outline a path forward to clarifying the landscape architect’s role in the NEPA process.

The root issue is that the timing of visual resource studies in the environmental process often restricts landscape architects to selecting aesthetic treatments or landscaping that will not drastically alter design, such as selecting colors, textures, materials, and seed mixes. There is a common misconception that landscape architects and landscapers are synonymous, and that because landscaping typically comes at the end of a construction project, landscape architects become involved at that phase. Minnesota DOT mentions that “early involvement of landscape architects can facilitate climate resiliency, thoughtful preservation and enhancement of environmental and community assets, human comfort, and visually pleasing transportation experiences,” but their Visual Quality Management (VQM) typically occurs at around 30 percent design. With the exception of high profile projects, DOT landscape architects’ involvement often occurs well into design.

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Voices of Women in Landscape Architecture, Part 14

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Clockwise from left: Brittany Lowe / image: PBK Marketing; Caroline Donaldson, ASLA / image: SeamonWhiteside; image: Nick Meyers; Emily Bousaada, ASLA / image: courtesy of Emily Bousaada

ASLA’s Women in Landscape Architecture Professional Practice Network (WILA PPN) is sharing the next set of profiles of women in the profession (see the previous installment right here). If you’d like to be featured, the PPN’s call for submissions will remain open, with profiles being shared on an ongoing basis.

Submit a WILA profile!

These profiles will appear on the PPN’s LinkedIn group, Facebook group, and here on The Field. This post includes Caroline Donaldson, ASLA, Emily Bousaada, ASLA, and Brittany Lowe.

Caroline Donaldson, ASLA

What inspired you to pursue a career in landscape architecture?

Growing up, my dad taught me about native plants and animals, which instilled a deep appreciation for nature. I have always loved design and art, but I didn’t know anything about landscape architecture until college. For undergrad, I earned a dual degree in English and Fine Art. In an art history class during my senior year, I read a section in a textbook about Olmsted and landscape architecture. It was my first exposure to the field and sounded like a perfect combination of my interests in nature, design, and communication. I ended up taking a leap and going straight into my MLA at Clemson University following undergrad.

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Input Needed: SITES v2 Rating System Updates

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by Danielle Pieranunzi, SITES AP, LEED AP

image: Danielle Pieranunzi

Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) has released the first addenda to the SITES v2 rating system—available on the SITES Resources webpage—and is seeking your feedback on SITES.

What are addenda?

Addenda are official updates that incorporate changes and improvements to the SITES v2 rating system and other published guidance documents to help clarify, correct, interpret or provide alternative language. Addenda should be referred to in conjunction with the SITES v2 rating system and other published guidance documents. Addenda are designed to be an intermediate step before an official version update to address needed changes to the rating system. Addenda are not intended to be inclusive of every needed change but are intentionally kept brief to be manageable.

What is included in the Q4 2024 addenda release?

This first addenda release includes various updates to the SITES v2 rating system for new construction and major renovations. Within these, there are both clarifications and credit changes, such as:

  • Credit 4.8: Optimize biomass. The biomass density index value for “unmanaged grass layers” (i.e., prairie) has been increased to more accurately reflect its provision of ecosystem services. Additionally, a new resource (RESOLVE) was provided to assist projects in determining the site’s terrestrial biome.
  • Credit 6.9: Encourage fuel efficient and multi-modal transportation. The option regarding electric recharge or alternative recharge stations now includes a minimum quantity. Additionally, the option for short- and long-term bicycle parking has more flexibility depending on site programming and use.

Be sure to review the complete list of updates in the SITES v2 addenda table.

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Get Organized for the New Year

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ASLA 2024 Professional Communications Honor Award. Connecting to Our Indigenous Histories at Machicomoco State Park. Gloucester Point, Virginia. Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects / image: Nick Hubbard

Heading into the closing stretch of 2024, now’s the time to get things together so you can catch any late-breaking deadlines in the weeks ahead and be prepared for what’s coming up within the first few months of the new year. First, a quick recap of ASLA deadlines on the horizon:

ASLA Professional Awards
Registration deadline: January 31, 2025
Submission deadline: March 7, 2025

ASLA Fellows Nominations
Deadline: February 1, 2025

ASLA Honors Nominations
Deadline: February 14, 2025

ASLA 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture Call for Presentations
Call opens: January 7, 2025
Deadline: February 18, 2025

ASLA Student Awards
Registration deadline: April 25, 2025
Submission deadline: May 9, 2025

For even more opportunities, from ASLA and beyond, see our RFQs, Opportunities, and Events page. Highlighted below are a few submissions with deadlines approaching. If you have an opportunity or event to share, all are welcome to submit them via the ASLA website.

RFQ: Planning Services for Georgetown Revitalization, Redding, CT
Deadline: December 9, 2024

The Town of Redding, Connecticut, seeks submissions from qualified planning consultants to support the revitalization and redevelopment of the Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill brownfield site and the surrounding Georgetown village area of Redding. The Town’s overriding goal is to promote Georgetown’s livability and business potential by making necessary zoning changes, sensitively restoring and re-using the major elements of the former wire mill, taking down the fences to integrate the mill site into the overall village environment, and encourage investment in a walkable town center that provides amenities not currently available in town.

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