Education

ASLA Announces 2023 Student Awards

The Dirt ContributorLeave a comment
ASLA 2023 Student General Design Award of Excellence. Reviving Yanomami Rights: Plant Matrix for Mercury Management. Zimeng Chen, Student Int’l ASLA; Yingjie Hu, Student Int’l ASLA; Yuxin Jiang; Yunshan Wan, Student Int’l ASLA; Gui Wei, Student Int’l ASLA; Zhengfei Yan, Student Int’l ASLA; Shiqian Yang; Faculty Advisor: Cundong Li; Shanghai Jiao Tong University；Sichuan University；Southeast University；China Architecture Design & Research Group

Thirty Student Award winners represent a bright future for the landscape architecture profession

By Lisa Hardaway

ASLA announced its 2023 Student Awards. Winners showcase innovation and represent the highest level of achievement among the future of the profession. All winners and their schools are listed below.

Jury panels representing a broad cross-section of the profession, from the public and private sectors, and academia, select winners each year and are listed below. The 30 winners were chosen out of 372 entries.

“I’m always excited to see the winners of the student awards because of the range of creativity, especially in the area of community engagement which is the future of our profession,” said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA. “This year’s winners are dedicated to making landscapes more accessible to more people and helping communities grapple with the climate and biodiversity crises.”

“These award winners are the brightest stars in landscape architecture programs around the country and internationally,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen. “When I visit campuses, I’m so impressed and energized by the way our students are committed to helping communities solve some of the biggest challenges. The projects represented in these awards speak to that commitment.”

Award recipients will be honored in person at the awards presentation ceremony during the ASLA 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture in Minneapolis, MN., October 27-30.

Award Categories

General Design

Award of Excellence
Reviving Yanomami Rights: Plant Matrix for Mercury Management
Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Sichuan University; Southeast University; China Architecture Design & Research Group

Honor Award
A Self-Help Plan Based on Productive Green Space Systems
Huazhong Agricultural University

Honor Award
Re(de)fining Decomposition
University of Virginia

Honor Award
The Oasis of Baer’s Pochard : Humanity in Harmony with Wetlands
Wuhan University/ Huazhong Agricultural University

Residential Design

Honor Award
Gentrification Vaccine: a pioneering housing paradigm for Long Beach
Sichuan Agricultural University

Honor Award
From Shelter to Home
University of Oregon

Urban Design

Honor Award
Harvest the Wind: Reshaping Urban Heat Island Through Urban Farming
Soochow University & Louisiana State University

Honor Award
The Gift of Volcanoes
Chongqing University; Milan Polytechnic University; University College London

Analysis & Planning

Honor Award
Hydrological Enclave: Adaptive Management of Non-water Supply Reservoir
University of Hong Kong

Honor Award
Retrieve the Lost Treasure: Forest Rehabilitation in Madagascar
Southeast University

Honor Award
Confrontation or Symbiosis
Northeast Forestry University, Tongji University

Honor Award
Designing Healthy Places in the American South: Montezuma, Georgia
University of Georgia

Honor Award
Design Tactics for Climate-Based Migration in Biodiversity Corridors
North Carolina State University

Student Collaboration

ASLA 2023 Student Collaboration Award of Excellence. On the Edge: A Climate Adaptive Park for the Battleship NC Memorial, Wilmington, NC. Marguerite Kroening, Student ASLA and Stella Wang, Student ASLA / Marguerite Kroening

Award of Excellence
On the Edge: a Climate Adaptive Park for the Battleship NC Memorial
North Carolina State University

Honor Award
Dynamic Roots
North Carolina State University

Honor Award
Caretakers + Placemakers of New Orleans
Louisiana State University

Communications

Honor Award
Art (that) Worlds: Design Guidelines for Equitable Public Art
Kansas State University

Honor Award
Walk to Learn: Exploratory Children’s Field Journal for Epping Way
Mississippi State University

Honor Award
Point of Confluence: Re-thinking Large Landscape Infrastructure Design
University of Southern California

Honor Award
Children’s Book and Learning Games on Indiana Native Plants & Habitats
Purdue University

Honor Award
The UC Davis Sheepmowers Project
University of California, Davis

Research

ASLA 2023 Student Research Award of Excellence. The Play Value of Plants, Lubbock, TX. Nazia Afrin Trina, Student ASLA

Award of Excellence
The Play Value of Plants
Texas Tech University

Honor Award
Advancing Trauma-Informed Landscape Architecture
North Carolina State University

Honor Award
Designing Spectrums
Cornell University

Honor Award
Equity in Landscape Architecture: Black Students’ Perspectives
Kansas State University

Honor Award
Built on Thawing Ice: Socio-Ecological Design in a Warming Arctic City
University of Virginia

Honor Award
Toward Dynamic Optimization: Combining AI and EBHDL for the Elderly
South China Agricultural University

Honor Award
Unearthing Water Efficiency: Clay Pot Irrigation Design & Fabrication
University of Oregon

Student Community Service

Award of Excellence
Rooted in Resiliency
Iowa State University

Honor Award
Collaboration & Sharing: Promoting Healthy Life in a Low-Income Community
Anhui University

The 2023 Student Awards Jury includes:

Jury 1 – General Design, Residential Design, Urban Design & Student Collaboration

Chair: Michael Grove, FASLA, Sasaki

Haley Blakeman, FASLA, LSU
David Jung, FASLA, AECOM
Adriana Hernández Aguirre, ASLA, Coleman & Associates
Christina Hite, ASLA, Dix-Hite
Ellen Stewart, ASLA, City of St Paul
Mark Yoes, FAIA, W X Y architecture + urban design

Jury 2–Analysis & Planning, Communications, Research & Student Community Service

Chair: Kofi Boone, FASLA, NC State University

Keven Graham, FASLA, Terra Engineering
Dalton LaVoie, ASLA, Stantec
Stephanie Onwenu, ASLA, Detroit Collaborative Design
Naomi Sachs, ASLA, University Maryland / Therapeutic Landscape Network
Andrew Sargeant, ASLA, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress

Next Generation of Landscape Architecture Leaders Focus on Climate, Equity, and Technology (Part II)

Jared GreenLeave a comment
Image created in Photoshop using generative AI / Phillip Fernberg

“Our fellows have shown courage, written books, founded mission-driven non-profits, created new coalitions, and disseminated new tools,” said Cindy Sanders, FASLA, CEO of OLIN, in her introduction of the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership program at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

Sanders highlighted the results of a five-year assessment of the LAF fellowship program and its efforts to grow the next generation of diverse landscape architecture leaders. The assessment shows that past fellows are shaping the future of the built environment in key public, non-profit, and private sector roles.

And she introduced the latest class of six fellows, who focused on climate, equity, technology, and storytelling:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) will bolster, break, and transform the process of landscape architecture,” said Phillip Fernberg, a designer and PhD student at Utah State University. Many kinds of artificial intelligence have been developed over past decades. But what has recently caught our collective attention is ChatGPT, an “artificial general intelligence.” He said ChatGPT “isn’t as magical as you may think” — it’s machine learning from patterns of data. But it shows the range of transformative and disruptive technologies to come.

AI will bolster landscape architects’ work by making it far easier to find images of different species of trees and plants. It will also help landscape architects and community groups better analyze landscapes, particularly at the large scale, and advance efforts on climate change, biodiversity, and equity.

But it will also break landscape architects’ conception of their role and value as designers. AI tools have already demonstrated they can create renderings that look nearly human made. This raises questions for landscape architects, like: “What is it that I really do?”

Renderings created by Midjourney AI / Jeff Cutler

Fernberg thinks renderings won’t become fully AI-driven, but designers’ jobs will be rethought to better integrate with AI. He said a host of privacy, ethical, and intellectual property issues will also need to be addressed.

Ultimately, AI will transform how landscape architects work, changing the data, models, and processes used by designers. He called for landscape architects and ASLA to catch up to where architects and planners are. These professions have formed networks and working groups and developed research to explore the implications of AI. “Landscape architects need to imbue their value system in these tools.”

For Daniel Winterbottom, FASLA, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Washington, access to gardens and nature in prisons helps inmates heal from abuse, trauma, and addiction and prepare for a healthier life after their incarceration.

Worldwide, there are currently 10.3 million people imprisoned. Approximately 25 percent of those people — 2.2 million — are incarcerated in the U.S. In America, prison is “oppressively bleak” and “designed to be demoralizing.” Prison practices are also rooted in a history of racism and social injustices. These environments are typically “austere and efficient.” Most often, there is very little access to nature.

In contrast, many European countries have “open prisons” that provide inmates access to wild nature. Inmates have responsibilities tending gardens and earn trust that prepares them to be responsible citizens post-incarceration.

Halden Prison Garden, Halden, Norway / Daniel Winterbottom, FASLA

Through a series of powerful recorded interviews, Winterbottom found that inmates involved in garden programs experienced a range of benefits. They experienced reduced stress and conflict. They harmed themselves and others less and cared for themselves and others more. “Working on the garden helped them work on themselves. Outer gardening led to inner gardening — weeding and pruning their defects and shortcomings,” one interviewee said. Correctional officers, which also suffer from high rates of PTSD and suicide, saw benefits.

Garden at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California / Insight Garden Program

Winterbottom sees the need for a national policy to enable restorative prison gardens, but acknowledged it will require long-term advocacy to achieve. He pointed to “pockets of change” in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington. He urged landscape architects to partner with prisons to develop gardens, volunteer or teach in prisons, mentor formerly incarcerated people, and advocate for reform.

“Landscape architects deal with massive social and environmental problems but we are nearly absent in popular culture. We need new vehicles to bring people in,” said Joseph James, ASLA, founder of Eponymous Practice. One promising vehicle is graphic novels, which are “the fastest growing section of the library.” These visual books are increasingly popular because they are “really approachable and accessible for struggling readers.”

Building on his love of comics, James spent his fellowship drawing and writing his own graphic novel focused on the power of place. He said places become meaningful for people when they are tied to memories and emotions. And he wanted to convey how landscape architects purposefully design places for people to connect to.

His graphic novel features teenagers who had transformed a park into a magical world, a place of adventure, with ruins and a wizard. They learn their beloved landscape is being threatened by a renovation, but then with the help of a neighborhood landscape architect become involved in the redesign process. They learn how landscape architects plan and design communities.

Landscape Architecture Graphic Novel / Joseph James
Landscape Architecture Graphic Novel / Joseph James

James is also developing a companion teacher’s guide for the graphic novel, with recommendations on how to use the book to teach earth and life sciences and design thinking. He argues that “place-based storytelling” is one of the best ways to reach young people and introduce them to landscape architecture.

And he called on landscape architects to develop strong relationships with K-12 schools and use hands-on drawing exercises in classes. His graphic novel is rooted in his work with teachers and students in Boston at the Boston Green Academy and explorations of Franklin Park.

The tree wizard of Franklin Park. Boston, Massachusetts / Joseph James

Read Part I

The ASLA Fund Announces Awardees of Inaugural National Competitive Research Grants

Jared GreenLeave a comment
Left: Dr. Daniella Hirschfeld, Utah State University / Bronson Teichert, Utah State University; Right: Dr. Sohyun Park, ASLA, University of Connecticut

Focus is on Extreme Heat and Biodiversity Loss Solutions Designed by Landscape Architects

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, has announced $25,000 in national competitive grants.

The grant awardees will produce research that outlines evidence of the benefits of landscape architecture solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. The research will be published on ASLA.org and openly accessible in spring 2024.

The grant awardees are:

Landscape Architecture Solutions to Extreme Heat

Dr. Daniella Hirschfeld, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Utah State University

Dr. Hirshfeld will explore landscape architecture- and nature-based solutions that are effective at reducing temperatures. Dr. Hirshfeld will identify design strategies that have demonstrated temperature reduction benefits while also sequestering carbon, protecting and increasing biodiversity, and reducing climate risks.

Landscape Architecture Solutions to Biodiversity Loss

Dr. Sohyun Park, ASLA, PhD, SITES AP, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Connecticut

Dr. Park will explore landscape architecture- and nature-based solutions that address the biodiversity crisis. Dr. Park will identify design strategies that offer proven biodiversity and ecological gains while also sequestering carbon, improving water quality and management, and reducing climate risks.

“While we were developing our Climate Action Plan, landscape architects told us what they needed most was authoritative evidence that demonstrates all the great benefits of their work. We are thrilled to work with Sohyun and Daniella on moving this critically important research forward,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen.

“This research will help all of us in the landscape architecture community make the strongest case possible with policymakers, community groups, allied professionals, and the public,” said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA. “We’ll have the best science and performance data on hand.”

The goals of the research reviews are to:

  • Understand and summarize the current state of knowledge.
  • Synthesize the research literature and provide insights, leveraging key data- and science-based evidence.
  • Create an accessible executive summary for policymakers, community advocates, and practicing landscape architects.

About the Grant Awardees

Dr. Daniella Hirschfeld

“Well-designed places, such as parks with large shade trees, can alleviate the experience of extreme heat caused by the climate crisis. To make these designs a reality, we need to understand their effectiveness and the multiple benefits they can provide,” Dr. Hirshfeld said.

Dr. Daniella Hirschfeld, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Utah State University. Daniella received her PhD in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from University of California, Berkeley. Her PhD was funded by the McQuown Fellowship at UC Berkeley and the State of California’s Ocean Protection Council. She received her master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and her bachelor’s degree in psychology and philosophy at Dartmouth College. Daniella also has professional experience in coastal zone management, sustainability planning, and urban planning.

Daniella is currently working with teams of collaborators on projects related to urban heat islands. She is working on an urban heat island mapping campaign funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Urban Heat Island Mapping Program, focused on understanding the inequities in the distribution of urban heat experiences in Salt Lake City. She is collaborating with climate scientists at Utah State University; non-profits; departments in Salt Lake City’s government; and science groups, including the Utah Climate Center, the Tracy Aviary, and the Natural History Museum of Utah.

Daniella is also working on “the injustice in the void spaces,” which surfaces the hidden inequities of poorly distributed climate science services. Her team has investigated the information and resources needed to design cities resilient to urban heat. She is collaborating with a team at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – Applied Science Program and the Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) on this research.

Dr. Sohyun Park

“As stewards of the land, we have the ability and privilege to restore and revitalize spaces that benefit both humans and non-human species. The biodiversity crisis is often not readily perceptible in our daily lives, so I hope the results of this research will provoke deep contemplation about the alarming state of biodiversity loss, foster a sense of global interconnectedness, and inspire greater action,” said Dr. Park.

Dr. Sohyun Park, ASLA, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut. She earned her Ph.D. degree in Environmental Design and Planning from Arizona State University, a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from Seoul National University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from Sookmyung Women’s University. She is a SITES Accredited Professional.

Sohyun’s research focuses on the intricate interplay between natural and human systems, with a particular focus on sustainability, resilience, and the health of ecosystems and communities. Her research aims to advance our understanding of how urban morphology, functions, and changes influence ecosystem services, as well as their interactions with human well-being. Her research centers around urban biodiversity, seeking solutions to address the biodiversity crisis.

Sohyun has secured grants from the U.S. National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Her work has been featured in the journals Nature Scientific Report, Landscape and Urban Planning, and Applied Geography. She has delivered plenary presentations at major international conferences, including the 2022 International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress, the 2022 International Symposium of Landscape Architecture, and the 2022 International Garden Symposium.

Sohyun holds several leadership roles, including Co-Chair of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture NE1962 National Multi-State Research Group; Chair of the ASLA Ecology and Restoration Professional Practice Network; and Vice President of the Global Landscape Architecture Network. She was Chair of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) conference tracks (2016-2022).

About the Grant Process

The national competitive grant for biodiversity loss received seven research proposals from academics at U.S. universities. The national competitive grant for extreme heat received nine proposals.

ASLA wishes to thank the selection and review panels for their contributions selecting the grant awardees and peer-reviewing the research:

Biodiversity Loss

  • Dr. James A. LaGro, Jr., PhD, Professor, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, College of Letters & Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison, and Editor-in-Chief, Landscape Journal
  • Nina-Marie Lister, Hon. ASLA, Professor, Director, Ecological Design Lab, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Toronto Metropolitan University; Founding Principal, PLANDFORM.
  • Ebru Özer, ASLA, Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design, Florida International University, and ASLA Vice President of Education
  • Dr. Susan Sherrod, PhD, Senior Ecologist, Professional Wetland Scientist, and Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner, Biohabitats

Extreme Heat

  • Dr. Wenwen Cheng, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Dr. James A. LaGro, Jr., PhD, Professor, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, College of Letters & Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison, and Editor-in-Chief, Landscape Journal
  • Ebru Özer, ASLA, Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design, Florida International University, and ASLA Vice President of Education

Dept. of Homeland Security Designates Landscape Architecture a STEM Discipline

The Dirt ContributorLeave a comment
ASLA 2020 Professional Research Honor Award. Seeding Specificity: Materials and Methods for Novel Ecosystems. Baltimore, Maryland. Mahan Rykiel Associates. Client: Maryland Department of Transportation and Maryland Port Administration

The designation recognizes the high degree of science, technology, engineering and mathematics course work required in landscape architecture collegiate programs

By Lisa Hardaway

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated landscape architecture a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) degree program. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) advocated for the designation.

“Landscape architecture applies science, technology, cutting edge research, and engineering principles, to design healthy communities, active transportation projects, campuses and parks. We help communities adapt to climate driven extreme weather and support biodiversity,” said Torey Carter-Conneen, CEO of ASLA. “The infrastructure challenges in municipalities across the country are enormous —landscape architects bring transformative solutions. Today’s decision will advance landscape architecture education and practice, and that is great for America and the global community.”

Landscape architecture programs are pioneering some of the most innovative research and developing new technologies – from using artificial intelligence for urban agriculture, to urban planning for autonomous vehicles; to hydraulic modeling, robotic fabrication, and augmented reality for water bodies, and more.

“The STEM designation finally reflects the reality of the discipline of landscape architecture. Our work is fully dependent on science and technology, from understanding soils at the level of microbial interactions and nutrient exchanges, which keep our urban canopy alive, to coastal adaptations informed by continuously evolving climate data,” said Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA, the Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “This new designation brings with it greater opportunities for students and graduates throughout the United States and beyond to become leaders in the field.”

“Landscape architects have incredible responsibility for the health, safety and well-being of communities which is why it’s imperative for landscape architects to continue to be licensed to practice,” said Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA, President of ASLA. “The STEM designation will be an additional tool in helping decision-makers understand the rigor this discipline demands.”

View the application materials ASLA submitted

Park(ing) Day 2023: Pollinator Places

Jared GreenLeave a comment
Park(ing) Day 2019 installation, Washington, D.C. / MKSK

Park(ing) Day is Friday, September 15. The focus of this year’s Park(ing) Day, which is now in its 17th year, is pollinators.

Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, and other insects need our help more than ever. Use your Park(ing) Day space to educate the public. Show them how landscape architects create healthy places for an important pollinator in your community.

You can use your space to:

  • Provide educational materials about a pollinator in your community that is at risk
  • Show native plants the pollinator relies on
  • Create an interactive game or demonstration that teaches how to design habitat

Post images of your Park(ing) Day installation to your social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Use the hashtag #ParkingDay and tag us (@Nationalasla)

Make sure you have permission or signed release forms from anyone you photograph.

ASLA will highlight the best posts from students, firms, and chapters across our social platforms!

Ideas for How to Highlight Pollinators

In 2019, MKSK partnered with the Washington, D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) and the US National Arboretum for Park(ing) Day. The team transformed two parking spots in downtown Washington, D.C. into a native “Pollinator Gallery” that educated the public about the importance of pollinators and the role landscape architects play in protecting them.

Parking Day 2022Park(ing) Day 2019 installation, Washington, D.C. / MKSK

Landscape architects showed the world from a bee’s perspective. “We show how color perception, habitat requirements, and food source change throughout the seasons and are vital to understanding how to create functional ecosystems in designed landscapes,” MKSK explains.

Their Park(ing) Day installation included a meadow of potted native perennials and grasses, and a field of pinwheels, ranging from violet to yellow. “They were painted to represent patterns of ultra-violet light that bees see on flower petals.” The pinwheels were also “fixed at varying heights to indicate the yearly summer peak of insect biomass and its overall decline in recent decades.”

Two bee box brackets “mimic the nesting tunnels created in the ground by solitary, native bees.” The brackets also became an “unexpected, impromptu photo booth for enthusiastic Park(ing) Day visitors.”

Parking Day 2022Park(ing) Day 2019 installation, Washington, D.C. / MKSK

Explore Park(ing) Day resources.

Apply Today: Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program

The Dirt ContributorLeave a comment
Inaugural class of the ASLA Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program / ASLA

By Elizabeth Hebron

Apply to be part of the 2023-25 class of the Women of Color Licensure Advancement Program. This program supports women of color pursuing licensure and increases racial and gender diversity within the profession.

Now in its second year, the program will provide 10 women of color with a two-year, personalized experience that includes up to $3,500 to cover the cost of sections of the Landscape Architectural Registration Exam (LARE), along with funding for and access to exam preparation courses and resources, and mentorship from a licensed landscape architect. Applications are due June 30.

Program eligibility requires the individual to:

  • Be a current ASLA member in good standing or eligible for ASLA membership at the associate, full, or affiliate membership levels
  • Identify as a woman and be a person of color
  • And be eligible to sit for the LARE in the state where they are pursuing licensure.

According to the U.S. Census and ASLA data, approximately 18.5 percent of the U.S. population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, while only 6 percent of ASLA members do. 13.4 percent of the U.S. population identifies as African American, but only 2.14 percent of ASLA members do. 1.3 percent of the U.S. population identifies as American Indian or Alaska Natives, but only 0.45 percent of ASLA members do. And 6.2 percent of the U.S. population identifies as Asian and Pacific Islander while 13.5 percent of ASLA members do, but ASLA doesn’t separate Asian from Asian American members in its data.

The statistics are telling, and as outlined in the Racial Equity Plan of Action, ASLA is committed to fostering equity and inclusion within the profession and making significant strides to ensure that the makeup of the profession closely mirrors the communities landscape architects serve.

Applications to the program are due June 30. Learn about the program and how to apply.

To help ASLA grow and expand the program, visit the ASLA Fund to donate today.

Elizabeth Hebron, Hon. ASLA, is director of state government affairs at ASLA.

Smart Climate Solution: Schools as Resilience Hubs

Jared GreenLeave a comment
Wildfire smoke in downtown Portland, Oregon / istockphoto.com, hapabapa

With climate change, wildfires and heat waves are becoming increasingly dangerous. In many communities, they occur at the same time in summer months, putting the public’s health at even greater risk. And children, which are one of the most vulnerable populations, are being impacted and having to stay home from school.

During these climate events, “can we open school buildings as shelters and safe community spaces?” asked Abby Hall, senior advisor for local and regional planning at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), during the Living Future conference in Washington, D.C.

Hall, a citizen of the Cherokee nation, works in the EPA’s Office of Policy, where she focuses on local and regional planning and leads projects that involve urban design, landscape architecture, and sustainable architecture. She also leads a partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support “better disaster recovery and climate adaptation planning.”

As part of this partnership with FEMA, Hall and her collaborators are developing county-wide hazard mitigation plans and pilot programs that increase resilience to extreme heat and wildfires in Oregon and Arizona.

“When we think of cooling centers, we may think of malls, movie theaters, faith-based facilities, community centers, parks, recreation centers, schools, and libraries,” Hall said. Many of these places can also serve as clean air centers. “These places can be respites, resilience hubs.”

For this effort, the EPA is focusing on schools in particular, and how to improve their infrastructure so they can serve as both cooling and clean air centers. The EPA is looking at schools because kids are among the most groups most impacted by heat and smoke. And if they need stay home from school, a parent also needs to stay home, causing ripple effects in communities.

Landscape architecture firm Spackman Mossop Michaels is consulting with the EPA for the multi-year effort. “We are helping focus attention on the priorities when we talk about vulnerabilities. There are lots of needs, but not enough resources,” said Emily Bullock, ASLA, a principal with the firm.

The planning team, which also includes Glumac, an engineering firm that is a subsidiary of Tetra Tech, is partnering with pilot communities in Kittitas and Multnomah counties in Oregon, and Pima County in Arizona, which includes tribal lands.

The team has conducted stakeholder meetings, run population and risk assessments, and developed action plans that function as “playbooks.”

What will also come out of the process with pilot communities is an “intentionally simple tool any community can use to identify threats and vulnerable populations, determine level of access to cooling and clean air centers, and identify the feasibility and costs of updating school facilities,” Bullock said.

In each community, both extreme heat or wildfire smoke were top issues, but one was slightly higher priority than the other.

In Multnomah County, which includes Portland, the team first explored: Where are the big impacts? Where are the most vulnerable?

Age is an important factor in determining vulnerability. Both children and older adults are at greater risk. The team also looked for communities with high percentages of asthma cases, people who work outside, and those with income below $50,000 per year.

The next level of analysis then meant to answer the questions: “How can we serve the most number of people? Where can we have the biggest bang for the buck?” Bullock said.

The team looked at census blocks and transit access to find the schools in the hottest locations, near the most numbers of vulnerable people, and where there was the highest population densities.

Then, an additional layer of analysis examined: “Which schools would be the easiest to upgrade? Which have the capacity for assembling large number of people, beyond students?”

Risk Assessment Diagram / Spackman Mossop Michaels

Across western states, there have been increasingly “hot and dry summers.” This weather creates conditions for “worst case scenarios — a super hot day with wildfire smoke,” Bullock said.

“And while heat and smoke require different solutions, children are the common factors,” Hall said.

Children face greater risks from heat because “their bodies are smaller, so it’s harder for them to cool down. They forget to drink water. They are less able to adapt to extreme heat because of physiological differences,” Hall explained.

And smoke is also a greater danger for them because “children continue to develop their lungs and have narrower airways. They take twice as many breaths as adults. They are lower to the ground where particulate matter rests. And they have more permeable skin.”

The risks facing children, older adults, and outdoor workers are worsened by systemic inequities. Previously redlined neighborhoods are hotter because of historic lack of investment in trees and green spaces. And these communities also often have lower levels of air conditioning in homes.

And in communities comprised of diverse cultures, “there may be different ways to cool bodies, based on age, ethnicity, or whether someone works outside.” So historic inequities and diversity must also be factored in.

Whether communities are dealing with heat or smoke, there are health risks for the entire population. Extreme heat can lead to heat stroke and cardiovascular, respiratory, and kidney disorders. Smoke can create eye, respiratory, and cardiovascular problems and exacerbate diseases. And asthma is worsened by smoke.

Heat risk assessment / Spackman Mossop Michaels
Wildfire risk assessment / Spackman Mossop Michaels

For children in school, heat and smoke also have significant impacts on learning ability. Studies demonstrate that test scores go down in warmer classrooms or when there are wildfires. And asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism in schools. “Reducing these impacts is really part of the business case for schools. Test scores are how they measure success,” Hall said.

The conversation then focused on how the pilot programs may help create national guidelines on heat and smoke for schools. “When should sports be cancelled? When should schools be closed? We need to do more work there,” Hall said.

The pilot programs will also offer best practices on how to upgrade HVAC systems and better prepare schools, teachers, and the community.

In many Pacific Northwest communities, air conditioning is rare because it hasn’t been needed. But with climate change, there is now a need to address increasingly common summer temperatures over 90 degrees. “Most of Portland, Oregon’s schools don’t have air conditioning,” Bullock said. “Where will they find the resources to upgrade?”

The analysis created by the EPA, Spackman Mossop Michaels, and Glumac also looks “beyond the HVAC” to roofs, campus streetscapes, tree canopies, and transportation systems as solutions.

“Our message is that schools are a safe place. Keep your children in school,” Hall said.

Climate Action Events in Los Angeles and Boston

Jared Green1 Comment
Magic Johnson Park, Los Angeles, California. MIG / Eric Staudenmaier

ASLA chapters are organizing in-person and virtual events to advance the goals of the ASLA Climate Action Plan. Landscape architects are seeking to build stronger climate action partnerships with allied professionals, academia, government, community leaders, and members of the public, so all are welcome and encouraged to participate.

In Los Angeles, the ASLA Southern California Chapter will host a day-long Climate Symposium on Earth Day, April 22, in Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park. The first phase of the climate-smart, equity-driven redesign of the 126-acre park was completed by landscape architects at MIG in 2021 — and it will be a focus of discussion at the symposium.

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts will share insights from the Studio-MLA-designed SoFi Stadium landscape. ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen will give an overview of ASLA initiatives.

And twenty landscape architects, educators, civic leaders, and allied professionals will share their climate action work:

Presentations will cover a range of topics:

  • how to reduce emissions and increase sequestration
  • how to adapt to sea level rise and rising urban temperatures
  • how to increase biodiversity
  • how to maximize green schoolyard, transportation, and healthy communities initiatives

“As a region on the front line of climate impacts, Southern California has an incredible opportunity to lead the way. Our chapter is passionate about equipping landscape architects with practical tools and empowering the next generation of students to create a better, more sustainable future. Together, we can make a real difference in the fight against climate change,” said Evan Mather, FASLA, principal and director of landscape architecture, MIG, and ASLA Southern California Past President and Climate Action Committee Chair.

The Point, Massachusetts / Bishop Land Design

And in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) has organized a free webinar on April 11 at noon EST with Scott Bishop, ASLA, founder of Bishop Land Design, Immediate Past Chair of the Climate Action Committee, and ASLA Climate Action Plan Advisory Group Member.

The webinar will be the first in a series of discussions and presentations as the chapter delves into climate action planning. “Whether you’re a sole practitioner or part of a large firm, private practice or public sector, every scale matters. Let’s figure this out together,” BSLA writes.

“For all of us who live in Boston, Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was a wake-up call. Since then, we have collectively worked to understand the vulnerabilities of the city, particularly related to sea level rise. We also now have a greater understanding of other climate impacts, such as urban heat islands,” said Jason Hellendrung, ASLA, with Tetra Tech and BSLA Climate Action Committee Chair.

“As we’ve shared our story with colleagues throughout New England, we’ve learned they share some of the same concerns — how heat will impact rural areas in western and northern New England; how climate change will affect forestry and the economy, including tourism and skiing. As landscape architects, we are each working towards solutions in different ways at multiple scales. We recognize that we have lots to do and lots to learn from each other.”

Bishop will provide an overview of the Climate Action Plan and highlight some of his firm’s projects that exemplify the plan’s goals. For example, the Point, a coastal project south of Boston, envisions a park and ferry terminal built behind a living coastal bluff. The project is “designed to protect the neighboring community and unique habitats of the park from sea level rise and increased storm intensity,” Bishop said.

“The Point project checks several boxes of the Climate Action Plan by looking at public transportation options, including electric ferries; using living systems as infrastructure; protecting and enhancing biodiversity; and sequestering carbon dioxide with trees and wetlands.”

Learn more and register for the Climate Symposium in Los Angeles on April 22 and the webinar in Boston on April 11.

And explore the ASLA Climate Action Plan and Climate Action Field Guide for ASLA Members, three hours of videos, and discussion guides.

New Research Grants: Evidence for Landscape Architecture Solutions to the Climate and Biodiversity Crises 

Jared GreenLeave a comment
ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. Duke University Water Reclamation Pond. Durham, North Carolina. Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects / Mark Hough, FASLA

The ASLA Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, has announced $25,000 in national competitive grants to develop research reviews. This opportunity is open to ASLA members and non-members in academia.

The ASLA Fund invites landscape architecture educators to develop succinct and impactful research reviews that investigate evidence of the benefits of landscape architecture solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.

The goals of the research reviews are to:

  • Understand and summarize the current state of knowledge.
  • Synthesize the research literature and provide insights, leveraging key data- and science-based evidence.
  • Create accessible executive summaries in plain language for policymakers, community advocates, and practicing landscape architects.

Over the next few years, research grants will be issued to explore solutions to a range of issues, but the first two grants in 2023 will focus on:

  • Landscape Architecture Solutions to Biodiversity Loss ($12,500)
  • Landscape Architecture Solutions to Extreme Heat ($12,500)

“We need landscape architecture educators’ advanced research skills to build the evidence. Working together, landscape architecture educators, practitioners, and students can help us achieve the goals of the ASLA Climate Action Plan,” said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA.

“Landscape architecture educators are key to driving forward research on solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. This critically important work helps build the foundations for landscape architecture as design science and support efforts to designate landscape architecture a STEM discipline,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter Conneen.

‘Hypar-nature’ Wildlife Bridge. West Vail Pass, Colorado. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc +HNTB

The research grant period will run from June to the end of this year. The research surveys will be peer reviewed.

The grants are open to landscape architecture educators who are currently affiliated with a university, have a graduate degree, and have published at least one peer-reviewed research paper.

Please submit your proposals by Friday, April 28 at asla.org/evidence.

Sustaining Intentions While Pursuing Mission-driven Design

Jared GreenLeave a comment
CUT|FILL 2023

“Can we sustain our intentions while also expanding our profession?”, asked Sandra Nam Cioffi, ASLA, founding principal, Ink Landscape Architects, at this year’s Cut|Fill, a participatory and collaborative “unconference” on landscape architecture.

In a wide-ranging discussion, five women design leaders delved into how to design with intention and empathy amid the pandemic, inequities, and economic pressures — and preserve mental health and well-being in the process.

According to Maura Rockcastle, ASLA, principal and co-founder of TEN x TEN, sustaining intentions in a mission-driven firm can only be achieved through “radical transparency” — both within the firm and in interactions with clients.

To achieve this level of transparency, TEN X TEN “has adopted a flat-flex leadership model and shared information on salaries. We have undertaken decolonizing, non-violent communications training. We have hosted team retreats on hiring, marketing, and management to refine our vision.”

But maintaining a commitment to mission-driven work while growing a firm is also challenging. “Where do we reinvent ourselves and evolve and where do we save time? How do we focus on health, happiness, and joy, but also balance that with efficiency? Where do we push boundaries and how do we also keep things manageable?”

Maintaining intentions may mean looking outside conventional landscape architecture practice, said Maci Nelson, Assoc. ASLA, a podcaster, educator, designer, and host of The Landscape Nerd Podcast. She often felt like she “didn’t know where she belonged” in the landscape architecture profession. “As a mother of a child with special needs, I didn’t see others in private practice given time off. I saw my friends easily discarded and laid off.”

To “keep her foot in the profession,” Nelson began researching, discovering new perspectives, and finding the connections that weren’t often discussed. “I began focusing on media and storytelling that is accessible for everyone.” To sustain her purpose, she created a podcast designed to “bring out everyone’s inner nerd and connect the nerdoms.”

“In 2010, the economy was bad, and I was struggling to find my place. As a single mom, I needed a flexible work schedule. I hopped around — doing design-build work, public art, and teaching CAD as an adjunct faculty,” said Linda Chamorro, co-founder of the Tierra Media Project, and assistant professor in landscape architecture, environmental, and urban design at Florida International University.

Then, during the height of the pandemic, she became a tenure-track faculty member at Florida International University. In her new role, “I felt pressure to define an academic agenda,” to set her intention.

“Attending the first Cut|Fill event in 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd was an impactful moment for me and helped me find my calling in the field. I have been rethinking so much since 2020, learning and unlearning.”

One learning opportunity was a Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) Leadership and Innovation Fellowship, which Chamorro undertook as part of a collective of Latinx landscape architects. Their fellowship explored Latin American conceptions of tierra (land). For a group of expat designers “not fully of the U.S. or Latin America, who exist in a hybrid, in-between space,” it was an opportunity to explore “beautiful and fascinating rabbit holes.”

“When I worked at an architecture firm, there were only three people of color, and we were the only ones working late and on the weekends,” said Fauzia Khanani, founding principal, Studio Fōr. She then realized her intention: “I could practice on my own, address issues for other people of color, and create a community focused on impactful work.”

Now twelve years after founding the studio, Khanani thinks design professions are still “white male-dominated fields, but that’s shifting.” Prior to the pandemic and George Floyd, “I didn’t speak publicly about race and inequality,” but there has been a “fork in the road” with the “mass recognition of police violence against people of color” and that too has changed.

Khanani joined Design as Protest, a design advocacy non-profit organization, which is focused on “making change at the larger scale.” But increasingly, she sees the for-profit and non-profit sides of her work merging. She thinks values are aligning among more young designers of color.

Conversation then shifted to how it’s important for landscape architects to maintain a sense of empathy with the communities they serve. This was viewed as key to preserving a sense of intention and advancing mission-driven work.

However, in some cases, a firm’s client may not fully understand what a community needs or wants. It’s increasingly the role of the landscape architect to start those difficult community conversations and create support for the collaborative, community-led processes needed for projects success.

The added challenge is that many of these approaches may be a “bit unprecedented” with clients and requires “showing up differently,” Rockcastle said. “Empathy is now required. But how can we advocate differently? How can we push projects towards different goals and outcomes?”

“As designers, we need to model the ways that don’t currently exist,” Chamorro said. “We need to model different ways of doing things and push back on expectations.”

“Not everyone speaks and hears in the same way. Observe closely how your client communicates, and how you communicate, and what resonates or not. If you start that process, you can reduce misunderstandings about new design processes,” Nelson argued.

Pursuing mission-driven work during a pandemic, increasing workloads, and rapid economic and social change has led to mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and burn-out among designers. “Where can landscape architects go for mental health support?,” Nam Cioffi asked.

“I go inward. If I am not going to take care of myself, who will? I go on walks — if I can interact with my child or pet, a plant or tree, I can connect and find myself again,” Chamorro said.

“I share challenges with my team and make them part of the decision-making process. But I also make sure the workplace is not adding to the stress of their lives,” Khanani said.

“I am empathetic so I absorb and feel the struggles of others. It’s important to be honest and model healthy ways of interacting and not be too emotional. You can have, feel, and name emotions. And then we can bring our empathy to the table with clients,” Rockcastle said.

“Landscape architecture created traumatic experiences for me. It’s important to focus on mental wellness, value your feelings, and share them. I monitor what I say but am honest,” Nelson explained.

Panelists then discussed the value of self-care — seeing a therapist or personal coach; listening to motivational podcasts or audio books; and enjoying cooking, art, and other restorative, creative pastimes.

And amid all the flux, the future remains filled with possibilities. “If you looked at the top 50 professions 50 years ago, you will see most don’t exist today. The job you may want to do may not exist yet, but you still have time to create it,” Nelson said.