April 2006

National Landscape Architecture Month

By Dennis Carmichael, FASLA, President, American Society of Landscape Architects

All Photos Courtesy ASLA

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has proclaimed April 2006 as National Landscape Architecture Month.  ASLA chapters across the country will celebrate with public outreach activities to help communities “Discover Landscape Architecture,” the theme for this year. The month encompasses Earth Day on April 22 and the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted on April 26, who founded the American landscape architecture profession.

Landscape architecture touches our lives every day in hundreds of different ways.  National Landscape Architecture Month is a great opportunity for Americans of all ages to learn more about how landscape architecture can improve our communities, increase property values, and protect our environment through creative, sustainable design.

At the national level, ASLA will focus on helping the public “discover” a number of important landscape architecture issues, from security design, disaster preparedness, to residential design.  ASLA will also encourage students to explore careers in this growing field by partnering with the ACE Mentor Program of America to introduce high school students to landscape architecture. 

The culmination of the month will include the Society’s official unveiling of its new, groundbreaking green roof.  The ASLA green roof will serve as a demonstration project, exemplifying how DC-area businesses can do their part to help improve the environment and promote sustainable design. Monitoring equipment will be installed on the roof to provide quantifiable data on environmental improvements, including water quality and temperature modification, and will be available online.

Rendering of the ASLA green roof; Image courtesy of Michael Van Valkenburgh and Associates, Inc.

ASLA in conjunction with our national partners the American Horticultural Society, The American Institute of Architects, the American Nursery and Landscape Association, the American Public Health Association and National Public Health Week, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, GreenDC Week, PLANET and National Lawncare Month, Project Evergreen, the Urban Land Institute, and the U.S. Green Building Council, looks forward to sharing the diversity of our profession in the coming month.  We encourage everyone nationwide to seek out his or her local ASLA chapter and get involved in a local event to learn more about this exciting profession.  To locate an event near you, visit www.asla.org.
 

Dennis Carmichael, FASLA, is President of the American Society of Landscape Architects.  He  is a licensed landscape architect who received his degree from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse.  His work incorporates narrative landscape strategies to connect people to place for projects ranging from small gardens to urban parks to new communities.  He is interested in creating places that reveal their unique qualities of history, culture, and ecology.

Over the past 25 years, Dennis has been a design leader at EDAW, creating dozens of implemented works around the country.  Noteworthy projects under his direction include Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta; Sallie Mae Headquarters in Reston; West Main Street Arts District in Louisville; Celebration new community in Florida; and Ross's Landing in Chattanooga.  These works and others have been published in Landscape Architecture, Architectural Record, Southern Living, and Process Architecture.  He has been the recipient of twelve ASLA awards and dozens more from AIA, APA, ULI, and AAN.

Dennis has served ASLA in many capacities: as Potomac Chapter president and trustee; ASLA vice president for information and practice; host chair for the annual meeting in 1992; and as a member of the Centennial Celebration Committee, the Public Relations Advisory Committee, several CAT projects, and the Green Roof Task Force.  He was made a Fellow of ASLA in 1999.

Publisher's Note:  Read more about the current ASLA Headquarters greenroof project here in The Greenroof Projects Database, and complete coverage can be seen at Green Roof Central on the ASLA website here, including news, drawings, and interviews.  You can even check out the ASLA photo archive of the greenroof progress from Forrester Construction each week - the latest version of Flash is required.  I asked the ASLA for a synopsis of their project to highlight more about the why, who, and how's and a little more info about our organization (I am an associate member of the ASLA):

LSV:  How did the idea for a greenroof begin and why it is important for the ASLA to set an example?

ASLA:  When the American Society of Landscape Architects found out that the headquarters building in downtown Washington, DC, needed a new roof it seemed only fitting that this new roof would be a green roof.  Landscape architects are leading many green roof projects across the US and abroad, so it was a natural choice for ASLA. T he new roof will serve as a demonstration project on this sustainable technology that can cure so many urban ills and hopefully, provide a catalyst for more green roof development in Washington and beyond.

LSV:  Who has been involved?

ASLA:  Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., is leading the design process, collaborating with Conservation Design Forum to develop the design and specifications for the approximately 3,300 square foot roof surface.  Gensler will provide architectural services relating to the roof access.

LSV:  How it is getting accomplished - donations, member support, volunteers?

ASLA:  The project is funded through a combination of grants, donated products, and fundraising.

LSV:  Could you provide our readers who may not be familiar with the American Society of Landscape Architects with some more info of the ASLA as an organization - its mission and goals?

ASLA:  Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 16,200 members in 48 professional chapters and 68 student chapters. Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land analysis, planning, design, manage-ment, preservation, and rehabilitation.  ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication, and fellowship.  Members of the Society use their "ASLA" suffix after their names to denote membership and their commitment to the highest ethical standards of the profession.

LSV:  What types of events are planned for Landscape Architecture Month?

ASLA:  Each week of Landscape Architecture Month will focus on a different aspect of the profession, and a brief recap of events for the first of week of April is listed below for reference. This week's focus is on Security Design and Disaster Preparedness and included:

Saturday, April 1: Tours of the Washington Monument - Laurie Olin, FASLA, discusses the new security design 10:00-11:00 am, 11:00 am-12:00 pm at the Washington Monument Guided tours of the Monument with explanation of newly incorporated permanent security provisions.

Monday, April 3: SWA Group's Kevin Shanley, ASLA, discusses their award-winning work 6:30-8:00 pm at the National Building Museum

Friday, April 7: Kevin Shanley, ASLA, discusses coastal wetlands restoration in the Gulf Coast and the landscape architect's role in disaster preparedness Radio media tour; Interviews available upon request

Saturday, April 8: Construction Watch Tour of the ASLA Green Roof
Tour the new ASLA green roof, currently under construction.

Follow the rest of the events of Landscape Architecture Month and learn more about the profession online at www.asla.org.