Landscape Architecture in the News

Richard Arentz, ASLA
Joan Honeyman, ASLA
Jordan Honeyman Landscape Architecture
Warren Byrd, FASLA
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Swimming With the Irises
Washington Post (Washington, DC)
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR) 
Lawn & Landscape
Inside Bay Area
Swimming pools are as popular as ever, more so perhaps as back yards are converted into outdoor entertainment areas…Landscape architects and designers are striving to make the pool a less jarring element…Swimming pools form parts of larger ponds where plantings filter the water. "I guess in theory you could have enough plant life to clean the water," said Richard Arentz, a landscape architect based in Washington. "Can you get it so clean it would meet American tastes? I don't think we are there yet, but it's promising that the Europeans are doing it."… While other designers have not yet followed Mannion's use of plants in swimming pools, they are striving to integrate the swimming pool more successfully into a larger landscape. "People are much more design savvy and don't want the pool as this big barren thing in the middle of the back yard," said Joan Honeyman, of Jordan Honeyman Landscape Architecture in Washington… At a large contemporary house in Tidewater Virginia, landscape architect Warren Byrd created a swimming pool and nearby lap pool next to a designed freshwater pond where native bog and aquatic plants are used to filter storm water from the house… "They are basically three related, designed bodies of water that tie together, that relate to the larger body of water in the distance," said Byrd, of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects in Charlottesville.

Ryan Bricker, ASLA
HNTB Corp.
These treehouses take backyard fun to a new level
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX)
Only the far reaches of imagination limit what lies within the bounds of the wooden walls at the Dallas Arboretum's Ultimate Treehouses exhibit. Thirteen treehouses are as magical on the outside as they are in. So open your eyes and mind and enjoy…
WHAT IS IT? Wall panels resembling leaves surround the tree.
WE TALKED WITH: Ryan Bricker of the HNTB Corp. and Brad Bell Studio design team
RYAN SAYS: We went to about 10 or 11 different elementary schools and talked to students from different grades. We taught them about some different trees that are native to North Texas and asked them to decorate some leaves that resembled leaves from those trees. 

Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Warren T. Byrd Jr., FASLA
Susan Nelson, ASLA
Thomas Woltz, ASLA
The design of landscaping
Charlottesville Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA)
There is a place in Pennsylvania where tender sprigs of trees will grow tall and strong, and wildflowers bloom where heroes rest….The Charlottesville firm Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects is playing a major role in the creation of this national park that will be unlike any other.  “Even though we all felt that 9/11 was a tremendously emotional thing, it wasn’t until going to the site that we really felt it,” said Warren T. Byrd Jr., who founded the business in 1985 with his wife, Susan Nelson…On a recent afternoon Byrd and his partner, Thomas Woltz, addressed the question of how a relatively small firm that has 22 people on its staff can land such high-profile and prestigious projects.  Byrd needed only one sentence to get to the heart of the matter.  “We think we get the jobs we do because we do good work,” Byrd said.

Mike Sosadeeter, ASLA
Manatee's rapid growth slows park construction
Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, FL)
EAST MANATEE - Three years ago, Manatee County bought 178 acres near Interstate 75 and Kay Road for a park slightly larger than G.T. Bray Recreational Complex in West Bradenton.  The only hint that a $15.5 million park might one day come to pass is a sign that says Tom Bennett Park visible from I-75.  Manatee County's explosive growth has forced delays to the Bennett project, which will one day turn a cow pasture into trails, a canoe/kayak launch and picnic and sports facilities just northwest of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on State Road 64, said Mike Sosadeeter, Manatee Parks and Recreation landscape architect.  "It's all tied into growth," Sosadeeter said. "There's so much going on. We are divided pretty thinly across the landscape in building new parks and maintaining those we have."

Dwight Weatherford, FASLA
Rail corridor could bring $30 million to tri-counties
Pontotoc Progress (Tupelo, MS)
With about 100 people gathered at the Union County Courthouse last Wednesday, the proposed rail-to-trail conversion of an abandoned railroad corridor that spans Union, Pontotoc and Chickasaw counties, gained momentum as people from Lafayette, Lee and other surrounding counties, as well as several tourism organizations, joined in the effort to preserve a piece of Northeast Mississippi history… Landscape architect Dwight Weatherford, who helped plan the Longleaf Trace between Hattiesburg and Prentiss — a 40-mile trail similar to the proposed Tanglefoot Trail — said the Longleaf gets about 100,000 visits per year.

William Wenk, FASLA
Susan Saarinen, ASLA
Center of attention- What design would make Denver's urban heart beat?
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Ever since the Civic Center Conservancy hired architect Daniel Libeskind last fall to come up with concepts to improve Civic Center, the urban heart of Denver has been the talk of the town… Who: William Wenk: founder/principal of Wenk Associates, a landscape architecture and planning firm whose projects include Denver's Northside Park, the city's Game Plan for parks and the Sand Creek Greenway.  The theory: a "green ribbon" as a vehicle to increase the tree canopy, create outdoor "rooms," and link other improvements planned for Civic Center… Who: Susan Saarinen, principal, Saarinen Landscape Architecture, whose projects include Foothills Art Center's new sculpture garden, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge. The theory: Symbolic of home, strength, life and family, trees also represent nourishment, water and shade, making them the best choice for guiding the public to and through Civic Center park.

Cimarron Chacon, ASLA
Gooseberry Mesa in Utah is mountain bikers' dream
The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Gooseberry Mesa in southwest Utah near Zion National Park is gaining fans as one of the top mountain-biking spots in the United States.  It's still not as famous as Moab, a Utah spot to the east that may be the No. 1 mountain-biking venue in the United States…It's the kind of place where you can easily spend days, but most cyclists do 13 1/2 tough miles, said Cimarron Chacon, a landscape architect and trail expert with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.  Two things make Gooseberry Mesa special, she said. It was designed for mountain biking and will challenge cyclists but not frustrate them, and the scenery is outstanding, she said.

Cornelia Oberlander, FASLA
A field waves on the Vancouver skyline
National Post (Canada)
Vancouver has a secret rooftop garden -- under lock and key for now. Few people are aware of it. Fewer still have stepped inside, dragged a foot through the tall blue grass, soaked up the view or felt the surrounding calm… Its purposeful concealment -- and the fact it's the creation of a living legend, 82-year-old landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander -- makes the secret garden the more mysterious. I had to see it.  First, though, I called Mrs. Oberlander at her Vancouver home. She was just home from Inuvik, where she had examined the site of a potential new project. "I am an extremely busy landscape architect," she said.  Born in Germany, Cornelia Hahn and her family fled Nazi persecution in 1939 and settled in the United States. She obtained a degree in landscape architecture at Harvard and in 1953 moved to Vancouver with her husband, Peter.

Bill Sanders, ASLA
Gwinn park to see major renovation
Marquette Mining Journal (Marquette, MI)
GWINN — Renovation work on Peter Nordeen Park in downtown Gwinn is expected to begin late this month following this weekend’s community “Fun Daze” celebration.  “This is an exciting project for Forsyth Township,” said Township Trustee Mike Jakubowski. “I think citizens will really appreciate the improvements once they are completed.”…The project budget is $665,000, with $492,100 coming from a grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund according to Bill Sanders, a landscape architect with U.P. Engineers & Architects, Inc., who is coordinating the project. The balance of funding will come from Forsyth Township and private donations.

Jennifer Jones, Student ASLA
Business briefs
Nevada Appeal (Nevada)
CFA hires Jennifer Jones as landscape designer
CFA, Inc., a multidisciplinary consulting firm specializing in planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture and surveying, recently hired Jennifer Jones as landscape designer.  Jones will assist architects in preparing landscape and irrigation plans, GIS analysis and computer display graphics.   Jones was a graduate research assistant at the University of Arizona, where she assisted in identifying appropriate areas for public access along flash-flood drainage systems.   She received her bachelor of science degree in biology and environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's in landscape architecture from the University of Arizona.  She is a member of the Sigma Lambda Alpha honor society for landscape architecture.

Lawrence Halprin, FASLA
Patt Morrison: Tourist Photos? Get Me Security!
Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA)
It was the talking building that finally did it for Will Funk.  His photography students had been trudging through downtown Los Angeles — in from Claremont, you know, taking in the big-city sights — and they were walking near 7th and Figueroa — walking, mind you, not even pausing, much less taking pictures — when a voice came out of a wall… Downtown L.A. has finally been getting a tourism payoff from years of building and boosterism. Take the Bunker Hill Steps, inspired by the spectacular Spanish Steps in Rome. They're at the foot of what's known as the Library Tower. It's the tallest building west of the Mississippi, 73 stories, and reportedly the target of an unspecified terrorist plot after 9/11. The steps and their waterfall, designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, are listed everywhere as public art, as is the Robert Graham sculpture at the top of the steps. But picture takers who believe that are getting intercepted by security.

Landscape Architects
A garden 'expert'? Find out for sure
Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA)
IF you own a home and plot of land, you may, at some point, need a landscape professional. Perhaps to restore an old garden or build a new one, to prune lofty trees or handle the challenges of a steep, fire-prone site. Indeed, some jobs are best left to experts.  There's no shortage of specialists for hire: landscape architects, designers, contractors and various arborists. But which one is right for your job — and your budget?  Let's start with landscape architects, who must complete years of advanced education, on-the-job training and be licensed by the state. These well-paid professionals and their firms can handle big commercial, municipal and residential jobs — complicated projects that are reviewed by public agencies. They're usually involved from concept through construction.

ASLA Green Roof
David Yocca, ASLA
Plants, grass on the rooftop? No longer an oddity.
Christian Science Monitor
CHICAGO – In the center of downtown Chicago lies an oasis of green.  Monarch butterflies flit past little bluestem. Bees fly from prairie clover to purple coneflowers. A small hawthorn tree rises from a mound.  The expanse of native plants and grasses isn't a park, but the top of City Hall, the premier green roof in a city that is making green building a civic cornerstone…In Chicago, they sit atop the Apple store, a Target, and a McDonald's. Even Chicago's soon-to-open Wal-Mart will have one - the company's first.  Nationally, green roofs grace the Gap headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.; a Ford Motor plant in Dearborn, Mich.; and the American Society of Landscape Architects building in Washington…. "What we've seen in Europe is that once the technology was understood and people saw that it worked, combined with incentives from the regulatory side, it really blossomed as an idea," says David Yocca, a senior partner at the Conservation Design Forum in Elmhurst, Ill., who has designed a number of green roofs. "It's the sort of idea that makes a lot of sense."

Dennis Carmichael, FASLA
American Society of Landscape Architects
EDAW
Imperfect Beauty
Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD)
Some designers say forget about balance and straight lines. The principle is asymmetry and it's how nature made us.  Glass artist Dale Chihuly's unruly flowers take growing instructions from some errant strand of artistic DNA…Asymmetry, says Dennis Carmichael, president of the American Society of Landscape Architects, "doesn't mean chaos. It means a different way of achieving balance...There "was a moment in the 1980s and early '90s when classical architecture had a renaissance and we were doing these classically informed gardens, plazas and streetscapes where symmetry became important," says Carmichael, vice president of EDAW, the landscape architect for the grounds of the new headquarters. Today, he says, "We are in a more organic mode."  The office complex, scheduled to open in two stages beginning this fall, "epitomizes the sea change," Carmichael says. "It is a wacky building. There isn't a straight line [in it]. It has a curvy, whirly, fractured geometry to it. There's no formal language to it at all, except for the functionality. It breaks every rule that you can imagine," he says. "Our landscape is as wild and crazy and wacky as the building. It curves and flies around, up and down the building."

Rick Heenan, Affiliate ASLA 
ASLA
Rick Heenan Named National Sales Manager for DIG
Lawn & Landscape
DIG Corporation, provider of LEIT irrigation controllers, drip irrigation products and battery operated controllers, announced the promotion of Rick Heenan to national sales manager. He will have the primary responsibility of managing the DIG commercial sales team while striving to satisfy all of DIG’s client’s needs… Heenan joined DIG in 1990 as a sales representative and quickly rose to supervisory and management positions. He is an active member of multiple industry associations such as ASIC, ASLA, and the CLCA. He has participated in educational seminars through the Irrigation Association such as Drip irrigation in the Landscape.

Nuszer Kopatz Urban Design Associates 
Randy Duzan, ASLA
Jamie Hendrickson, Associate ASLA
People on the move, 6/20
Denver Post (Denver, CO)
NUSZER KOPATZ recently added the following staff members: Randy Duzan, ASLA, as principal; Stan Snyder, Shelly LaMastra and Jamie Hendrickson as landscape architects; and Annamarie Villalobos as receptionist.

Walter J. Hood, ASLA
Online Voting for New Orleans Competition Opens Today
Architectural Record
Today the environmental organization Global Green USA will reveal the finalists of its Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans. The public is invited to help determine the winner by logging onto www.globalgreen.org and voting for their favorite.  The winner will be announced August 30. Screen star and architecture aficionado Brad Pitt chaired the design jury; he is also one of the contest’s co-sponsors…Pitt hatched the idea of the competition with Global Green President Matt Petersen in September 2005; since then they assembled a design jury that includes architects Thom Mayne and Marion Weiss, University of Virginia Professor William Morrish, landscape architect Walter J. Hood, environmental educator David Orr, and Studio Sumo co-founder Yolanda Daniels, as well as Petersen.

John Sinnette, ASLA
Another eatery eyes Woodbury
Portsmouth Herald News (Portsmouth, NH)
NEWINGTON -- Residents may get a little bit of Texas right in their back yards if a proposed chain restaurant receives approval.  WD Partners appeared before Conservation Commission members Thursday night with a proposal for a Texas Roadhouse restaurant.  "This would probably be several days worth of surveying," John Sinnette, landscape architect for WD Partners, told the board. "If that's what's expected of us, that's fine. But if something else can be worked out, we'd like to discuss it."

Carol R. Johnson Associates
Knitting Mill’s transformation to Hall of Fame moves forward
Finger Lakes Times (Geneva, NY)
SENECA FALLS — Detailed design work is about to get under way for the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame in the old Seneca Knitting Mill building…Development of the new museum will be led by Ann Beha Architects of Boston, which was selected after a national search, Hall Executive Director Billie Luisi-Potts said. Joining the firm are exhibition designer Andrew Merriell & Associates of Sante Fe, N.M.; marketing experts LaPlace Cohen of New York City and Los Angeles; development consultants Anne Butterfield Co. of Harvard, Mass.; landscape architects Carol R. Johnson Associates of Boston; and structural engineer Robert Silman of New York City.
 
Landscape Architects
ASLA’s Firm Finder
Choosing a landscape designer
Monterey County Herald (Monterey, CA)
More than two years ago, this column was about "How to Work with a Landscape Contractor." I reviewed the differences between landscape contractors, landscape designers and landscape architects -- and the choice of the right professional for the work to be done. (Refer to the list of online resources in today's column.)… Once you have assembled all this information, you will be ready to interview landscape designers. Landscape architects and landscape contractors are licensed. Landscape designers are not licensed, but they should provide references on their designs for properties such as yours. Call those clients, ask a lot of questions and, if possible, visit their gardens to see the designs…Resources:  American Society of Landscape Architects: www.asla.org (click on "Firm Finder")

Jim Sipes, ASLA
Garden variety
The Record (Hackensack, NJ)