We’ve all had that conversation with someone about just what is it that landscape architects really do. With practice opportunities as broad and diverse as they are today, what comes to mind for me is not so much ‘what’ we do, but rather ‘how’ we do it. Perspectives matter.
Landscape architects routinely consider multiple perspectives that include interactions of scale, time, connections, systems, people, nature, and others in solving today’s complex planning and environmental design problems. With a comprehensive viewpoint, landscape architects add ‘voice’ to elements that are often silent but critical.
It is through this perspective that we open opportunities and vantage points not readily apparent in planning for the future. This is what contributes so powerfully to landscape architects improving and protecting our environments in the work they do.
Chicago has shown the world a planning and design perspective that has looked to the future since the 19th century. As the nation’s center of water and rail transportation, it has leveraged its impact in many ways that include a legacy of significant landscape architecture. The influence of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, Burnham’s 1909 City Plan, Jens Jensen, and Frederick Law Olmsted, along with so many others, is evident in Chicago’s many award-winning examples of contemporary open space and park development.
Located along the edge of Lake Michigan, our meeting site commands views of the heart of Chicago’s Loop and skyline and its beautiful park system. The many events and educational sessions planned for year’s ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO are described in detail on the pages that follow. I know you’ll find plenty of reasons to attend!
Share your own professional perspectives and join in greeting old friends, meeting new ones, and celebrating Landscape Architecture with us in Chicago.
Richard Zweifel, FASLA
ASLA President
ASLA Annual Meeting Education Advisory Commitee
Michael Albert, ASLA
Design Workshop
Christopher Dimond, FASLA
PWP Landscape Architecture
Kona Gray, ASLA
EDSA
Harriet Grimm, ASLA
Saratoga Associates
Dean Hill, ASLA
greenscreen
Susan L.B. Jacobson, FASLA
The Morton Arboretum
Eric F. Kramer, ASLA
Reed Hilderbrand Associates
Shannon Nichol, FASLA
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Thomas R. Oslund, FASLA
Oslund and Associates
James Richards, FASLA
University of Texas at Arlington
Jim Schuessler Jr., FASLA
BNIM
W. Gary Smith, FASLA
W. Gary Smith Design
Daniel Tal, ASLA
Ambit3D
Andrew Wilcox, ASLA
Cal Poly Pomona
K. Richard Zweifel, FASLA
ASLA President
Chicago Host Chapter Leaders
Erin Fiegel, ASLA
Alan Watkins, ASLA
Host Chapter Co-Chairs
Sarah McDonald, Assoc. ASLA
Scott Mehaffey, FASLA
Field Sessions Co-Chairs
Nikolas Davis, ASLA
Mary Patton, ASLA
ASLA/ACE Mentor Program
Legacy Project Co-Chairs
Michelle Inouye, ASLA
Adam White, ASLA
Host Chapter Booth Co-Chairs
