Boston Flora

Tag: American Society Of Landscape Architects

  • Friday, November 11 – Annual Fall ASLA Excursion to Sonoma, California

    The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) in conjunction with the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Conference on Landscape will host a daylong excursion on Friday, November 11, in Sonoma, California. TCLF’s annual, curated excursions to exceptional examples of landscape architecture and design are eagerly anticipated, extremely popular, and always sell out months in advance. 

    TCLF’s annual excursion in Sonoma will be memorable for its sweeping historic narrative of the region’s most significant cultural landscapes and the depth of knowledge that visitors will be afforded by guides. Complementing the excellent destinations will be exquisite food and wine.  

    The day begins at the Donnell Garden, a postwar masterpiece of Modernism that architectural historian Marc Treib suggests is “the most famous garden of the twentieth century.” We will be hosted by the owners Sandra Donnell and Justin Faggioli. Designed by landscape architect Thomas Church, with Lawrence Halprin and architect George Rockrise, the garden, with its iconic kidney-shaped pool, came to define California living. Completed in 1948, the garden was soon famous for its unusual, abstracted forms, and remains one of the best-preserved examples of its time. Frequently photographed, it came to stand for a modern style of California living that took place both indoors and outdoors, with fluid transitions between these equally important places. 

    Fourth generation Californian farmers and brothers Adam and Andrew Mariani founded Scribe Winery in 2007 on a 200-acre property that they say, “pioneered pre-prohibition Sonoma Valley winemaking,” but had been abandoned for 20 years. The brothers brought in Alain Peuroi and David Godshall with the landscape architecture firm Terremoto. As Godshall recently told Gardenista: “We planted a wild garden that will be a place where landscape ecologies meet. Coast live oaks are confronted by palms, artichokes run wild, native buckwheat will stumble into twining white roses, and dune grasses will sweep into the edible garden.” The result is “a microcosmic daydream” of Northern California.  

    After lunch attendee will experience a private tour of Sonoma Plaza, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1961. This eight-acre Plaza, laid out in 1835 by Mexican General Mariano Vallejo (who also founded Sonoma), was the site of a revolt in 1846 that resulted in the founding of the Republic of California. Today it features shops, galleries, restaurants, and Sonoma City Hall.

    The tour excursion next goes to Hudson Ranch and Vineyard, a 200-acre site situated deep in the heart of the rolling hills of Napa Valley’s Carneros District, which its owners describe as their “agrarian dream.” The ranch produces world-class wine grapes for exceptional wines and Tuscan olives for verdant oil, raises heritage breed pigs, lamb and chickens, and grows a diverse array of seasonal fruits and vegetables for its grocery store.

    The excursion will conclude at Buena Vista Winery, which according to landscape architects Surfacedesign, “played a pivotal role in the establishment of European grapes in Sonoma and the early development of the California wine industry.” The site includes two original stone buildings, a hedge maze under canopies of heritage oak, a series of terraces and outdoor rooms, and a new forecourt of intricately patterned cobble. And, yes, a lot of wine.

    REGISTER TODAY – Space is strictly limited and this event will sell out. Transportation is provided. 

    Scribe Winery, Sonoma, CA – Photo by Caitlin Atkinson

  • Tuesday, September 14 & Wednesday, September 15 – A Virtual Design Symposium and Flower Show: The Life and Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted

    The Albemarle Garden Club is thrilled to announce that Charlotte Moss,  American interior designer and national author of ten books, has agreed to serve as the honorary chair of AGC’s virtual flower show: “Genius of Place: an Ode to Frederick Law Olmsted.” This virtual flower show will attract judges and exhibitors from across the country. It will offer classes in four divisions – Floral Design, Horticulture, Photography, and Botanical Arts. The two day Olmsted Forum will debut with the “Preview” of the flower show on Tuesday, September 14 from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Eastern time. This will be a ticketed, virtual event and feature a presentation by Charlotte Moss. Her new book, launching this spring, is entitled Flowers.  $40. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

    On Wednesday, September 15 from 1:30 – 5:00 pm Eastern Time, with the support of the National Association of Olmsted Parks and the Center for Cultural Landscapes at University of Virginia School of Architecture, Albemarle Garden Club is planning Olmsted Forum – 2021. Building on our successful fundraising platform —Design Forum— the focus of this event will be Frederick Law Olmsted.  Olmsted is commonly known as the father of landscape design.  The Forum will survey his life and lasting legacy, providing the opportunity to learn about Olmsted from an historical perspective and how and why parks are so important today.  This event will be one of the first in a year-long line up of events organized by the NAOP leading to the bicentennial of Olmsted’s birth in May 2022. 

    Olmsted scholars and practitioners will present talks focusing on the relevance of Olmsted’s legacy in the park movement today. Speakers will include:

    • Susan Rademacher, GCA Honorary Member since 2017. Susan is the founder and President of ForeGround Consulting, LLC.  She was the Parks Curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy which preserved, enhanced and promoted the Pittsburgh Parks from 2007 until 2019.  During Susan’s tenure, the Conservancy raised more than $126 million and completed 22 major projects.  Susan also served as the assistant director of the Louisville Metro Parks and the president of the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy from 1991-2007.  She  has lectured and taught extensively and has authored award winning  books and articles.  She has been the recipient of a prestigious Loeb fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and received the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for Distinguished Leadership.
    • Sara Zewde,  Founding Principal of Studio Zewde.  Sara is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.  She was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 Artist-in Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and in 2018 was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s inaugural “40 under 40” list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow.  Sara is a registered landscape architect and holds a master’s of landscape architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a master’s of city planning from MIT, and a BA in sociology and statistics from Boston University. 
    • Sara Cedar Miller, Central Park Conservancy Historian Emerita.  Sara first joined Central Park in 1984 as a photographer. She conducts extensive research on Central Park, lectures on history and is the  author of award-winning books. She was named in 2020 a Preservation Hero by the Library of American Landscape History.

    The moderator for a live conservation with the speakers will be Elizabeth K. Meyer, FASLA.  

    Beth Meyer, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia.  She founded the Center for Cultural Landscapes at UVA and is broadly recognized as one of the most influential landscape architectural critics and theorists.  She is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. She was awarded the Vincent Scully Prize by The National Building Museum in 2019 and in 2017 the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

    The forum will also include a presentation by Albemarle Garden Club on its work at the Booker T. Washington Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

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    Format:  this will be a hybrid event with some components pre-recorded and available for viewing ahead of the event for ticket holders.  Speaker introductions and the panel discussion will be live and links will be provided to ticket holders. Register at https://www.albemarlegardenclub.com/olmsted-forum-tickets

  • Thursday, November 14, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – Icons of Modernism Excursion

    On Thursday, November 14, from 8:30 – 4:30, the Cultural Landscape Foundation will sponsor a curated excursion in Palm Springs, as a prelude to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Conference on Landscape Architecture 2019 in San Diego, California (November 15-19). TCLF’s annual, curated excursions to exceptional examples of landscape architecture and design are eagerly anticipated, extremely popular, and always sell out months in advance.

    The Icons of Modernism excursion, which will begin and end in Palm Springs, will feature an in-depth tour of Sunnylands, the storied 200-acre estate of Ambassador and Mrs. Walter Annenberg, with an A. Quincy Jones-designed home and a new Visitor Center landscape by the Office of James Burnett. Sunnylands, which has received kings, queens, presidents and other notable visitors, is now a center for international diplomacy and has undergone rehabilitation by CMG Landscape, which skillfully addresses sustainability and preservation. Sunnylands staff will offer insights into the site’s transformation from a private to a public facility. The daylong excursion will also include a visit to the gardens at the Charney Residence (below), the embodiment of classic Desert Modernism whose pedigree includes the most famous designers of the day: Wexler & Harrison architects, Arthur Elrod for the interiors, and Eckbo, Royston, & Williams for the landscape design. Details are being finalized on the day’s other destinations. A motor coach will take attendees to each site, and there will be a sumptuous luncheon. 

    Tickets ($1,000, but worth every penny) are available at www.tclf.org.

  • Thursday, November 8, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Sustainable Landscape Applications, Applied Ecology, Ecological Services, and Biomimicry

    When we typically look at the landscapes in our neighborhoods, city streets, and shopping centers, what do we see? Do we see landscapes that provide a trophic level of habitat which processes our storm water and remediates pollutants? Do these landscapes bring a sense of place by reflecting the natural communities of the region? The answer is no.

    Our vision and sense of aesthetics for landscapes has been shaped by marketed expectations toward sterile landscapes that are the single biggest consumer and polluter of water, that have high carbon footprint and are kept chemically frozen in time. These landscapes are a desert for wildlife such as pollinators and birds. The loss of habitat and environmental degradation are manifest by development with increased impervious surfaces resulting in intense storm water runoff, erosion, and increased pollutants entering our soils and water.

    How do we reverse this paradigm from traditional sterile landscapes to acceptance of diverse native landscapes? Why is it important to consider our landscapes as ecosystems? How can we utilize and apply the science of mycoremedation and phytoremediation to heal our soils and clean our water?

    Rick Huffman’s Ecological Landscape Allicance webinar program on November 8 from 12:30 – 1:30 will frame the paradigm shift in designing and implementing landscapes that are ecologically diverse and that function to support wildlife as applied ecology. Mr. Huffman will demonstrate that by using a holistic approach to design and create living systems of soils, native plants, fungi, and bacteria we can reverse the current paradigm. Through the process, we expand our awareness of applied science thus creating an understanding, awareness, and acceptance of a different way of producing high quality, visually pleasing landscapes that give back by supporting all trophic levels of our landscape ecology.

    Rick Huffman is principal and founder of Earth Design Inc., a leading Environmental Design and Landscape Architecture firm. With over 30 years of experience in landscape design, horticulture, bioengineering, and ecology, Mr. Huffman has particular expertise in native plants as they occur in natural models. As founder and past-president of the South Carolina Native Plant Society, he has brought awareness of these natural models to the public through presentations and workshops on a statewide and regional level. Mr. Huffman has a strong commitment to education and has worked with local schools and has conducted numerous environmental education workshops for the South Carolina Wildlife Federations Schoolyard Habitat Program, the Environmental Educators Association of South Carolina (EEAC), and the South Carolina Marine Educators Association (SCMEA). Mr. Huffman is a member of The American Society of Landscape Architects and is active in the US Green Building Council’s South Carolina Chapter. He was named the Upstate Forever Volunteer of the Year for 2010 and he received the 2003 Environmental Educator of the Year Award from the Environmental Educators Association of South Carolina. In 2006, Mr. Huffman received the Governor’s Award for Environmental Awareness for his educational outreach and conservation efforts across the state.

    The webinar is free to ELA members, $10 to nonmembers. Register online at www.ecolandscaping.org.

    Image result for Rick Huffman Earth Design

  • Friday, October 19 – Monday, October 22 – American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting and EXPO

    The ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia October 19 – 22 offers over 130 courses, allowing attendees to earn up to 24 professional development hours (PDHs). There are also many tours and special events connected with the event, including The Cultural Landscape Foundation look at Longwood Gardens: Experience a World Apart on Friday October 19 from 9:30 – 6:30, the LAF’s 33rd Annual Benefit on Friday night from 7 – 10 at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, A Tailgate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Saturday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, The ASLA Council of Fellows Investiture Dinner on Sunday at 7 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Land8 Happy Hour on Sunday from 8 pm at the Field House Sports & Beer Hall, and a Women in Landscape Architecture Walk on Monday from 7 am – 8:30 am, highlighting the recent transformation of urban parks and plazas along Philadelphia’s iconic Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

    Discounted rates have been negotiated for meeting attendees at nine Philadelphia hotels, all within walking distance of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. You must register by September 14 for discounted registration rates. Complete information on the entire event may be found at https://www.aslameeting.com/

    Image result for asla annual meeting

  • Wednesday, September 12, 10:00 am – Frederick Law Olmsted and the Massachusetts Legacy

    Wednesday, September 12, 10:00 am – Frederick Law Olmsted and the Massachusetts Legacy

    Alan Banks, Supervisory Park Ranger of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, will talk about the firm Frederick Law Olmsted founded over a century ago, and was involved in over 1,200 landscape architecture projects throughout Massachusetts, ranging from expansive 500-acre public parks to intimate private gardens. One of the greatest achievements is the six-mile long “emerald necklace” of ponds, parks, and parkways that winds its way through Boston.

    Alan Banks oversees the historical interpretation of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline. He has researched and developed a variety of landscape walking tours and presentations on the Olmsteds and their work across the country. He has lectured at Wellesley College Davis Art Museum, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Appalachian Institute at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and American Society of Landscape Architects in Atlanta, among other locations. He consulted on PBS productions Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks and Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America. Banks wrote the first comprehensive guide and map to the Boston Park System.

    This program, to be held Wednesday, September 12 beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, kicks off The Garden Club of the Back Bay’s 2018-2019 season, and will be followed 2 weeks later on Wednesday, October 3, by a field trip at the Olmsted Home and Office in Brookline (Fairsted). Garden Club members will receive notices of both meetings. If you are not a member but are interested in attending, email info@bostonflora.com

    Image result for Alan Banks Olmsted

  • Friday, October 6 – Sunday, October 8 – What’s Out There Weekend: Indianapolis

    The Cultural Landscape Foundation is pleased to announce the upcoming What’s Out There Weekend: Indianapolis. The Weekend, October 6 – 8, will offer free tours of the city’s renowned modernist landscapes, as well as highlight other regional gems. The tours will be led by experts in history and landscape design, revealing a largely unrecognized legacy of thoughtful landscape architecture and design in the heart of the Midwest.

    What’s Out There Weekend: Indianapolis and its accompanying City Guide are made possible in large part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works and Lilly Endowment Inc., and in partnership with the Indiana Cultural Landscapes Committee of the Indiana Chapter, American Society of Landscape Architects (INASLA). The seven-person committee is led by Meg Storrow, FASLA, Chair, and David Gordon, ASLA Trustee, Vice Chair.

    Further details on the Weekend’s schedule and registration will be made available in the coming months at https://tclf.org/whats-out-there-weekend-indianapolis. For more information, or to volunteer for the event, please contact Dena Tasse-Winter at dena@tclf.org.

  • Thursdays, July 23 – August 6, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Garden Writing Workshop: The Heart of Story

    The writer Eudora Welty found her garden to be a wellspring of sensory experience that nourished her writing. She observed that when stimulated by fragrance, the sounds of insects and birds and the colors and textures of plants, our minds take flight, and stories and memories bubble to the surface. Writing in a garden provides an opportunity to tap this rich inspiration, whether the topic is the garden itself, a personal memory or a story born of the imagination. In this series taking place on three consecutive Thursdays, July 23 – August 6, participants will visit different garden spaces at Berkshire Botanical Garden and write spontaneously in response to prompts—verbal or visual cues provided by the workshop lead- er—inspired by the natural surroundings. Writers will hone their abilities to observe, stay focused and respond from their hearts. This workshop is designed to be a safe, guided experience for aspiring and experienced writers alike. Participants can enroll in one, two or all three of the sessions. Each session will focus on a different topic: (1) Memoir and Garden Memories; (2) Establishing Sense of Place; (3) Writing with All Your Senses.  BBG Members $135; Nonmembers $145. Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org. What to bring: Come prepared to spend two hours outdoors, including moderate walking. For example, the instructor usually carries a small tote or backpack containing a notebook, pen or pencil, water bottle, light rain jacket or umbrella, sunhat, sunscreen and bug repellent. In inclement weather, the workshop will take place indoors.

    Instructor Jane Roy Brown is an award-winning writer, editor and workshop leader who lives in Conway, MA. In January 2012, Jane founded “The Heart of Story: Writing Stories of Our Lives,” a suite of workshops designed to facilitate memoir writing for adults at all levels of experience. Jane is coauthor of One Writer’s Garden: Eudora Welty’s Home Place (University Press of Mississippi, 2011), the winner of the 2012 Eudora Welty Book Award. Her writing has appeared in numerous periodicals, including The Christian Science Monitor, Garden Design, Horticulture and Preservation. She is a contributing editor for Landscape Architecture, the national magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and was a regular contributor to the Boston Globe travel section from 2001–2013.

  • Sunday, May 10 – Lilac Sunday

    This year’s Lilac Sunday T-shirt was designed by the Boston Architectural College Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Olivia Fragale, a 2014 Hunnewell Intern at the Arnold Arboretum’s plant propagation and nursery facility, led the initiative and worked collaboratively with the Arboretum’s Lilac Sunday organizers and printer Evan Webster of Evan Webster Ink in Shelburne, Vermont. Celebrate spring at the Arboretum on Lilac Sunday, May 10, 2015.

  • Wednesday, February 18, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Green City, Clean Waters: The Philadelphia Story

    Mark Focht is the First Deputy Commissioner for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, the Immediate Past President for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and a fellow of the ASLA. He completed a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University and received a Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts. He is a licensed landscape architect in the state of Pennsylvania.

    Focht will present his keynote address titled Green City, Clean Waters: The Philadelphia Story, in the Fishbowl of the Boston Architectural College, 320 Newbury Street, on Wednesday, February 18 from 5:30 – 7 The lecture will focus on the innovative and strategic green stormwater management practices of the City of Philadelphia. Join the BAC to hear about how Focht helped the city accomplish a revitalization and stewardship plan that has beneficially impacted the way urban communities handle stormwater. From Focht we will also hear about the important partnerships and public outreach that have contributed to the success of his leadership and Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters Plan.

    This lecture is sponsored by the student chapter of the ASLA. For more information email Olivia Fragale at sasla@the-bac.edu.