The Landscape Architecture Podcast

http://larchitect.org/ Sahar Coston-Hardy is a fine art and landscape architecture photographer focused on the social structure of race and cultural identity. Integrating portraiture, urban design, and street photography, her work investigates the relationship between place, power, and personhood.  Her recent exhibits include Back to School, which examines the social cost of school closures in her native Philadelphia, and The Im(migrant), a collaborative project intended to build bridges across diverse communities through the lens of history and movement. She is currently working on a series that combines memoir and portraiture in an extended reflection on gender, gratitude and aging.  A graduate of Tyler School of Art, Sahar’s work has been featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper, and TOPOS Magazine. After a decade in the private sector, she opened her studio in 2016, where she partners with clients that include some of the nation’s leading landscape architects, designers and planners.

This episode is sponsored by http://trajanphotography.com/ Jonathon Geels enjoys solving problems by connecting people to new ideas through design, innovation, and advocacy. Geels is passionate about improving public health, the built environment, social equality, as well as resource management and the hope to engage other professionals with the same enthusiasm.

This episode is sponsored by http://trajanphotography.com/ Hunter Industries - Corporate Social Responsibility Manager (At the time of this recording) CSRM role overseeing annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report, marketing corporate sustainability messaging to landscape industry, support sales staff, manage employee Focus 3P group, and represent Hunter during legislative meetings. Specification Support Manager (Current Position) Leading the conversation around the specification of our products for our residential, commercial, golf, and lighting design customers. Working with teams and departments throughout our organization to build the tools and services our customers need complete design jobs quickly and accurately while growing their business.

Cadence is a Landscape Architecture practice focused on connecting physical and social landscapes. Our projects span the realms of design, science, art and community. Our motivation stems from a shared desire to bring forward thinking design to our clients. We craft spaces and orchestrate experiences, our canvas is the outdoors. We design with a conscious regard for nature, our clients and our community. Gage Couch has practiced landscape architecture in South Florida since 2005, working throughout the US Gulf South, the Caribbean Islands, the UAE and Asia. He serves as Co-Founder and Design Principal, applying a hands-on approach to both design and construction methods. Gage holds a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture degree from Clemson University and study abroad experience from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. Spending the beginning of his career at EDSA, Gage interacted at various levels of design and was heavily involved in the Construction Administration process for community development and resort projects. He is most inspired by the design process, often overseeing a project from inception to final completion. Gage exhibits a respect for nature, a strong attention to detail and a dedication to sustainable solutions to his clients. Rebecca Bradley is Co-Founder and Design Principal of Cadence. Since it’s inception in 2010, she has worked alongside business partner, Gage Couch, to direct and manage all the firms day-to-day operations as well as lead projects through the entire design process. Rebecca is responsible for overseeing business development, community engagement, and strategic planning for the firm. She has practiced Landscape Architecture in South Florida for 18 years and is a licensed Landscape Architect in the State of Florida and Louisiana. Rebecca is a BLA graduate of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and spent the early years of her career with EDSA. Over the years, Rebecca’s travel and project endeavors have taken her around the globe and across various market sectors including urban redevelopment, hospitality, campus, and healthcare design. With each project endeavor, whether in the public or private sector, she seeks to listen to her clients, render careful attention to design details and provide an energetic vibe to keep innovation afloat. She takes great pride in creating meaningful places for people to enjoy. Cadence has built a reputation in the South Florida design and development industry for its ability to educate the community on the social and environmental benefits of Landscape Architecture. http://larchitect.org/

Cadence is a Landscape Architecture practice focused on connecting physical and social landscapes. Our projects span the realms of design, science, art and community. Our motivation stems from a shared desire to bring forward thinking design to our clients. We craft spaces and orchestrate experiences, our canvas is the outdoors. We design with a conscious regard for nature, our clients and our community. Gage Couch has practiced landscape architecture in South Florida since 2005, working throughout the US Gulf South, the Caribbean Islands, the UAE and Asia. He serves as Co-Founder and Design Principal, applying a hands-on approach to both design and construction methods. Gage holds a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture degree from Clemson University and study abroad experience from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. Spending the beginning of his career at EDSA, Gage interacted at various levels of design and was heavily involved in the Construction Administration process for community development and resort projects. He is most inspired by the design process, often overseeing a project from inception to final completion. Gage exhibits a respect for nature, a strong attention to detail and a dedication to sustainable solutions to his clients. Rebecca Bradley is Co-Founder and Design Principal of Cadence. Since it’s inception in 2010, she has worked alongside business partner, Gage Couch, to direct and manage all the firms day-to-day operations as well as lead projects through the entire design process. Rebecca is responsible for overseeing business development, community engagement, and strategic planning for the firm. She has practiced Landscape Architecture in South Florida for 18 years and is a licensed Landscape Architect in the State of Florida and Louisiana. Rebecca is a BLA graduate of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and spent the early years of her career with EDSA. Over the years, Rebecca’s travel and project endeavors have taken her around the globe and across various market sectors including urban redevelopment, hospitality, campus, and healthcare design. With each project endeavor, whether in the public or private sector, she seeks to listen to her clients, render careful attention to design details and provide an energetic vibe to keep innovation afloat. She takes great pride in creating meaningful places for people to enjoy. Cadence has built a reputation in the South Florida design and development industry for its ability to educate the community on the social and environmental benefits of Landscape Architecture. http://larchitect.org/

Tori Kjer, PLA, Executive Director of The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust was founded in 2002 to address Los Angeles's park inequities. We focus our efforts exclusively in communities of color that have little to no access to green space. Since 2002, we have added 13 acres of accessible green space by helping to create 27 urban parks and community gardens. As a result, we serve over 380,000 Angelenos living within a 10-minute walk of our green spaces. By the end of 2020, we will complete four additional parks and gardens, adding 13 additional acres of green space for Los Angeles County. Our successful community development model engages residents from the beginning of our design process, through construction and ultimately the stewardship of the parks and gardens we create. To ensure the long-term impact of our efforts, we are working towards equitable green space development through grassroots policy reform. Los Angeles currently ranks 74th out of the 98 largest cities in the country for the number of people living within a 1/2 mile of a park. While there is a significant lack of green and recreational space throughout Los Angeles, low-income communities of color fare much worse. A 2016 countywide analysis of green space found that communities with very high or high park need were 90 percent predominately communities of color. http://larchitect.org/

Signe Nielson is a Founding Principal of MNLA and has been practicing as a landscape architect and urban designer in New York since 1978. Her body of work has renewed the environmental integrity and transformed the quality of spaces for those who live, work, and play in the urban realm. A Fellow of the ASLA, she is the recipient of more than 100 national and local design awards for public open space projects and is published extensively nationally and internationally. Signe is a professor of urban design and landscape architecture at Pratt Institute in both the graduate and undergraduate Schools of Architecture and serves as president of the Public Design Commission of the City of New York. Born in Paris, Signe received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Urban Planning from Smith College; a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture from City College of New York; and a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Pratt Institute. Molly Bourne is an MNLA Principal with more than 24 years of design experience. Leveraging a combination of award-winning design talent and creative collaboration to navigate projects from concept through construction, she has led multidisciplinary teams on high-profile initiatives for waterfront parks, cultural institutions, and urban revitalization. Molly's passion and commitment spans a broad spectrum of skills including design direction, consultant coordination, project management, and client liaison services. A graduate of the University of Florida, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Architecture. Molly actively fosters the future of design through her work with the ACE Mentor Program for New York City high school students and as a guest critic at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the firm in 1999 Produced by Joanna Karaman http://larchitect.org/

Gina Ford is a landscape architect, co-founder and principal of Agency Landscape + Planning. Underpinning her two decades of practice are a commitment to the design and planning of public places and the perpetuation of the value of landscape architecture via thought leadership, teaching, writing and lecturing. Her work has received awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects, among others. She is on the board of directors for the Cultural Landscape Foundation and was the recipient of the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship and Wellesley College’s Shaw Fellowship. http://larchitect.org/

Greg is a licensed architect and aspiring landscape architect in the State of California. He has been practicing for over 23 years, and currently is a Studio Director with Rios Clementi Hale Studios in Los Angeles, bringing to the studio strong design and critical thinking sensibilities on a wide range of project types of varying scales, complexities and disciplinary orientations. Specifically, his work and research seeks to holistically combine the techniques and strategies of architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism to create unique, forward thinking environments that build upon and enhance the specific qualities of a place. In addition, he co-leads RCHS' Research Committee which explores new initiatives and thinking around trans-disciplinary design. His current research focuses on resilient environments that create synergies between natural systems, infrastructure, and development. Since 2002, Greg has been a Senior Lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design, where he teaches design studios focusing on the relationship between landscape and architecture, as well as seminars on structures and material systems. He has previously been on the faculties of the Boston Architectural Center, Southern California Institute of Architecture, Woodbury University and UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design. Greg's work has been recognized and published nationally and internationally within all three disciplines - architecture, landscape, and urban design, and exhibited in both the Venice (2010) and Rotterdam (2009) Biennales, as well as other venues, and he has received recognition from prominent organizations including the Young Architects Forum Award from the Architectural League of New York. In October of 2018, he led an education session at the ASLA National Conference in Philadelphia entitled “Fires, Floods and Slides: The Other Impacts of Climate Change". This research seeks to engage the unique challenges of climate change within the Southwest United States, as well as Central and South America. Greg holds a Masters in Architecture from UCLA. http://larchitect.org/

Dear Landscape Architecture Community, On Saturday January 5th, 2019 Cal Poly Pomona BSLA alumuna Grisol Lupita Ramirez was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Grisol was a member of the Landscape Architecture graduating class of 2018. She had been working at Walt Disney Imagineering since last spring. On the show notes for this recording there will be link to a GoFundme page to help cover the costs. If you are able to contribute please visit Larchitect.org With a heavy heart, The Larchitect Team http://larchitect.org/

Aditya Advani is the Principal and Owner of Roha, a landscape design studio based in Delhi, India. He has worked on a variety of landscape architectural designs and brings attentiveness to the ‘larger picture’ context as well as the intimate detail that is necessary for a successful project. His work is oriented towards making people-friendly, inclusive landscapes that are energetic, imaginative, and educational. He brings multidisciplinary thinking and a strong collaborative process to all his projects, as well as a thoughtful use of plant materials and issues of sustainability are a focus of his approach. Prior to starting Roha, Aditya worked with the firm RHAA for 24 years. During that long tenure as a design partner, he built a large portfolio of projects ranging from public parks, private gardens, campuses, IT parks, resorts, streets, and plazas. His work has received numerous awards and commendations. Aditya has also taught at UC Berkeley in California for twelve years. This episode was produced by: Matthew Cool http://larchitect.org/

Emily is a licensed Landscape Architect in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her work focuses on parks, greenways, campus design, urban design, and land planning. Emily has been involved with ASLA since 2007 and is currently the immediate past president for the North Carolina Chapter of Landscape Architects. She is dedicated to furthering the profession of landscape architecture in the community and being a strong advocate for LAs in North Carolina. http://larchitect.org/

Nina Briggs is the founding principal of THE FABRIC in Pasadena, California, cultivating new and renovation residential projects since 1987. Ms. Briggs received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Southern California, and has taught architecture, interior architecture and design at California State University Northridge, The University of California Los Angeles Extension ARCID, The Art Institute of Los Angeles, Woodbury University, and College of the Canyons. Her collaborative approach to designing spaces for people, holistically incorporates sensitive listening and informed observation of human behavior within the layers of their cultural operating systems. THE FABRIC seeks to elevate and redefine place-making to positively affect inhabitants psychologically, while solving spatial problems. We strive to translate clients’ desires and spatial needs into architectural authenticity. https://www.thefabric.org/ http://larchitect.org/

Sam is currently the Director of Culture Horticulture, a lab for artists, landscape designers, gardeners and other urban biophiliacs whose work explores the intertwined experience at the intersection of Culture (community/art/society/economics) and Horticulture (plants/gardens/environmental) issues and focuses on the consideration of beauty in the evolution of urban wildness and resilience in the post-wild anthropocene world. Her formative years were rooted in the vibrant, environmentally sensitive and multi-culturally rich setting of New York City in the 1970's and 80's. Training in art, ecology, botany, education and design further developed her talent for unearthing authentic stories of diverse places and people. Following her multivalent interests, she earned a BA in Studio Art, Minor in Botany from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and later completed her Master of Landscape Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She spent 19 fruitful years with Rios Clementi Hale Studios (RCHS), an internationally renowned multi-disciplinary design studio as a licensed Landscape Architect and Principal. http://www.culturehorticulture.com/ http://larchitect.org/

Claire is a writer, community advocate, and ecological designer. Her work focuses on climate-appropriate design and promoting equitable access to humane urban environments and nature. She practiced landscape architecture for twelve years with EPTDESIGN and Studio-MLA. Claire’s recent focus is on designing and advocating for school environments that support mental health and well-being. She began this exploration as a Landscape Architecture Foundation Fellow for Innovation and Leadership and is continuing with support from the Association for Women in Architecture Foundation fellowship. She is also honored to be teaching again at Cal Poly Pomona. http://larchitect.org/