ASLA 2002 Professional Award Winners

In the hands of a demanding, yet insightful panel of jurors assembled at ASLA headquarters in June, the submissions to the ASLA's 53rd annual awards program were subjected to close scrutiny. This jury reviewed scores of submissions looking for evidence of thoughtful analysis, good design, and responsible solutions. Among the winners are the South Beach project in Santa Monica, California where improvements forge a cohesive context for the area, the Zhongshan Shipyard Park in China built on the challenging site of the deserted shipyard, and the Allegheny Riverfront Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bringing new life to the area signaling transformed relationships among the city, its cultural district, and its river. Winners were honored at the 2002 ASLA Annual Meeting in San Jose, California, October 18 - 22, in the categories of design, analysis and planning, communication, and research. The results: Five Honor and five Merit awards in Design recognize the construction of site-specific works of outstanding landscape architectural design, including urban design. Three Honor and five Merit awards in Analysis and Planning recognize the wide variety of professional activities that lead to, guide or evaluate landscape architectural design. One Honor and three Merit Research awards recognize the work of rigor and historical research that gives evidence of examination of a problem using accepted methods and arriving at supported and original findings or solutions of value to the profession. One Honor and seven Merit awards in Communications recognize achievements in published or written documents. For detailed information about each award-winning project and to view project images, click on the project names listed below. DESIGN Honor Awards (5) [URL=http://www.asla.org/meetings/awards/awds02/zhongshan.html]Zhongshan Shipyard Park[/URL] Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China Landscape Architect(s): Kongjian Yu, Center for Landscape Architecture, Beijing University; Wei Pang, Turen Design Institute, Guanzhou Office; Shihong Lin, Turen Design Institute Built on the site of the deserted shipyard, the Zhongshan Shipyard Park reflects the remarkable 50-year history of socialist China, including the Cultural Revolution. The challenging setting included fluctuating water levels, Remnant rust docks and machinery, and tree preservation, and concerns of flood control versus old trees protection. Allegheny Riverfront Park Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Landscape Architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Landscape Architects, PC The Allegheny Riverfront Park brings new life to two long, narrow spaces pinched between the Allegheny River and expressways, signaling transformed relationships among the city, its cultural district, and its river. The lower level of the park is deliberately wild in its native plantings capable of regeneration after floods or ice flows. The upper level offers urbane walkways with plantings and materials traditionally found in Pittsburgh's public spaces, while incorporating elements that resonate with the city's industrial past. Hotarumibashi Park Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan Landscape Architect(s): Tooru Miyakoda; Motohide Ogata; Michio Udaka Hotarumibashi Park began as a civil engineering project simply to cover the slope beside a new bridge with vegetation. The site was redeveloped for public use with a viewing park of Mt. Fuji, a children's playground and a terraced park. The site is surrounded by the typical Japanese rural landscape, the terraced paddy field. Santa Monica BIG (Beach Improvement Group) South Beach Santa Monica, California Landscape Architect(s): Wallace Roberts & Todd, Inc. with Jody Pinto, Artist Located next to the Santa Monica Pier and home to the world-renowned Muscle Beach and Chess Park, South Beach is a hub of activity, a pedestrian promenade that connects hotels, concessions and entertainment venues. The improvements forge a cohesive context for the entire six-block area and include pedestrian and bicycle paths, site furnishings, and new activity areas such as a children's playground and Chess Park. Markings San Jose, California Landscape Architect(s): Hargreaves Associates The intersection of I-280/Rt. 87 is a complex junction of landscape and infrastructure - sun, shade, roads, water, sound, cars, and pedestrians. The goal of the temporary installation was to encourage the public to take the time to see landscape that is culturally invisible. Twenty-four pylons supporting the road deck were painted with reflective sliver paint to catch the light and render the massive pylons. Words in English and the Native American language Karuk were applied to the pylons, with Karuk words facing the river, and English translations facing the street. Between the road decks a five hundred foot long landform allows one to view the word scheme at eye level. Merit Awards (5) Spider Island, Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe, Ilinois Landscape Architect(s): Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Landscape Architects, PC Spider Island is one of 20 garden landscapes set within the Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG). In giving Spider Island to CBG in honor of his wife, a naturalist, the donor specified that the garden's spirit be natural and the plantings native. These terms created an opportunity for the landscape architects to show the public something difficult to achieve: a small landscape formed with nature's irregularity that an impact usually found only in larger landscapes. By exaggerating the island's naturalism, a compelling visceral experience of moving through this garden creates a retreat from heavily used roads, parking areas, and buildings nearby. Crissy Field San Francisco, California Landscape Architect(s): Hargreaves Associates Prior to its restoration, public access at Crissy Field was limited primarily to a narrow stretch along the shoreline. The project presented a significant restoration challenge for the former grass airplane landing strip and contaminated wetlands. In the end, the built work reflects a singular landscape vision within which seemingly incompatible program uses and landscape typologies coexist in an integrated landscape. Paris Lexington Road Paris to Lexington, Kentucky Landscape Architect(s): Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, Ltd.: Grant Jones, FASLA, Principal-in-Charge; Charles Scott, Project Manager; David Sorey, Project Landscape Architect Increased traffic volume and safety concerns drove the need to rebuild the existing two-lane Paris Lexington Road (US 68) that runs through the heart of Kentucky's bluegrass region as a four-lane divided highway. The project entailed the innovative redesign of a 12-mile stretch of highway between the city of Lexington and the rural community of Paris, Ky. Paris Pike is wholly contained within a 10,000-acre historic district eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Chicago City Hall Green Roof Chicago, Illinois Landscape Architect(s): David J. Yocca, ASLA, AICP; James M. Patchett, ASLA; Gerould Wilhelm, Ph.D.; Bruce Dvorak, ASLA Rooftops are vastly underutilized spaces in the urban environment, yet it is possible for any landscape, plaza, or garden to be installed on a building or structure. Under Mayor Richard M. Daley's direction, the City of Chicago's Department of Environment initiated an aggressive green roof pilot project by hiring a team of landscape architects, architects, structural engineers, and ecologists to design and implement a green roof for Chicago's City Hall that would serve as the program's demonstration project. Completed in 2001, the rooftop garden was designed to test different types of green roof systems, heating and cooling benefits, success rates of native and non-native vegetation, and reductions in rainwater runoff. Eib's Pond Park Outdoor Classroom Staten Island, New York Landscape Architect(s): Landscape Design by Linda Pollak, Principal of Marpillero Pollak Architects The Outdoor Classroom was built as an "activating structure" in Phase One of a multi-year project for Eib's Pond Park. The Classroom hovers over its wetland site, weaving together land, water, city and park. The small structure enhances the 17-acre wetland park's extraordinary potential as wildlife refuge, educational environment and social center. It reveals its surroundings and makes them physically and psychologically available in new ways. ANALYSIS & PLANNING Honor Awards (3) Willamette Riverbank Design Notebook Portland, Oregon Landscape Architect(s): GreenWorks, P.C. in association with: ClearWater West, Martha Mitchell; Fishman Environmental Services, Paul Fishman; Inter-Fluve, Inc., Greg Koonce; KPFF Consulting Engineers, Inc., Andrew Jansky Designed for use by public and private property owners along the Willamette River in Portland, Ore., the Design Notebook establishes common goals for development at the river's edge and describes projects that accomplish these goals. The design solutions in the Notebook address a variety of riverfront uses, including parks, deep water port shipping, commercial and residential development, recreational boating, flood passage, bank stabilization, roads and railroads, commercial and industrial water traffic, and emergency and recreation access. The analysis tools and design approaches detailed in the Notebook were developed in consultation with the various regulatory agencies. Baldwin Hills Park Master Plan Los Angeles, California Landscape Architect(s): Mia Lehrer + Associates ; Hood Design The two-square miles of the Baldwin Hills is the last undeveloped open space in the Los Angeles urban area. The site has been extensively developed for oil drilling and processing operation since 1924.The Baldwin Hills are a key component of the 127-square mile Ballona Creek watershed. Significant natural habitat areas remain, and many will be restored to a natural condition under the new master plan. Landscape Master Plan for Blandy Experimental Farm and the State Arboretum of Virginia Boyce, Virginia Landscape Architect(s): Susan Nelson-Warren Byrd Landscape Architects: Warren T. Byrd, ASLA, Principal, Jocelyn Kelley, Project Maager, Anne Martin Russell, Thomas Woltz, James Kovach, Hunter McCardle, Peter O'Shea, Lara Call, Ann O'Hara Wilkiemeyer Woltz, John Meaney, Mary Wolf, Kennon Williams The University of Virginia's Blandy Farm is a cross between a public garden with 100,000 visitors annually and a biological research station located in a rural area undergoing intense development pressures. The farm is also the site of the State Arboretum of Virginia. The master plan creates a physical framework for the entire 712-acre property. It emphasizes the intersection of the natural and cultural history of a rural site and strives to balance the scientific agenda of the research arboretum with the exposition of this work to the public. Merit Awards (5) Taj Mahal Cultural Heritage District Development Plan Agra, India Landscape Architect(s): Amita Sinha; Terry Harkness, FASLA; Vincent J. Bellafiore, FASLA The Taj Mahal Cultural Heritage District Development Plan integrates the conservation of two world heritage monuments, the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, with cultural resources of a productive landscape, an area of the Yamuna riverfront in Agra. Originally the 340-acre site for the Taj National Park was to be used primarily for local recreational purposes and for tourists viewing the Taj. The scope of the project expanded as it became evident that the park must be located within the context of a larger designed landscape that wove together a number of heritage sites protecting their view-sheds and allowed public access to the river. Allegheny Riverfront Park - Extensions East and West Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Landscape Architect(s): Michael Van Valkenburgh Assocites, Inc., Landscape Architects, PC The Trust commissioned this urban design study of the existing Allegheny Riverfront Park (ARP) east and west to allow the earlier work to become part of an interconnected park system. The purpose of the study was to enlarge the new park and to connect it to the convention center to the east and the existing Point State Park to the west. It outlines a planning and analysis approach that seeks to transform what appears at first a tangle of infrastructure including roads, bridges and flood walls into urban assets. James Monroe Birthplace Park Master Plan Westmoreland County, Virginia Landscape Architect(s): Susan Nelson-Warren Byrd Landscape Architects: Warren T. Byrd, ASLA, Lara Call, Emmanuel Didier, Sue Dempsey, Hunter McCardle, Pete O'Shea, Anne Russell The County of Westmoreland, Virginia wanted to create a unique, economical and attractive park that celebrates the birth and life James Monroe, the fifth U.S. president, while providing passive recreation for the local residents. The master plan prepared for the James Monroe Birthplace Park provides general design strategies for the construction of a roadside parking area, installation of interpretive signs, archaeological interpretation, the development of bicycle and walking tails, an understanding of the phasing and budget, and any other improvements deemed necessary and desirable. WaterColor Landscape Master Plan WaterColor, Walton County, Florida Landscape Architect(s): Susan Nelson-Warren Byrd Landscape Architects WaterColor is a planned town under construction on 490 acres in the Florida Panhandle, designed to be continuous with the New Urbanist community of Seaside to this south. WaterColor is situated narrowly between the Gulf of Mexico to the south and a freshwater lake to the north and west. The town is located in a remarkable area of environmental contrasts, and the master plan strives to fully integrate the community with the surrounding ecosystem. Mississippi River Greenway Strategic Plan Dakota County, Minnesota Landscape Architect(s): Hoisington Koegler Group Inc. Although the Mississippi River Greenway Strategic Plan proposes a model approach to metropolitan growth, its true purpose is the creation a multi-jurisdictional greenway strategy for a 55,000-acre area experiencing significant metropolitan growth pressure. The plan demonstrates that land uses should occur within the context of natural systems, and preservation of a region's essential, ecological framework should be the baseline determinant tying urban and rural land use patterns together. RESEARCH Honor Awards (1) Greenways as Strategic Landscape Planning: Theory and Application Landscape Architect(s): Jack Ahern, FASLA, Professor University of Massachusetts; Professor Klaas Kerkstra, Dissertation Committee Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture, Wageningen University, The Netherlands Greenways are supported by theories from landscape ecology, particularly those concerning spatial configuration and connectivity. This research argues that greenways originated in the U.S., but are spreading internationally because the greenway concept can be understood by and demonstrated to the public; is based in part on scientific knowledge; and is strategic in realizing multiple goals. The thesis includes reviews of international greenway literature and makes original contributions to greenway theory, planning strategies and planning methods. Case studies and case applications in the U.S. and the Netherlands are used to explain and test the theory, strategies and methods. Merit Awards (3) The Effect of Open Space Preserves on Residential Property Values Phoenix, Arizona Landscape Architect: Jack Gilcrest, ASLA The objective of this study was to determine if open space can have a positive effect on the value of adjacent developed lands, especially residential, by investigating the effect of Phoenix's existing open space preserves on residential property values. The need for this study was identified during the planning of Phoenix's new 20,000-acre Sonoran Preserve, and the results would support creation of the preserve. Evidence is presented that preserved open space can provide significant value to a community when properly planned and integrated with adjacent developed land uses. The Moonlight Garden Project: New Discoveries at the Taj Mahal Agra, India Landscape Architect(s): Elizabeth B. Moynihan, ASLA; David Lentz; James L. Wescoat, Jr., ASLA; John Fritz; George Michell; P.B.S. Sengar The Taj Mahal is situated on the northern edge of a classic four-fold Mughal garden built in the 17th century. Although legends of a "Black Taj" across the river have long been dismissed, this research examined the archaeological evidence at the garden opposite the Taj Mahal, known as the Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden." The research team sought to determine the landscape architectural aims, layout, components, and meanings at this historic Mughal garden. Landscape survey research and excavation revealed that the Mahtab Bagh was part of the original Taj Mahal complex, which fundamentally changes our understanding of its landscape context and design. Tending a "Comfortable Wilderness:" Documenting and Managing Agricultural Landscapes and Cultural Resources at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Empire & Traverse City, Michigan Landscape Architect(s): Eric MacDonald and Arnold R. Alanen, Affiliate ASLA, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Supported by: Kim Mann, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore; Marla McEnaney, Midwest Regional Office, National Park Service; Sherda Williams, Midwest Regional Office, National Park Service This report represents the culmination of a four-year effort to document the historic cultural landscapes and resources associated with agriculture at North Manitou Island (NMI), a key unit of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In 1994, it was determined that one cultural property - an 1854 life saving station - was so significant that it merited designation as a National Historic Landmark. These actions led the Midwest Regional Office of the National Park Service to commission a study that not only documented the island's resources and provided management guidelines for the NPS, but also contributed to greater public awareness of NMI. COMMUNICATIONS Honor Awards (1) South County Design Manual Washington County, Rhode Island Landscape Architect(s): Peter Flinker, ASLA, Dodson Associates, Ltd. The South County Design Manual shows how the principles of sustainable design and smart growth can be applied to small towns in a developing rural area. It bridges the gap between planning at the town scale, and design and construction decisions made on the level of the site. It shows that while many of the principles of smart growth can be applied anywhere, their successful application depends on a design process that respects and builds upon the characteristics and context of each unique site. Merit Awards (7) Flight or Fight: Metropolitan Philadelphia and its Future Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Landscape Architect(s): Karen L. Black, Esq., Director, Metropolitan Philadelphia Policy Center Flight or Fight is a state-of-the-region report created to educate regional leadership on the complex and interrelated challenges metropolitan Philadelphia faces in areas of land use, economic competitiveness and access to opportunity. The book has successfully fostered for the first time an understanding of the interrelatedness of the economic and population losses in the city to suburban sprawl. Flight or Fight is credited by local political and business leaders for moving issues involving neighborhood revitalization, municipal planning reform and tax competitiveness to the forefront of their agendas. Garden and Climate Landscape Architect(s): Marc Treib, Book Designer; Chip Sullivan, Author Energy-efficient garden planning is still in its infancy, but Garden and Climate hopes to generate both new ideas and modern adaptations to old ones - the tools to build modern gardens that help to save and conserve the environment. The book investigates historical approaches to passive microclimate design and presents a broad array of strategies for implementing this wealth of knowledge into modern environmental design. A Land Between: Owens Valley, California Landscape Architect(s): Center for American Places, George F. Thompson, President (editing); Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (funding); Johns Hopkins University Press (publisher); Cover Design, Martha Farlow School of Planning & Landscape Architecture (Funding); Rebecca Fish Ewan (author and photography); Eastern California Museum (historic photos) The fieldwork that culminated in A Land Between began as an inquiry into how people perceive the landscape and how these perceptions promulgate changes on the land. Owens Valley was selected because of its long history of struggles between natural elements, particularly water, and cultural needs and expectations. The book offers a more holistic picture of the valley's long and fascinating history, revealing the deep connections between communities and the land. Eastbank Esplanade Urban Markers Portland, Oregon Landscape Architect(s): Carol Mayer-Reed, FASLA, Principal-in-Charge; Irene Bowers, Project Manager; Michael Reed, Lead Designer; Beverly Eichenlaub, Job Captain; Wesley Rittenbery, Job Captain Designed to evoke the industrial character of the historic Willamette River bridges that cross over the trail, the Eastbank Esplanade Urban Markers incorporate street signs, luminaries and interpretive story panels. Seven story themes of the interpretive panels chronicle the history and evolution of the riverfront and provide a framework for considering the environmental and urban choices that affect the city and the life of the river. Each interpretive panel tells its story from the most advantageous location or viewpoint along the trail, where the subject can be directly observed. Landscape Modeling: Digital Techniques for Landscape Visualization Landscape Architect(s): Stephen Ervin, Associate ASLA, and Hope Hasbrouck, Co- Authors, Harvard Design School This book presents state-of-the-art uses of CAD, GIS and related software to create digital models and produce visualizations of landscapes and landscape elements. It serves as both as a professional reference and a graduate-level textbook capable of complementing a hands-on curriculum. Intentionally, the book does not focus on a specific software application and instead grounds the visualization techniques in principles of computer graphics as well as the subtleties of landscape representation and perception. Eib's Pond Park Brochure Landscape Architect(s): Linda Pollak, Associate ASLA, and Sandro Marpillero as Fellows of the Design Trust for Public Space, with Geraldine Monier, project intern The Eib's Pond Park brochure was designed to build support for the park project located in an underserved urban community and to give a sense of how good design and community involvement can work together to turn a place around. By producing the brochure, the project supporters hope to increase community involvement and help potential donors better understand the importance of this project. Inside Outside: Between Architecture and Landscape Landscape Architect(s): Linda Pollak, Associate ASLA, and Anita Berrizbeitia, authors Inside Outside addresses the separation between landscape architecture and architecture without trying to blur the boundaries between them. It shows new projects and new ways to think about existing projects. The book is a sustained exploration, written through the projects, in which every image is located in relation to an evolving argument.