Landscapes for Living: Post War Landscape Architecture in Los Angeles

Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom, Wennerstrom Communications | T: 202.255.7076 | E: nord@wennerco.com

 Symposium April 15, 2011 Spotlights LA’s Distinct Post War Landscape Heritage

Sixteen Speakers & Panelists to Provide Insight into this Unprecedented Design Era

Washington, DC (January 31, 2011) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), with the Southern California Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), will host Landscapes for Living: Post War Landscape Architecture in Los Angeles, Friday, April 15, 2011, at SCI-Arc's W.M. Keck Lecture Hall. This is the final of nine regional symposia held in conjunction with the publication of Shaping the American Landscape: New Profiles from the Pioneers of American Landscape Design Project (University of Virginia Press, 2009). The symposium will look both back and ahead, culminating in a panel discussion with leaders in the field who will explore what this Modern landscape legacy means to 21st century design and the historic preservation community. CEU credits through the ASLA’s Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System will be offered for this event.

Landscapes for Living will feature sixteen speakers and panelists examining the origins of modern landscape architecture in Los Angeles and Southern California, with a focus on Post War pioneers of the profession who produced work in the area. The symposium features three panel discussions: the first will look at female practitioners, including Ruth Patricia Shellhorn, designer of Disneyland and the Bullocks department store landscapes; the second will look at male designers such as Cornell, Bridges and Troller, who designed Century City, the Los Angeles Civic Center, Music Center, and the Pageant of Roses Garden.The closing panel, moderated by Mayer Rus, Design & Culture Editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, will reflect on Southern California’s Post War legacy with commentary by landscape architects Mia Lehrer, Mark Rios and others. The full day of lectures and panel discussions will be followed by a closing reception. Complete schedule, registration and location information available online – please note that space is limited: http://tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/pioneers/LA/index.html.

 
Featured Speakers and Panelists:

Gerdo Aquino, ASLA is the president of SWA Group and Adjunct Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Southern California. He is a landscape architect and urban designer interested in issues of urbanism, landscape infrastructure, transit and historic ecologies.

Carolyn D. Bennett writes and lectures frequently on historic landscape conservation and garden history issues and owns her own garden consultancy business, cdb gardens. She serves on the Board of Directors for The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR is the Founder and President of The Cultural Landscape Foundation. In 2008 the ASLA awarded Mr. Birnbaum the Alfred B. LaGasse Medal and in 2009 the President's Medal. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning + Preservation and a frequent blogger for The Huffington Post.

Patrick W. Caughey, FASLA is a licensed landscape architect in four states. He is a Partner and Owner of Wimmer Yamada and Caughey. As a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, he served as the National President of the Society in 2007.

Kelly Comras, ASLA is a licensed landscape architect in private practice in Pacific Palisades, California. She is currently conducting research and writing a book about the mid-century practice of landscape architect Ruth Patricia Shellhorn.

Lisa Gimmy, ASLA, LEED AP founded her firm in 1992, and has directed the design of landscapes for campuses, hotels, mixed-use commercial developments and many private gardens. Her work has been recognized with awards of excellence and her projects have been published in numerous magazines. She has also taught landscape design at the university level. 

Ronald M. Izumita, FASLA is founder and chairman of ima, a full-service landscape architecture firm specializing in dynamic urban design, landscape master planning and landscape design. His forty-year career spans nearly every segment of real estate development including landscape master planning and design solutions for resorts, theme parks, new communities, commercial, residential, retail, entertainment and mixed-use development.

Mia Lehrer, FALSA is the founding principal of Mia Lehrer + Associates, known for its design and development of a wide spectrum of ambitious public and private projects that include urban revitalization developments, large urban parks and complex commercial projects.

Dennis C. McGlade, FASLA has been a Principal with OLIN since 1986 and was named President in 2005. He is currently Partner-in-Charge of the new West Coast branch of OLIN, located in Los Angele. Mr. McGlade is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the Kew Guild, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. He serves on the Board of Directors for The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Kenneth Nakaba, FASLA taught at UCLA from 1975 to 1977 before joining the faculty of Landscape Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona, where he taught for 30 years. Prior to teaching Mr. Nakaba was employed by several notable landscape architectural firms in southern California, including Cornell, Bridges and Troller; Eckbo, Dean, Austin and Williams (EDAW) and the architectural firm of William Pereira & Associates.

Kalvin Platt, FAIA serves as Chairman and Consulting Principal of SWA Group, Inc. and is the former CEO and President. Mr. Platt has been honored with numerous awards for excellence throughout his career. He serves on the Board of Directors for The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Mark Rios, FASLA, FAIA is one of the Founding Principals of Rios Hale Clementi Studios, and has been the leader of both the design and business direction of the firm since its establishment as Rios Associates in 1985. Mr. Rios was Chairman of Landscape Architecture at USC from 2001 to 2007, and has been on the faculty at UCLA. He was elevated to AIA Fellow in 1999 and to ASLA Fellow in 2006.

Mayer Rus is the Design & Culture Editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Prior to moving to California, he was the Design Editor of Condé Nast's House & Garden. He was also Editor-in-Chief of Interior Design magazine. He has contributed to The New York Times, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Artforum, W and Wallpaper.

Adrian Scott Fine is the Director of Advocacy for the Los Angeles Conservancy, where he oversees the organization's outreach, advocacy and response on key preservation issues within the greater Los Angeles area. Previously Mr. Fine was the Director of the Center for State and Local Policy for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, based in Washington, DC, where his position providing research and responses on key state and local policy issues affecting historic preservation.

David Streatfield is an historian of landscape architecture and a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington. His book, California Gardens: Creating A New Eden (1994) was selected in 1998 by the American Horticultural Society as one of the "75 Great American Garden Books in 75 Years" on the observance of the Society's 75th anniversary.

Noel Dorsey Vernon, ASLA has served as Associate Dean of the College of Environmental Design, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona since 1993. She is a past Chair, Co-chair, and Vice Chair of the ASLA Historic Preservation Interest Group. Her most recent publication was "Adolph Strauch: Garden- & Grove-maker of the Midwest" in Midwestern Landscape Architecture. Ms. Vernon serves on the Board of Directors for The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Joseph Y. Yamada, RLA, FASLA, joined Harriett B. Wimmer in 1954 after graduating with a degree in landscape architecture from UC Berkeley. Shortly thereafter the two became partners and renamed the firm Wimmer Yamada. For over 50 years Mr. Yamada was instrumental in providing award-winning landscape design for many San Diego landmark sites including Sea World, Seaport Village, Embarcadero Marina Park and Balboa Park.

The Los Angeles symposium is organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation in partnership with Southern California Chapter of the ASLA and UCLA Extension’s Landscape Architecture Program. The American Society of Landscape Architects is the Educational Partner, with additional support from The American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter; the LA Conservancy; the California Garden and Landscape History Society; and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Western Office. For additional information, log on to www.tclf.org or call 202.483.0553. Space is limited.

About the Southern California Chapter of the ASLA

The Southern California Chapter of the ASLA encompasses regions south of the thirty-seventh parallel, including the counties of Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The purpose of the Chapter is the advancement of knowledge, education and skill in the art and science of landscape architecture as an instrument of service in the public welfare. The Chapter promotes the profession of landscape architecture and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication and fellowship. For more information, visit www.socal-asla.org.

About The Southern California Instiute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)

SCI-Arc is a center of innovation and one of the nation's few independent architecture schools, offering undergraduate and graduate programs. We are dedicated to educating architects who will imagine and shape the future. Located in a quarter-mile long former freight depot in the intensely urban artist's district in the heart of Los Angeles, SCI-Arc is distinguished by the vibrant atmosphere of its studios, providing students with a uniquely inspiring environment in which to study Architecture. For more information, visit www.sciarc.edu.

About The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The 12-year old Cultural Landscape Foundation (www.tclf.org) provides people with the ability to see, understand, and value landscape architecture and its practitioners, in the way many people have learned to do with buildings and their designers. Through its Web site, lectures, outreach, and publishing, TCLF broadens the support and understanding for cultural landscapes nationwide to help safeguard our priceless landscape heritage for future generations.