TCLF Welcomes Three New Board Members
At the October 26, 2023 TCLF Board Meeting, three new members were unanimously voted in. Below are biographies of these accomplished and inspiring individuals, along with brief comments from each.
Gerdo Aquino, FASLA, PLA
Gerdo Aquino is the firm-wide Co-CEO of SWA, an award-winning global practice operating at the leading edge of landscape architecture, planning and urban design. Comprised of eight studios domestically and internationally, SWA’s mission is to prioritize design as an equitable platform addressing the pressing issues facing our cities and towns. For more than 25 years Aquino has worked collaboratively with communities, public agencies, institutions, and private developers in Los Angeles and around the world in shaping a public realm informed by natural ecosystems and guided by the current needs of our built environment.
Recent work includes planning and design studies to transform Ballona Creek in Los Angeles into a multi-benefit corridor that brings equity to people, nature and infrastructure; urban design and resiliency planning for a four-kilometer-long section of the Sava River Waterfront in Belgrade, Serbia; the development of a 400-acre Connectivity Plan for the Port of Los Angeles; and a new 300-acre headquarters campus for Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Aquino, a licensed landscape architect in eight states, holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD). He has taught graduate design studios at the University of Southern California and the GSD and co-authored the research publication Landscape Infrastructure: Case Studies by SWA, 2nd Edition.
Now more than ever, our communities are seeking a reconnection with nature, their ethnicities, themselves and each other—the Board of Directors of The Cultural Landscape Foundation is the platform that can allow this to happen.
Carroll Conway
As the President of Hoerr Schaudt, Carroll Conway exemplifies visionary leadership by heading the executive team to optimize the firm’s operational excellence. Her purview extends across vital departments including finance, human resources, marketing, and IT. Conway plays a pivotal role in the recruitment and retention of highly qualified professionals, finding immense joy in witnessing their career progression, mirroring her own inspiring journey spanning more than twenty years at Hoerr Schaudt. Her vast understanding of the firm’s history and expertise lends invaluable support to the firm’s marketing and public relations endeavors, establishing enduring and impactful processes.
Conway is a key figure in the financial aspect of Hoerr Schaudt’s projects, meticulously reviewing work plans and evaluating fees with a discerning eye. She is the driving force behind the firm’s pioneering stance in innovation, owing to her unwavering advocacy for the latest technology. Conway consistently collaborates with the IT team and staff to seamlessly integrate cutting-edge software solutions.
With more than two decades of dedicated service to the firm, Conway possesses an unparalleled understanding of Hoerr Schaudt’s intricate dynamics. She consistently applies this wealth of knowledge with empathy and unwavering conviction, effecting transformative change from within the heart of the practice.
By becoming a part of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's Board, I'm excited to help broaden the conversation and understanding of our shared landscape legacy, promoting its history, and fostering a deeper appreciation for the world around us.
Maura Rockcastle
Maura Rockcastle has extensive experience leading large-scale public projects, managing multi-headed stakeholder groups, and navigating complex and culturally sensitive processes. With a background in printmaking and sculpture, Maura balances a rigorous approach to leadership, project implementation, and design excellence with a conceptual sensibility rooted in process. Her design and leadership approach are grounded in listening, experimentation, questioning, and empathy, allowing her work to translate experience through spatializing stories and activating the senses.
In 2015 she co-founded TEN x TEN to build a practice committed to horizontal co-authorship, transparency, and curiosity. TEN x TEN’s mission is to co-create compassionate, immersive, and resilient spaces that confront the issues of our time. Her professional experience is focused on cultural, institutional, and public realm projects such as Historic Fort Snelling Revitalization, Indian Mounds Messaging Plan, and the Ellen DeGeneres Campus for the Dian Fossey Fund. Her work spans many scales – from 4,500-acre parks to five-acre urban plazas, to small collaborative art installations and interactive interpretive features – and has received national awards for design excellence and preservation.
Maura has taught design studios at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Yale School of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, and currently teaches in the Architecture and Landscape Departments at the University of Minnesota College of Design. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture and printmaking from Cornell University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, where she won the Ian L. McHarg Prize and an American Society of Landscape Architects Certificate of Honor.
I am thrilled to join The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Board and support an organization I have long admired and leaned on as a resource, and a place for inspiration and activism. I believe in the mission of this organization and am excited to contribute to its vibrant future.
