Fall 2010
Traveling for eleven hours in a cramped Jeep, seniors Kassie Hoffman, Miguel Ruiz, Mark Speers, Chandler Womack and Tum Suppakittpaisarn attended the ASLA Annual Meeting which was held in Washington D.C. from September 10-13. This year’s conference was built around a framework of lectures, education sessions, field sessions and tours. Education sessions included lectures on: wild urban plants, site furnishings, connecting children with nature, irrigation, complete street design, constructed wetlands, green roofs, landscape lighting and edible landscapes; just to name a few. Major speakers included Peter Walker, Michael Van Valkenburgh, Michael Dirr, Laurie Olin, Charles Birnbaum, and Kongjian Yu.
Participating in his first ASLA Annual Meeting, Miguel Ruiz was surprised by the number of people who attended this year’s conference and remarked, “there are a ton of landscape architecture people out there!” After spending three days attending lectures and participating in various educational sessions, Ruiz was impressed. He was especially struck by the similarities between the design process of the professionals and the design methods being taught in studio at the U of I, “it really helped reaffirm my education” he said.
Attending her second ASLA Annual Meeting, Kassie Hoffman felt that the conference provided a broad view of landscape architecture today. She said that there were a lot of counterpoints represented: some firms were huge, others quite small; some focused on green technologies while others used non-sustainable practices; some firms were multi-disciplinary, others focused on niche markets. Hoffman also pointed out how interesting it was to be in a city with such a rich history of landscape architecture while attending a conference about landscape architecture. There were opportunities to learn at the conference and also just by walking around the city.
Both Ruiz and Hoffman said that, “it was a really valuable experience.” Ruiz felt that it was exciting to see how the firms at the meeting were, “changing the field and how people view us [as a profession].”
Participating in his first ASLA Annual Meeting, Miguel Ruiz was surprised by the number of people who attended this year’s conference and remarked, “there are a ton of landscape architecture people out there!” After spending three days attending lectures and participating in various educational sessions, Ruiz was impressed. He was especially struck by the similarities between the design process of the professionals and the design methods being taught in studio at the U of I, “it really helped reaffirm my education” he said.
Attending her second ASLA Annual Meeting, Kassie Hoffman felt that the conference provided a broad view of landscape architecture today. She said that there were a lot of counterpoints represented: some firms were huge, others quite small; some focused on green technologies while others used non-sustainable practices; some firms were multi-disciplinary, others focused on niche markets. Hoffman also pointed out how interesting it was to be in a city with such a rich history of landscape architecture while attending a conference about landscape architecture. There were opportunities to learn at the conference and also just by walking around the city.
Both Ruiz and Hoffman said that, “it was a really valuable experience.” Ruiz felt that it was exciting to see how the firms at the meeting were, “changing the field and how people view us [as a profession].”
ASLA student attendees