International Federation of Landscape Architects Fédération Internationale des Architectes Paysagistes
NEWSLETTER
IFLA APRIL 2012
No. 99 J u 2 0
n 1
e 2
LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE MONTH
mail ifla@iflaonline.org web site www.iflaonline.org cultural landscape committee www.iflaclc.org
Topic
Author(s)
Page
From The President
Desiree Martínez
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Malaysia Celebrates LA
The Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia
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Celebrating Landscape Architecture
Michael Cowden, ASLA
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IFLA_President @iflaonline.org
La Month Celebrated in Serbia
Serbian Association of Landscape architecture
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Secretary General Ilya MOCHALOV mochalov@alaros.ru
ECLAS Award to Meto Vroom
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A Vroom Story
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IFLA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President
Desiree Martinez
Vice-President European Region
Meto Vroom
Nigel THORNE
Landscape Architecture & Public Welfare: Joel Albizo
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Vice-President Asia/Pacific Region
Young Professional Symposium
David Gibbs
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tma.titch@xtra.co.nz
IFLA Rome Fellowship
Hal Moggridge
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Vice-President Americas Region
The Partnership of IFI and IFLA
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International Landscape COnvention
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n.j.t@btinternet.com
Alan TITCHENER
Carlos JANKILEVICH carlos@tropicaintl.com
Editor IFLA News Shirah CAHILL shirahcahill@yahoo.com
Saide Kahtouni
Potential contributors please contact shirahcahill@yahoo.com Deadline for articles (500-1000 words plus illustrations) last day of the preceding month
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear all, Turkey has marked my life between April and March! I had the opportunity to participate at the Le:Notre Landscape Forum in Antalya in April with our dear friends from the Le:Notre Institute in Austria as well as with our friends from ECLAS. There, I had the pleasure and honor to meet Meto Vroom and walk along the narrow and fascinating streets in the beautiful town of Antalya. Our colleagues organized exciting workshops and I had the chance to participate in one focused on heritage that included an excursion to Silos, an archaeological site with a Greek, Roman, Christian past in a wonderful place! There, I also had the chance to meet our friends from the Turkish Board of Landscape Architects. Some weeks later, in the middle of May, I returned to Turkey, this time to Ankara and Bartin. In Ankara I had the opportunity to give a Keynote speech celebrating the opening Ceremony of a new Building in the Landscape Architecture Department. In Bartin, I also had the opportunity to talk to the students, teachers, various members of the University and the Landscape Architecture department! I also had the pleasure to walk the streets of Bartin and Amasra with colleagues and friends (the eyes of Paradise, according to Sultan Mehmed). I would like to thank my dear friends and Colleagues in Turkey for being incredible hosts. I hope that my participation and presence helped to promote the profession, through talks with politicians and the press, to motivate the students and to express IFLA´s support to the Association. What I can say without a doubt is that I left a piece of my heart in Turkey! With a big hug
Desiree Martinez
Malaysia Celebrates The Profession of Landscape Architecture, April The Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) Each year, the 3rd of March is set aside as Malaysia National Landscape Day followed by April’s World Landscape Architecture Month. This time of the year is often filled with activities on the ILAM calendar. ILAM LECTURE SERIES In conjunction with National Landscape Day on March 3rd 2012 and the ILAM CPD Program, ILAM has rolled out a series of lectures which enable members to start collecting CPD points. The Lecture Series 01 was a full day of lectures on various topics such as Low Carbon Design (Dr. Stellios Plainoitis), Design & Planning of Mecca’s Masjidil Haram (Prof Dr. LAr. Ismawi Zen) and Convert Tacit Knowledge to PhD (Prof Madya LAr. Ismail Said (PhD). This first Lecture Series was attended by 40 participants.
BELUM-TEMENGOR RAINFOREST EXPEDITION An expedition group, consisting of 40 ILAM members and friends, spent 3 days at the stunning Belum-Temengor Rainforest Complex. This event
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Native tree planting
MOU signing
was hosted by the Belum Rainforest Resort and supported by the EMKAY Group, the Pulau Banding Foundation and the EMKAY Foundation. The expedition drew local TV and print media attention as a 30 Species Native Tree Planting Ceremony was held, along with the help of the local aborigine children. Participants were also witness to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Research between ILAM and the Pulau Banding Foundation. The group was afforded the opportunity to explore one of mother nature’s most beautiful jewels and gain first-hand experience with the Rafflesia and Lantern Bugs. A visit to the aborigine village at Sungai Chueh and the distribution of snacks and health drinks to the locals brought cheer to the afternoon. MALAYSIA LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AWARDS & ILAM’S 30 YEARS GALA DINNER The ILAM 30 Years Gala Dinner and the Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards (MLAA) were held
Expedition group
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Malaysia Landscape architecture Awards
Celebrating Landscape Architecture, Olmsted, Public Health and Well-Being Michael Cowden, ASLA In honor of National Landscape Architecture Month this past April, landscape architects across the country hosted a variety of activities to celebrate the profession and explain how their work contributes to the public’s well-being.
in conjunction with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of ILAM and World Landscape Architecture Month in April. The event was held at the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur on April 7th 2012 and saw more than 500 guests attending this special evening. Among the guests of honor representing the Minister of Works Malaysia was the Secretary General, Datuk Himmat Singh. With the theme “Akar Umbi”, the dinner spread the message about the importance of learning from our history and culture in order to develop in the future. Special entertainment was provided by a traditional Gamelan orchestra and local song birds, Ayu and Nora. 19 MLAA Awards were presented in different categories throughout the evening - from Professional Landscape Architects to Local Governments and Developers. In addition to the nominated professional projects, ILAM Academic Awards were presented to university students who had performed well in the study of Landscape Architecture. 6 of ILAM Corporate Members who had contributed to the landscape industry were also awarded ILAM fellowships on that evening. For national publicity, a special 20 page supplement, focusing on the winners of the MLAAs was published nationwide on the following day, in the local daily, New Straits Times, with a circulation of 100,000 copies.
“Since its founding in 1899, public health has always been an integral concern of the landscape architecture profession,” said Nancy Somerville, executive vice president and CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects. “Landscape architects create spaces that promote physical activity, including parks, recreational facilities, bicycle paths, walking trails, and complete streets that offer alternatives to a reliance on cars.” A new ASLA brochure, “Designing for Your Health and Well-Being,” describes how to promote healthy living through landscape architecture. Some of the events throughout National Landscape Architecture Month include: Building a series of rain gardens for Joplin, Missouri, which is still recovering from a devastating tornado, by the Prairie Gateway chapter • Three walking tours in San Diego County • A “sketch walk” at Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center in New York City • A wetlands walk in Southern California • A self-guided walking tour of downtown Indianapolis’s significant landscapes, Idaho/Montana chapters worked with students and the local high school environmental education program
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 • Showing a documentary film, “Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life,” in Boston that explores the need and importance of reconnecting people with nature
students invited attendees for coffee and a cake shaped into Central Park. And the locals in Rochester snacked on cupcakes made to look like the landscape architecture logo.
• Community-based garden design In Utah, carried out by the Wasatch Community Gardens and the Utah Chapter of the ASLA • Garden design workshops in three Alaskan cities
University of Cincinnati 200 Pieces of cake given out, 100 Flyers highlighting great works of landscape architecture in Cincinnati given out, 3 Volunteers, 1 Good time had by all
Junior high students put up a thank you poster they designed for a youth-led trail design workshop in Boise, Idaho
National Landscape Architecture Month also encompasses Earth Day on April 22 along with the April 26 birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted (18221903), the father of landscape architecture, designer of New York City’s Central Park and other iconic landscapes. As part of a greater public awareness campaign, landscape architects held simultaneous events coast to coast in honor of Olmsted. CREATIVITY TAKES THE CAKE ON 04.26.12 Nevadans drew complete streets in chalk, which were featured on the news by the local CBS affiliate. Students at Cornell drew attention to landscape architecture with a forced-perspective guerrilla installation on their campus. An image of their work spread through social networks in a way you might call viral. In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter spoke to a crowd about the profession in a downtown park. Landscape architects rallied in front of the Capitol in Sacramento. University of Arizona
Organizer getting the message out in Denver
Weather did not even keep the public away. Organizer Sue Steel said, “We had horrible weather in Rochester – but that didn’t keep the crowds away; apparently people will do just about anything for free cupcakes.” Volunteers handed out magazines from Burlington, VT to Honolulu. Bike and walking tours sprang up in Miami, Seattle, and San Diego to take people on a ride through their environment, as designed
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 by landscape architects. In fact, San Diego’s walking tours received saturation news coverage. You’ll still find chalk scrolls in Rosie the Riveter Park in Richmond, CA. Kentucky planted trees in honor of Frederick Olmsted’s birthday. And at the Philadelphia event, organizers constructed a contour model in the spitting image of the founder of American landscape architecture in birthday cake. In total, 67 domestic events were featured on the national map but dozens of others were left unofficially reported, and three were in the nation’s capital. New Zealanders even joined in hosting a design competition in Auckland. After the campaign’s launch on 08.17.11, the push for public awareness of landscape architecture incorporated themes of transportation, green infrastructure, and, most recently, public health with this mega celebration of Olmsted’s birthday. This summer, the campaign’s 48 organizers will once again convene to make the next big push, historic preservation, by re-dedicating parks and public spaces across the country. This time, public officials will play a role with, members of Congress and even more mayors and political representatives taking part.
April. World Landscape Architecture Month Celebrated in Serbia Удружење пејзажних архитеката Србије Serbian Association of Landscape Architects In honor of “Landscape Architecture Month” which is traditionally celebrated in April, the Serbian Association of Landscape Architects organized a retrospective of the fourth International Exhibition of Landscape Architecture, which was previously held in Belgrade in November 2011. Exhibitions were organized in two towns in Serbia, Kikinda and Surdulica as well as in Montenegro, in the city of Budva. The exhibition in Kikinda ran from April 20th to May 17th 2012, in the gallery “Terra” located in the Center for Fine and Applied
Arts. Citizens in Kikinda had the opportunity to see the selected works from the previous exhibitions. The exhibition was opened by Jelena Pantelic, and M.Sc. Ljiljana Tubić, both landscape architects and members of the SALA board. Residents of Kikinda showed great interest in this exhibition and the opening was followed by local media. An exhibition in Surdulica was open from April 30th through May 12th 2012, in the library “Radoje Domanović”. The exhibition presented the model and project for the reconstruction of a park in Surdulica which included the plan and program of the local government. The exhibition was organized thanks to the engagement of Suzana StankovicAleksic, in collaboration with the Cultural Center of Surdulica. At the 18th International Ecology Fair, which is held in Budva, Montenegro in April, the Serbian Association of Landscape Architects presented work from the Fourth International exhibition of Landscape Architecture. On this occasion, Anđelka Jevtović, President of the SALA, presented the work of the Serbian Association of Landscape Architects from the past four years. It was a great opportunity to exchange experiences with colleagues, who last year founded the National Association of Landscape Architects. With the presentation of the SALA’s achievements, we
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 feel that we made a contribution to the promotion of the profession during the Month of Landscape Architecture. Landscape architects from Budva, Herceg Novi and Podgorica showed great interest in the presentations and expressed a desire for a more intensive cooperation between both Associations. Београд, Кнеза Милоша 7А/3 (011) 323-4487, 064-856-30-72 office@upa.org.rs www.upa.org.rs_ office. upas@gmail.com
ECLAS - Lifetime Achievement Award to Meto Vroom Award Ceremony in Antalya
On the 20th of April, 2012 the President of the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools (ECLAS) presented Professor Meto J. Vroom with the ECLAS Lifetime Achievement Award. Meto Vroom is emeritus professor of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. From 1966 until 1989 he was chair of the department of Landscape Architecture of Wageningen University. Meto Vroom contributed greatly to landscape architecture and helped advance the discipline both academically and in practice. He foresaw many of the issues that are now current many years in advance. For example, Meto Vroom has fostered international collaboration and raised the standards of higher education in landscape architecture. From 1978 to 1982 he was chair of the Committee on Research for the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). From 1990 to 1998 he was a member of the Education Committee of the European Foundation for Landscape Architecture (EFLA). One important task he achieved during this
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 time was the definition of the standards for recognition of landscape architecture programs and for organizing the process of recognition. He led the Visiting Panel that advised schools on the level and content of landscape architecture programs. Meto Vroom was also a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the LE:NOTRE project belonging to ECLAS. His advice was always acute, systematic and critical, while at the same time supportive of the project. He is also one of the founders of the Landscape Architecture Europe Foundation that selects and publishes best practice projects in Europe. As chair of this foundation he contributed to the publications Fieldwork (2006) and On Site (2008). Among other standard works for landscape architecture he authored Outdoor Space (1992), with an overview of Dutch Landscape Architecture projects in the second half of the 20th century -and Lexicon of Garden and Landscape Architecture (2006). ECLAS honors Meto J. Vroom for his contribution to education and research in the field of landscape architecture at the European level. http://www.eclas.org/eclas-awards.php
A Vroom Story Version . 28-6-2012 Meto Vroom EDUCATION Why did I become a landscape architect? In 1761 the first Vroom to become a nurseryman and gardener was born. Four generations of descendants expanded their activities and improved their expertise from planting plans to the layout of gardens to public outdoor space to landscape plans. When my father died in 1958 he left a heritage of regionally renowned gardens, parks and municipal cemeteries, all of them designed by him. I belong to the fifth and also the last generation of Vroom landscape architects. While growing up I spent a great deal of time in the family nurser-
ies and became familiar with the techniques of cultivating decorative plant materials. I also spent many hours in the drafting room where design drawings were produced. I enrolled as a student of landscape architecture in 1948 at the newly founded Department of LA of Wageningen University with Jan Bijhouwer as the first professor in LA in the Netherlands. After a difficult first year for the students, with its emphasis on the natural sciences, the second year brought an introduction to subjects such as regional soil science, vegetation studies, sociology and surveying among others and my eyes were opened to the fascinating story of landscape formation and land use. My teachers Jan Bijhouwer and Wieger Bruin taught me to see the beauty of the natural and the designed outdoor environment via lectures and field trips. There were also fascinating books like Giedion: “Space Time and Architecture”; Rasmussen: “Towns and buildings”; Mumford: “The City in History”, Kenneth Clark: “Landscape into Art” and Garret Eckbo’s “New Lives New Landscapes”. Modernism in architecture and urban design was at the time a relatively new phenomenon for landscape architects. For us students it represented an exhilarating new world full of ideas and ideals. Form, colors, textures and spaces may show beauty without further adornment and spaces are not necessarily determined by four walls, but can flow freely between objects. New were Bauhaus ideals with artists like Klee and Kandinsky and architects such as Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. Form and function should be visibly related and simplicity overrules attempts at complexity. Excursions to Denmark and Sweden were highlights. We looked at a new and different world with an appealing architecture and beautiful interior design. I slowly became aware of the political dogma underlying this new trend: The ordinary urbanite should live in a pleasant and healthy environment
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 with plenty of green open space, light, fresh air en hygienic facilities and we, the designers, would create this world for them and make them happy. Citizens in their part should behave according to our expectations in order to fit in the new environment. Communal facilities were to be preferred over private (outdoor) space. THE QUESTION ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE DESIGNER AROSE FOR THE FIRST TIME: THE GUIDE OR THE SERVANT? Learning how to design was not easy. Design teaching at the time was a matter of handing out an assignment and waiting for the student to come up with something original. This led to many a desperate moment. A typical response of the instructor would be: “no that’s not it, Meto, try again”. The help of fellow students who knew the professors preferences, was crucial for any progress. After the Bachelors studies in Wageningen an unexpected opportunity arose to spend a period at a School in the U.S.A. I won a Fulbright Grant in 1955 and was able to study at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A new Department of Landscape Architecture had been established under the directorship of Ian McHarg. This period was a high point in my life and also decisive for my further career. Academic study in the US differed from my experience in Wageningen, especially in terms of disciplined behavior. Time schedules were tight and attendance obligatory. There was a strong emphasis on graphic quality: pen and ink on cardboard. My knowledge of the sciences proved to be superior to that of my fellow students, but their design background was stronger. Design teaching at Penn was again based on a trial and error process. As happened before in Wageningen, it was a fellow student who helped me out when I got stuck in my attempts to produce a design. This repeated experience played an important role in my own approach to design teaching, much later in Wageningen. Our design assignments at Penn
included a court house project, a city park, and a highway design in a hilly landscape. We were learning to design at various levels of scale. In the meantime we received further indoctrination in Modernist design, this on the basis of examples of works of great architects and also via lectures by Louis Kahn and Lewis Mumford. Visiting critic Philip Johnson – partner of Mies van der Rohe, handed us an assignment to design the plaza in front of Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram tower on Park Avenue in New York. (His comment on my design was: “Are you from Holland? You must de-Dudok your scheme, Mr. Vroom”). He also took us on an excursion to his famous glass house in Connecticut, where inside and outside formed a continuous whole. An exciting experience. A different project called for an excursion to North Carolina where we did a landscape study at Cape Hatteras. It was Ian McHarg’s first experience with ecological design and my Wageningen background was helpful. In September 1957 I returned home and finished my studies in Wageningen by obtaining the degree of Master of Science in Agriculture in April 1958. My total study period was ten years. The total number of Wageningen graduates in Landscape Architecture at the time was limited to perhaps two dozen. Getting a job was therefore not difficult. WORK OVER THE YEARS Rotterdam 1958-1960 Professor Bijhouwer advised me to join the organization of the 1960 International Horticultural Exhibition – the first Floriade - in Rotterdam, this in order to gain some practical experience. I was appointed adjunct-head of the construction team. I gained some practical experience as well as an aversion against horticultural exhibitions. Amsterdam 1960-1963 In 1960 I was offered a job as garden architect in the Department of Planting at the Amsterdam Public Works Organization. My main task was to produce design studies for large-scale recreation areas around Amsterdam.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Ideas were developed with engineers to dig up ancient river channels from under the layers of peat and use the sand to throw up levees, thereby recreating images of former landscapes. A number of studies were made, presented and discussed. Working conditions were not optimal in Amsterdam, this because the landscape architect within the Department of Public Works at that time was normally viewed as being the planting specialist. The planning and design of the total urban environment, including green spaces was normally done by city planners and engineers. Only after the arrival of a growing number of landscape architects that had graduated from improved courses did this all change. A PRIVATE ASSIGNMENT My first and last private assignment came in 1962 when I was invited to design the Dutch Garden at the International Horticultural Exhibition (IGA) in Hamburg. The design was a success and later was published in the German Garten und Landschaft Journal and also shown as an example of a Modernist Garden in Malene Hauxners book “Open to the Sky” of 2005. The garden was demolished after the end of the exhibition. THE STATE FOREST SERVICE An opportunity arose to join the Landscape Department of the State Forest Service. In September 1963 I was appointed “Landscape Consultant Officer” for the provinces of North and South Holland, which includes most of the western low part of the country with the major cities. At the time the tasks of a landscape consultant included the drawing up of landscape plans for land consolidation plans, initiated and partly financed by the Ministry of Agriculture. There was also an advisory role to provincial and local governments on matters concerning regional and local planning and finally the landscape consultant advised and subsidized farmers on matters such as shelterbelts. I became familiar with the landscapes of the western part of the country with their semi-geometri-
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cal layout and long history and this was of strong influence on my design ideals: rationality, functionality, clarity and openness are characteristic of these ideals. Gradually I also became acquainted with the new ecological theories which began to affect landscape planning and provided guidelines for planting plans in various areas. I was able to put out my first publication on the subject. M.J.Vroom 1966. “Landscape Planning as a Creative Complement to Nature Conservation” in: IUCN Publications New Series no 8 pp 21-27:1966. During this part of my career I never stayed long enough in the same post to see any of these design projects implemented, a frustrating afterthought... However I did gain a great deal of experience in designing at all levels of scale. TEACHING IN WAGENINGEN FROM 1966 TO 1994 During the early months of 1966 prof Bijhouwer decided to step down as Chairman of the Department of LA at Wageningen University and applied for early retirement, this because he felt overwhelmed by the sudden influx of numbers of students. I was amongst the landscape architects who were consulted by a Committee at Wageningen University. I was told they merely wanted my viewpoints concerning his succession. In the month of August I was much surprised to learn that I had been chosen for the position and was expected to take over within a period of six weeks. After some hesitation I decided to accept. Rarely in history was anyone as unprepared as I was for such an appointment and I had a hectic time trying to organize things and to catch up on information and collect teaching material almost from scratch. At that time a full professor and chairman of the Department was completely independent and was expected to make his own decisions on the content and standard of the educational program. It was the total trust put in me that helped me get through the very difficult initial period.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Luckily during the early nineteen sixties a stream of new literature emerged in the US with brilliant studies such as Kevin Lynch’s Image of the City and Site Planning. Other sources of information and inspiration came from authors such as Yi-Fu-Tuan, Chr Alexander, Motloch, Simonds and McHarg. Patri and Ingmire’s Early Warning System also was of much help. These new sources of information with an emphasis on theory and method helped me a great deal in setting up my teaching material. The organization of the Department’s teaching activities was initially set up with the help of the students association and we worked closely together. Staff members with some teaching experience were hard to find at the time. Only after a year or so I succeeded in attracting an experienced teacher from the USA, Walt Cudnohufsky, a Harvard graduate who, together with a recently returned Dutch graduate from the U. of Penn, Hubert de Boer, helped set up a methodology for applying theoretical knowledge in more or less well-organized design studios. Other staff appointments followed and within a few years the fledgling department finally began to develop a balanced course. With a growing body of students my own role changed as I lost contact with studio teaching and was only present during major presentations. In the meantime I remained the principal lecturer and the final examiner who carried all responsibility for the overall quality of the course. All this changed after the Paris students revolt, beginning in 1969, which penetrated the low countries in the early seventies. Dutch students began to demonstrate, authorities were denounced, politicians were scared and a new Act on University Reform was adopted by the Dutch parliament. The professors were stripped of their powers and from now on acted as chairmen at department meetings during which decisions on teaching and research were made on the basis of a majority of votes. These were years with a great deal of stress. After many years students appeared to become bored by all these revolutionary activities and
things returned to normal in the nineties, that is, with someone in command. This demand for more democracy has had a lasting effect on design procedures, both in teaching and in professional practice. From now on most largescale designs no longer were end-products, conceived by an expert, but the outcome of negotiations based on various options offered in the form of scenarios and models. Design methods became design strategies. TEACHING EXPERIENCE How does one teach? What are the basic premises, the philosophy, the techniques? Much depends on the personal experience, the preferences, the personality and the talent of the teacher. A much simplified subdivision would look like: There are teachers who rely on their own experience, their intellectual basis and artistic preferences. They show examples of major importance and discuss these with students in an inspiring way, but they do not analyze the how and why of the design process. As a result graduates are very knowledgeable and able to distinguish quality in designed environments, but also rather uncertain about the way to tackle a design assignment. This was the situation in Wageningen when I was a student. There are also top designers who teach their students to draw and design exactly as they do themselves. They create their own design style and their own school. An internationally renowned example was architect Frank Lloyd Wright. A very different philosophy focuses on the rational aspects of design by pursuing an analytical approach. Students, when handed an assignment, are taught to ask the right sort of questions as to the what, why and how of both the site and the problem statement. They also are expected to apply logical thinking to find as many answers as possible (or as useful) before embarking on a step by step build-up of the design process. Inventory, analysis and evaluation are some of the keywords. I introduced this approach (supported by writings
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 such as Herbert Simon’s Sciences of the Artificial, chapter 3) and this worked well for some years until staff and students began to feel this was all too rational and began to miss the creative and inspiring gesture. From then on the notion of “conceptual thinking” was introduced. Students were stimulated to use their fantasy and also the accumulated images of special environments stored in their memory to imagine a possible solution before they settled down to the task of dissecting and evaluating information. With this extra stimulus the approach seemed to work adequately for a long time. But the talent and dedication of the individual student will always be a dominant factor. During the late 1960’s a stream of new publications arrived from the USA and Britain and I succeeded in condensing and assimilating much of this new information in a series of extensive lecture notes. RESEARCH EFFORTS In the course of the twentieth century landscape architecture became an academic discipline and this meant that it was obliged to carry out scientific research and publish the results, just like all other disciplines. The development of a design theory became mandatory. The first question of course is: what is a design theory? The answer seemed elusive at first. The first major research effort - in cooperation with the Nature Conservation Dept. and the Rural Engineering Dept. concerned a land consolidation plan in an area with very complex and ancient settlement patterns. The study resulted in one of the first attempts at setting up alternative models in landscape planning. A summary was printed in English: Vroom M.J. 1973 “Volthe de Lutte: A Systematic Approach To Land Planning In Scenic Rural Areas in The Netherlands” in: Lovejoy D (ed) Land use and landscape planning Leonard Hill Books Aylesbury Nottinghamshire In 1972 and 1973 surveys were made of the region around the city of Utrecht and around the town of Helmond. The assignments were to find ways for an optimal urbanization. A number of students
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took part in this project. Political strife postponed implementation indefinitely, but for us it was a most profitable experience. In 1976 a study was commissioned by a cement producer to investigate the possibilities of limestone quarrying in a sensitive landscape in the south of the country. See: Kerkstra, Vrijlandt, Vroom: 1979. The Impact of Limestone Quarrying on a Scenic Rural Area in: Land Use and Landscape Planning second edition 1979 Leonard Hill Glasgow In all research activities the question of the how and what of landscape quality arose. What are we aiming for in landscape design and what is a “good” landscape? Publications in the US in the 1960’s, beginning with Kevin Lynch’s “Image of the City” stressed the importance of legibility of landscapes, as determined by the possibility for observers to identify the nature and function of individual objects and environments. Functionalism became an important design principle. Another condition for quality was the degree and manner in which new development was fitted in an existing environment, (Chr Alexander: “Notes on the synthesis of form”). This means taking into account the existing diversity in soil conditions and water systems (the vertical relations) and also the existing settlement patterns (the horizontal relations). During the 1980’s the discipline of landscape ecology brought new criteria for environmental quality and notions like ecotype, gradient, border, buffer zone and greenway became part of the daily language of landscape designers. In 1998 Potteiger & Purington introduced the “narrative landscape” with stories connected with particular environments and names given to sites and areas in the past. These new insights led to new design criteria and these were added to the existing aesthetic standards such as harmony and contrast, balance and dynamics, form and color, the rules of perspective, scale and geometry.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 In the meantime the question of what was good and beautiful in a landscape was mostly decided by those who were supposed to know best, that is, the designers. With the arrival of environmental psychology as an academic specialization the question of the ordinary man’s preference for outdoor environments began to receive more attention. However the link between landscape characteristics and human experience proved to be difficult to establish. The activities of research teams shifted slowly from looking for answers via theoretical constructs to the handing out of questionnaires: what does the majority of those involved in a project think.
From 1975 until 1992 I served as a member (and eventually vice-chairman) of the National Advisory Council for the Minister of Transport and Water Management. This brought me in contact with a much larger field of policy than was possible within my own profession. Areas covered were the layout of the national infrastructure, including highways, railroads and airports; traffic control; water management in terms of quality and quantity; land reclamation and legislation. All major projects and policy documents were scrutinized and advised upon. Landscapes of the Netherlands are predominantly the result of engineering works and this includes the so-called nature areas. I functioned successfully and found this a most satisfying task.
A number of Ph.D. studies were completed under my supervision from 1984 onwards, Some examples are:
In 1992 the Dutch Association of Landscape Architects (BNT/NVTL) celebrated its 70th birthday and Meeus: (1948) “The search for an instrument for design the need was felt to publish a book in which the critique in Landscape Architecture” (in Dutch) achievements of landscape architects over a long Coeterier(1986)” Landscape perception and evaluation” period were described and illustrated. A commit(in Dutch) tee was set up to collect and select examples. I Kuitert: (1988) “Themes scenes and Taste in the History of edited and wrote most of the text of what became: Japanese Landscape Architecture” (in English) Meto J Vroom (ed) : 1992. Outdoor Space/ BuitenruiRoos-Klein Lankhorst (1989)“Computer application in mten. Environments designed by Dutch landscape landscape design” (in Dutch) architects since 1945. Thoth publishing Bussum. Germeraad: (1990) “ Open space in human settlements: the lesson from the Islamic tradition” (in English) Baljon:(1992) “Designing Parks” . 1992 (in English) Van Buuren: (1997) “Landscape planning and watersystems on the sandy plateaus in the Netherlands”. (in Dutch)
In 1992 I was invited to join a National Committee set up by the Minister to advise on the reconstruction and strengthening of all river dikes in the country. The work had been going on since the seventies as a reaction to the disastrous 1953 LECTURES, PUBLICATIONS, MEMBERSHIPS floods, but resulted in public disapproval and even After 1970 the number of public speeches, lectures, uproar because of the damage to river landscapes and publications, in professional journals and the caused by engineering works. I was able to conmedia, increased. A number of my publications vince the committee of the need for a different were quite successful. Interviews with journalists approach which would require the employment of and on the national TV resulted in much publicity. landscape architects. The Ministry accepted our As chairman of a University Department I was also proposals and from 1993 onward there was much expected to take part in many outside activities, improvement in the procedures and design quality. such as: Many landscape architects were employed. To me this was one of the most successful moments in 1. Membership of internal University committees. my career. 2. Membership of diverse national committees and juries of national design and planning competiTRAVELLING ABROAD tions. From 1968 onwards dozens of trips were made to 3. Boards and councils that are concerned with various countries, mostly to Universities such as in broader national environmental problems and the USA, Canada and a number of European coungovernment policies.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 tries. There were also international conferences to attend. These visits provided the opportunity to give guest lectures, to discuss and compare teaching levels. Conferences and symposia were also visited. Some high points were a visit to Asia in 1975: Japan, Australia, Indonesia and a visit to a symposium in Tempe Arizona in 1993 where I gave an address which was published as: Meto J Vroom “Images of an ideal landscape and the consequences for design and planning” in: Thompson F. & Steiner F.R. (eds) 1997 Ecological Design and Planning John Wiley. pp 293-319 During a visit to Kenya in 1999 I was able to support the Green Towns Movement in their aspirations and lectured at some of the Universities in and around Nairobi. Visits were made to Malinda and Nakuru. There was also the IFLA World Congress on Bali in 1998 where I delivered a lecture on: “The role of LA in sustainable development; examples from Kenya and the Netherlands”. Most of these activities were interesting and rewarding but in the meantime there was little time to sit down, read and think. DUTCH LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE IN THE 1980’S During the 1980’s the arrival of an increasing number of well-trained landscape architects combined with the existence of a well-organized planning legislation in the Netherlands resulted in a drastic growth of employment opportunities at all scales of operation, from urban plans to regional studies and both in private practice and in government service. The profession acquired a new status and became one of the major partners in local and regional planning teams. Another boost came from the Act on the Architect’s Registration of 1987 which provided legal protection for the titles of architects, urban designers and landscape architects on the basis of a recognized diploma. In 2012 around 700 landscape architects were registered, with the much older profession of urban designers showing about the same number.
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In the meantime design ideals changed: some large urban expansion plans based on modernist dogmas proved to be a failure and in rural areas “new nature” was highlighted as the successor of conservation planning. In education the emphasis has focused primarily in recent years on the study of natural systems, especially water systems. Functionalism in the modernists sense is no longer the dogma. Sustainability is in. Landscape structure plans that give guidelines to regional planning have become increasingly important. A TIME OF CRISIS Around 1985 it became apparent that the eighteen years of working in stressful circumstances had proved to be too much for my stamina and a long period of burn-out commenced. I was advised to step down as Chairman and to reduce my workload to a part-time job. A new professor was appointed and I was no longer expected to attend class rooms. I did therefore not participate in the development of new design methods, including the introduction of digital techniques in design studios. It was a low point in my existence. In 1985 the University Board decided to embark on a series of major budget cuts. The department of Landscape Architecture, which at the time did not seem to operate too well in terms of scientific output, was one of the victims. It was decided to abolish Landscape Architecture as a field of study. However the national reputation of the Department and of its graduates was too wide-spread for such a drastic measure to be acceptable and protests erupted. LA finally was allowed to stay but with a 50% budget cut. NEW TASKS With the return of my energy and reduced responsibilities I turned my attention to the outside world. An international design seminar in Rotterdam, in which several university teams participated, was fruitful and resulted in a book: Vroom/Meeus 1990: Learning from Rotterdam. Investigating the process of urban park design. Alexandrine Press and Mansell Publishing London
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 In 1994 I joined some advisory committees for major planning projects such as the expansion of the Port of Rotterdam and the alignment of the international high speed railway, the Dutch TGV. I also joined several groups of experts who judged major projects in terms of Environmental Impact Statements. In the meantime my activities in international organizations were expanding: LUP During the period of 1974-1995 I served on the Editorial Board of Elseviers Landscape and Urban Planning. During this period I published a number of articles and edited some issues of the Journal. Some of them are:
- 1985 Vroom:”the Perception of Dimensions of Space and Levels of Infrastructure and its Application in Landscape Planning” in: Landscape Planning nr 4 Elsevier Amsterdam - 1986 Vroom/Meeus: “Critique and Theory in Dutch Landscape Architecture” (co-author) in: Landscape and Urban Planning Journal vol 13 nr 4 Elsevier Amsterdam - 1990. Landscape and Urban Planning.vol 18 nos 3-4 Special Issue Changing agricultural landscapes in Europe (guest editor) - 1994. “Landscape Architecture Education”. Guest editor Special Issue Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol 30 No 3. Elsevier Dec 1994
EFLA In 1990 I joined the Education Committee of EFLA and helped produce the Education Policy Document of 1993. I joined a working group preparing guidelines and conditions for the recognition of schools within the European Union. I became chairman of a Visiting Panel with the task of inspecting schools, their facilities and their curricula. In 1996 three visits were made by different teams, to Dublin, Madrid and Barcelona. Of the three schools only Barcelona’s ETSAB received positive judgment. After these events no further visits were planned, due to a lack of available manpower within EFLA . From then on, the recognition of schools by EFLA was based on a recommendation by the national association involved. In 1998 I terminated my EFLA activities and was very pleased to receive a letter
from EFLA’s President Nyborg announcing my appointment as an Honorary Member of the Education Committee. ECLAS The need for unification or coordination in Europe was also felt in the teaching world. In 1989 the European Conference of Landscape Architecture Schools was founded in Vienna and I was among the founding members. The next conference was in Wageningen, followed by Edinburgh etc. An energetic team led by Richard Stiles succeeded in acquiring European funding for an organization named Le:Notre which aims at a comparative survey of all schools and their curricula in Europe. The next step is to set up guidelines for adequate programs. European rules required supervision by a Scientific Advisory Board, of which I became a member. My appointment terminated in 2006. PUBLICATIONS In 1990, the Dutch Association NVTL celebrated its 70th birthday and a book, containing a selection of postwar Dutch projects, was to be prepared. I was invited to edit the book and write its central text. Meto J Vroom (ed) 1990. Outdoor Space. Environments designed by Dutch landscape architects in the period since 1945. THOTH publishers Bussum After 1990 the number of books that dealt with the history of the profession and its professionals grew. A new professional Journal: Blaauwe Kamer and triennial Yearbooks of Landscape Architecture was published. In 1994 a period of ten years began for me spent on writing a book on the language and terminology of landscape architecture: Meto J Vroom: 2006 Lexicon of garden and landscape architecture. Birkhäuser Basel RETIREMENT In 1994 I was pensioned at the age of 65. A seminar was organized for the occasion which resulted in a book: Kerkstra K.; Vroom M; Lowenthal D.; Anderson S.I.; Ogrin D.; Hough M.“The Landscape of Symbols” Blauwdruk 200.3 At my farewell address, the following day, I received a printed copy of my 1967 inaugural speech for the Chairman of the
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Dutch Association of LA, (NVTL). When the NVTL announced my Honorary Membership of their organization some months later, I began to realize that I had contributed to the profession in a way which was still appreciated. In 2002 preparations started for a European book on Landscape Architecture through the initiative of Michael van Gessel. The Foundation Landscape Architecture Europe was set up and I became its Chairman. An international Jury, chaired by Van Gessel selected the best designs from all over Europe and I was able to witness discussions on design quality which was an exhilarating experience. The first issue “Fieldwork” was launched in Rome in 2006 in several languages and it was a successful publication. The second issue “On Site” was launched in Zurich in 2009 and the third “In Touch” saw the light in Copenhagen in 2012. On the 17th of September 2009 the Alumni Society of Wageningen Landscape Architects, to my utmost delight, presented me with a new cultivar of Liriodendron tulipifera subspecies “Meto Vroom” from the “Bonte Hoek” nurseries for my 80th birthday. The tree planting ceremony on the University Campus involved some digging activities and was accompanied by a glorious speech. SIXTY YEARS LATER AND WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS From the beginning of my landscape architecture studies in 1948 to the moment of my retirement in 1994, landscape architecture has made great leaps forward. The scope and nature of assignments has expanded and changed enormously and the capacity of landscape architects to face these challenges has grown considerably. In many areas the tasks of town planners, architects and landscape architects nowadays are overlapping, as demonstrated in the LAE books mentioned earlier. In the future, this sort of cooperation will be intensified and this means that teaching programs will have to be diversified, allowing for more specialization, this provided that the core training remains solid.
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Landscape Architecture and Its Impact on Public Welfare: New Research Yields New Insights Joel Albizo Public welfare: Why is it important to our people, our planet, and to the profession of landscape architecture, and how does the profession contribute to it? The first question is more daunting. Though we all may know “in our bones” what public welfare is or should be there has been little work done to empirically define it, especially when it comes to its complex relationship with the natural and built environments. Newly released research conducted by ERIN Research for the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB)—based on a systematic review and analysis of literature, case studies, and with input from a broad range of practitioners, academicians, and industry association leaders—proposes a definition of public welfare and identifies seven distinct ways that the practice of landscape architecture impacts it. WELL-BEING OF THE NATURAL WORLD The study observed that the concept of “public welfare” blends two fundamental ideas: the public realm and welfare or well-being and rests on the well-being of the natural world. In the context of landscape architecture, public welfare may refer to: “…the stewardship of natural environments and human communities in order to enhance social, economic, psychological, cultural, and physical functioning, now and in the future.” Seven distinct, observable impacts The findings demonstrated that the practice of landscape architecture benefits or impacts public well-being in the following ways: 1. Enhances environmental sustainability by responding to development challenges with solutions that involve sensitivity towards natural sys-
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 High Line Park, New York City, USA, has become an example of creative restoration in an urban setting. It has become a destination in a city of many attractions while encouraging social interaction, strengthening community, and improving well-being.
3. Promotes public health and well-being by making connections between human health and wellbeing and the conditions of the outdoor environment. Landscape architecture projects directly affect the mental and physical health of individuals and communities and provide immediate and lasting therapeutic benefits. 4. Builds community by creating attractive, functional places. Landscape architects encourage people to engage in their surroundings, strengthening social cohesion, which results in healthier, more dynamic, more resilient communities at the local, national and global level. 5. Encourages landscape awareness and stewardship by stimulating our awareness of the landscape, and increasing our understanding of the role that humans play in it. Landscape architects encourage citizens to appreciate the landscape and to participate in the processes that shape it. Cultivating a symbiotic and iterative relationship between people and their environment, the practice encourages protection, stewardship and understanding of the landscape.
2008 Olympics Master Plan, Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. The master plan for the Forest Park and Central Zone of the 2008 Beijing Olympics focused on enabling people and communities to function more effectively by employing strategies for urban renewal, transportation, restoration, flood control, recreation, and habitat re-creation; bringing nature back into the city at an unprecedented scale.
tems. At the site design level landscape architects integrate sustainability measures into all designs. Their work protects natural systems ensuring that all community members have access to common resources and are involved in active conservation. 2. Contributes to economic sustainability by assisting policy makers and others to improve the marketability and long-term value of residential and commercial housing/property. Economic benefits include reduction of crime, smart development and growth, improved air and water quality, efficient energy use, enhanced quality of life and health, and access to culture and recreation.  
6. Offers aesthetic and creative experiences that artists offer: the opportunity to experience enjoyment, contentment, stimulation or pleasure by participating in the aesthetic experience of historic properties, buildings, structures, districts, cultural landscapes, artistic objects and archaeological elements. 7. Enables communities to function more effectively by enabling people to function more effectively in their environments. Landscape architects facilitate many critical human activities and functions such as efficient traffic flow, parking, waste collection/recycling, water use/drainage, air quality and optimal use of space. POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO THE PROFESSION AND PUBLIC The study may offer a concise, logical, supportable set of themes and messages while appealing for the profession to better communicate its value to diverse audiences. It may also cre-
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 measuring the impacts of landscape architecture on public welfare and integrate them into practice. • Identify, develop and systematically collect additional case studies that illustrate the important impacts of public welfare and deepen understanding of the profession’s impact on it. • Conduct interdisciplinary research involving communication and the social sciences with a goal of developing more effective methods for communicating the qualitative, less tangible impacts associated with the practice of landscape architecture. Las Ramblas Pedestrian Boulevard, Barcelona, Spain. Las Ramblas, a tree-lined central pedestrian boulevard in Barcelona, Spain, enables locals and tourists to live, work, and play in a large space that feels comfortable and welcome.
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ate an opportunity to further connect planning and design concepts to practice in a way that enriches the profession and better serves society through enhanced quality of life. Additionally the findings might contribute to a more relevant shared scope of practice and clearer expression of “welfare” concepts in critical standards for practice across the globe.
YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION While the study was commissioned and conducted by North American organizations, we believe the concept of welfare/well-being and the profession’s impacts on it are universal. Case studies cited in a report from Brazil, China, and Spain underscore this point. With this in mind, we welcome your reactions, comments, suggestions, critiques, and ideas. Please contact me at jalbizo@clarb.org for a copy of the full report or to share your thoughts.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION AND INQUIRY While this research has reignited an important conversation on a poorly defined, understood, and underappreciated area of practice, it is clearly not the last or definitive word on the subject. As such there are a number of opportunities for the global landscape architecture community to further its body of knowledge in this area. The study identified three initial possibilities: • Further develop sound, practical methods of
Joel Albizo is the Executive Director of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (www. clarb.org) in Reston, Virginia, USA. The organization exists to promote public health, safety and welfare in the practice of landscape architecture. Its current members are state/provincial licensure/registration boards that regulate the practice in 48 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and two Canadian provinces. Its core purpose is to provide uniform standards of competency to practice landscape architecture.
Common Words Define Public Welfare The Wordle shows the relative frequency of the 45 most common words that appear in 40 dictionary definitions of public and welfare (omitting welfare in the sense of social assistance).
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 TEAMS 5-7 teams each hosted by a Cape Town based landscape architectural practice and lead by a young professional. Each team consisting of: +-5 young professionals +-5 LA students (local or international)
Cape Town Young Professional / Student Pre Congress Symposium David Gibbs You are invited to apply for participation in the Young Professional / Student Pre Congress Symposium. This exciting event will occur immediately before the 2012 IFLA World Congress and will comprise participants teaming up with South African Landscape Architectural practices to respond to a brief developed by the City of Cape Town. The winning designs will be announced at the opening ceremony of the Congress. Spaces are limited; apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment! PARTNERS UCT Master of Landscape Architecture Programme ILASA Institute for Landscape Architects in South Africa IFLA International Federation of Landscape Architect CHEC Cape Higher Education Consortium City of Cape Town: City Parks and Spatial Planning and Urban Design BRIEF Innovative community park design based on a single site in Cape Town which provides for the various recreational and social needs of the community and targeted users in such a way that they attract users, promote wellness and encourage physical as well as passive recreational activities.
FORMAT 2 – 4 SEPTEMBER 2012 Sunday pm: meet on site and brief the teams Monday: all day design workshop Tuesday: submission of final drawings by noon Tuesday pm: adjudication Tuesday evening: official opening of IFLA Congress, display of entries and presentation of awards. ADMINISTRATION Administration: IFLA, LOC and UCT All participants to be registered for the 2012 IFLA World Congress All transport to Cape Town and accommodation within Cape Town to be provided by each participant. Transport of participants for the duration of the workshop provided by City Meals and refreshments during the workshop to be provided by City Host practice to provide workshop venue, facilities, equipment and materials SYMPOSIUM COORDINATION South African academic: Liana Muller International academic: Antje Stokman In conjunction with City Parks and CHEC OPPORTUNITIES • 2014 World Design Capital and Congress: showcasing of winning designs and marketing opportunities for Landscape Architecture • 2014 Cape Town World Design Capital: development of winning designs further for implementation • Networking between national and international professionals
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 • Engagement between professionals and academics • Exposure of Landscape Architecture in South Africa • Students to meet and engage with future employers • Students to learn from and work with accomplished designers • Students to engage with participants from other schools, sharing experiences and ideas
Duarte Natario talking to Hal Moggridge about his work and experiences, during the exhibition opening on March 16th 2012 at the British School at Rome.
APPLICATION PROCESS 1. Download the Application Form from website 2. Complete all the fields 3. Email the document and proof of 2012 IFLA World Congress registration to symposium@ ifla2012.com 4. Closing date 31 May, 2012 You will be notified via email whether your entry was successful.
IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe International Rome Fellowship in Landscape Architecture January, February, and March 2012 Hal Moggridge In June 2011 the World Council meeting in Zurich, resolved to offer a 3 month residential Fellowship in Landscape Architecture to a recent graduate or an individual in mid-career, to allow a period for their own thought and research. The fellowship offered full board and lodging in a study bedroom with free internet access at the British School at Rome (BSR), an institution for artistic thought situated in via Gramsci on the north boundary of the Borghese Gardens in central Rome. Travel costs and a monthly grant for expenses were included. IFLA had set the special conditions that applications must be permitted worldwide and applicants be landscape architects under 35 years old. Each
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Visitors inspecting the four panels of Duarte Natario’s exhibit at the opening viewing. Duarte is center left. On the right is the second part of his exhibit, a running slide show of his 50 illustrations.
applicant was asked to “propose a contemporary response to an aspect of Italian landscape and pursue a selected topic with direct bearing on modern design in the landscape”. A statement of the offer was circulated worldwide by Christine Bassava in mid-August. Here an apology from me is in place as I caused an incorrectly spelt email address to be sent out, which corrected rapidly but only after there was wider circulation in the USA.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012
Concept drawing from Synthesis – ‘Zonation’, one of several preliminary sketches, showing how the solution was reached.
General plan of the proposed Parco Centocelle Agricultural Park
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 (2), New Zealand (1), Norway (2), Philippines (3), Portugal (2), South Africa (5), Spain (2), Sri Lanka (1), UK (1), USA (2), Venezuela (1).
One of 8 larger visual images of the Community Vegetable Gardens
The Exco set up a selection panel consisting of Hal Moggridge chair; Diane Menzies from New Zealand, Andreja Tutundzic from Serbia and Marisabel Rodriquez from Puerto Rico, representing IFLA’s regions; and John Gill representing BSR. This worldwide spread meant that the whole selecti process had to be undertaken by email. Applications had to be submitted electronically by October 15th 2011, followed by a very tight timetable
A sample of the little images with captions which illuminated the General Plan.
The popularity of this fellowship is demonstrated by the fact that 42 valid applications were received from all over the world by mid-October 2011, though this was only two and a half months before the start of the fellowship. Applicants came from the following countries: Argentina (2), Australia (2), Canada (2), China (3), Costa Rica (1), Croatia (1), Hungary (2), India (4), Iran (1), Japan (2), Mexico
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leading to a short list by October 28th and a final announcement in early November. Due to the diligence and clarity of mind of the selectors this procedure worked very well. By October 25th each selector had circulated their preferred 1st, 2nd and 3rd applications with brief reasons. This identified a long short list of 19 very interesting applications. Three days later, following iteration of views a short list of six was announced, consisting of:
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Ayda Alehashemi (Iran) Csongor Czegledi (Hungary) Nadia Combe (Australia) Xiaodi Zheng (China, who withdrew at this stage due to commitments) Katherine Jarno (Canada) Duarte Natario dos Santos (Portugal) All these seemed worthy of the fellowship. Following intensive email exchanges, the last two were chosen by the selectors as the most convincing – Duarte Natario, aged 24 and Katherine Jarno, aged 26. After interviews by an academic active in IFLA from each country, in both cases highly favorable, Duarte Natario was selected by the narrowest margin. His chosen subject was urban agriculture. And so on January 2nd 2012 he joined fourteen others, artists, architects and photographers, from all over the world to spend January, February and March 2012 at the British School of Rome. This was a group who communicated with each other in English, speaking Italian when collecting external information for their research. On February 2nd 2012, Duarte emailed me to report on his progress during his first month. His email included the following warm assessment: “I have been very well received in the British School. I had the immediate support of the Director Professor Christopher Smith, the Assistant Directors and the rest of the staff and residents. I have to say that the facilities of the British School are very good and I have found in the Library all the bibliography that I needed for my research. I am also included in the Fine Arts scholars, so I have to show my work in the exhibition, which will take place at the School on the 14th of March. Being a landscape architect with a work about urban agriculture, it is going to be obviously a different kind of art.” The three month fellowship proved successful, both for Duarte and for the staff of the British School at Rome who will be willing to receive another fellow should IFLA decide on repetition. It
is clear that there are young and mid-career landscape architects worldwide, who would welcome the chance to think and to study in Rome. Duarte Natario has produced a prodigious amount of work in three months, some perhaps from an earlier study. He has submitted a 52 page written report entitled, “Roman Agricultural Landscape: A Contemporary Approach” and 50 illustrations of his research. In mid-March I went to Rome to attend the opening of the exhibition of the visual work of 9 fellows. Duarte introduced me to colleagues with whom he had worked and enthusiastic staff members. His work was amongst the most exciting in the show, consisting of four large panels explaining his design for the Parco Centocelle Agricultural Park. Beside this was a running slide show of all his 50 illustrations. These consisted of 29 illustrations of Analysis, including assessment of the site and of its context in Rome, 9 illustrations of Synthesis and 11 illustrations of his Proposals, a plan with eight large visual images and a number of charming small sketches with explanatory captions. A small sample of this material accompanies this article.
Announcing the Partnership of IFI and IFLA In June of 2012, Shashi Caan, President of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers and Desiree Martinez Uriarte, President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between IFI and IFLA. In support of reaffirming the specific characteristics of each organization and the professional skills of their members, IFI and IFLA express the wish to pursue the promotion of interiors and landscape architecture as a means of highlighting the importance of environmental context as a factor for improving the overall well-being of communities. IFI and IFLA will encourage joint initiatives that correspond to the professional goals and ambitions of their members.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 IFI and IFLA propose strategies, actions, and recommendations to be submitted to their respective Councils with the purview of encouraging a collaborative evolution. Each organization will invite its partner to be represented at events of common interest that are hosted periodically. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS The International Federation of Landscape Architects is the body representing Landscape Architects worldwide. Its purpose is to coordinate the activities of member associations when dealing with global issues, and to ensure that the profession of landscape architecture continues to prosper as it continues to affect the design and management of our environment. IFLA is a democratic, non-profit and apolitical, non-governmental organization uniting individual landscape architects across borders, advancing the practice by encouraging excellence, promoting skills and achievements, advocating standards and ethics, and providing a forum for ideas to be exchanged. IFLA values and exercises professionalism, integrity, and accountability. http://www.iflaonline.org/ ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF INTERIOR ARCHITECTS/DESIGNERS The International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers is the global voice and authority for professional Interior Architects/Designers. IFI is the sole international federating body for Interior Architecture/Design organizations, and acts as a global forum for the exchange and development of knowledge and experience, in worldwide education, research and practice. Often considered as the “United Nations” of the Interior Architecture/ Design field, IFI connects the international community in order to foster responsibility, and raise the status of the profession worldwide. Founded in 1963 as a not-for-profit, limited liability Company to expand the international network of professional Interior Architects/Designers, IFI represents over 270,000 designers, educators, and industry stakeholders in the international design community in 110 countries on every continent
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collectively representing practicing Interior Architects/Designers worldwide. www.ifiworld.org IFI is a member of the International Design Alliance (IDA), a strategic venture between three leading international design organizations. The triumvirate includes the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA). This alliance focuses on opportunities to further the design discipline based on multidisciplinary collaboration.
International Landscape Convention (ILC)
By Saide Kahtouni An international standard-setting convention on landscape is being considered by UNESCO and IFLA and you can help us to make the plan a reality. We must build a sustainable planet for all by getting to know more at the global level about our intentions, proposals and concerns so that a common and stronger voice can emerge to help reach our objectives, IFLA is working towards this goal. Martha Fajardo, Colombian Landscape Architect, former IFLA President, co-chair of the Towards a UNESCO IFLA International Landscape Convention and chair of the Latin American Landscape Initiative along with our colleagues lead by Saide Kahtouni, Brazilian Landscape Architect and others, will be in Rio+20 representing IFLA and introducing the Brazilian Landscape Charter and the Latin American Landscape Initiative. Our session will be held on June 21st at 6:00pm at the Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro. Rio+20 Parallel sessions include: A iniciativa das Cartas da Paisagem Brasileira e Latino Americana em discussão; lead by ABAP-Associação Brasileira de Arquitetos Paisagistas/ FNA-Federação Nacional dos Arquitetos e Urbanistas/ IAB- Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil and other professional entities.
IFLA Newsletter Issue 99 June 2012 Session theme: Towards a UNESCO International Landscape Convention and the Latin American Landscape Initiative. Our Expectations: We urge Rio+20 dialogues to recommend the development of an International Landscape Convention (ILC).