Ground 06 – Summer 2009 by Ground Magazine

Landscape Architect Quarterly 10/

16/

Features CSLA Awards OALA Awards Round Table Winning Trends Summer 2009 Issue 06

Publication # 40026106

Messages

.06

Letters to the Editor

President’s Message

I particularly enjoyed the issue on trees [Ground 05]. Like the previous issues, Ground includes articles that are theoretical and challenging while providing practical information that is relevant to our practice in Ontario.

I am honoured to hold the prestigious office of OALA President and look forward to serving the membership. The president’s job is typically a busy one; however, I am comforted by the knowledge that I am surrounded by extremely talented and dedicated councillors who are there to help. On behalf of Council, I extend a heartfelt thanks to Arnis Budrevics for his successful tenure as president for the past two years.

One concern I have is that the images don't seem to be as crisp as they could or should be. Since our profession is quite visually oriented, can the images in Ground be printed with greater clarity without compromising any sustainability objectives you might have? Finally, congratulations on the CSLA award that Ground received this year. The award is well-deserved acknowledgement of your great work and recognizes the passion and commitment of the Editorial Board! REAL EGUCHI, OALA PRINCIPAL, EGUCHI ASSOCIATES LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Editorial Board responds: A number of readers have commented on image quality. The Editorial Board is working with the magazine's graphic designers and the printer to improve the reproduction quality with minimal compromise to the environmentally sustainable quality of the paper. Editorial Board Note: The Editorial Board is pleased to announce that Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly received a National Merit Award in the Canadian Society of Landscape Architect's 2009 Professional Awards Program.

The OALA held its 41st Annual General Meeting on May 6, 2009 at the Grand Hotel in Toronto. This was another successful event and included presentations of the OALA Awards and the CSLA Regional Awards of Excellence that are featured in this issue of Ground. The 2009 OALA Pinnacle Award recipient is Gerald Lajeunesse and the first recipient of the new President’s Award is Linda Irvine. Congratulations to all individual and professional award recipients. The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and Town Planners was founded in Toronto, in 1934, by nine visionary landscape architects. From humble beginnings, the profession has advanced and enjoys a place of respect amongst the professions. The CSLA is now comprised of ten component organizations across Canada. In April, the OALA, a component of the CSLA, joined all components in promoting World Landscape Architecture month. This year, the CSLA celebrates 75 years as a professional society, and the OALA has the honour of hosting the CSLA Congress on August 13 – 15, 2009, back in Toronto, where it all began. The Congress theme, “Perspectives 360˚ on 75,” will honour our roots, celebrate our current achievements, and take a positive look at the future of our society. The 75th CSLA Anniversary Congress Committee, co-chaired by Jim Melvin and Jim Vafiades, has created a program that will appeal to the entire OALA and CSLA membership. I encourage the OALA membership to attend all or part of the Congress to celebrate this milestone, enhance your education, expand your networks, and to show landscape architects across Canada what good hosts Ontarians can be. I look forward to speaking with all of you at the conference. Hope to see you there. LAWRENCE STASIUK, OALA PRESIDENT PRESIDENT@OALA.CA

Up Front

.06

01 0A/

For his "walkability studies," carried out in collaboration with the Centre for City Ecology, Paul Hess asks people about their experiences of getting around arterial neighbourhoods.

IMAGE/

Katherine Childs

0B/

Inner-suburb thoroughfares often pose mobility and safety challenges for pedestrians.

IMAGE/

Katherine Childs

0C/

The effort to establish a National Botanical Garden in Ottawa on the site of the Central Experimental Farm raises issues related to heritage landscape preservation.

IMAGE/

Andrew B. Anderson

Up Front: Information on the Ground

ans move through arterial street landscapes designed for cars—or, as he describes it, “how people get to the store, what makes a street good for walking on, what streets are hard to cross.” And he’s particularly interested in the inner suburbs of Toronto. “Creating walkable places has become such an important discussion in landscape planning and design,” says Hess. “But it’s often talked about in terms of the downtown or the new developments on the urban fringe. In general, there’s not a lot of study of how people actually negotiate the inner suburbs.” And so Hess has gone to the people, finding out what their experiences on foot are like.

WALKABILITY

strolling the inner suburbs

Paul Hess, a professor in the professional planning program at the University of Toronto, talks a lot about walking. And in his presentations, he has a particularly favourite slide that’s guaranteed to elicit chuckles from his audience. The image shows an arterial road in Scarborough— one of those busy thoroughfares with a speed limit drivers interpret as an invitation to excess. On one side of the six-lane road is a No Frills grocery story; on the other side is a strip mall. Both are popular destinations in this densely populated apartment neighbourhood. In the middle of the road, with cars whizzing past, is something that can best be described as a cage. There’s no crosswalk leading safely to this metal structure intended for people protection, no concessions to self-propelled mobility. Just a cage that looks a lot like a prison for pedestrians. “In the planning world, arterial roads are for moving traffic,” says Hess, “but for the people who actually live in these places, getting across the street to the shops is a huge issue.” Over the years, Hess has spent a lot of time hanging out on arterial streets breathing in exhaust. He is interested in how pedestri-

His “walkability studies,” carried out in collaboration with the Centre for City Ecology, start with the most basic of questions: for example, can you cross the street at the big intersection? “People in these neighbourhoods are generally not used to having someone ask them, ‘How do you get to the supermarket in winter without a car?’” says Hess. “We tell people that we really do want to know, that we’re not joking.” At the workshops, participants not only describe their experiences in these arterial neighbourhoods, they also engage in informal mapping exercises. The maps end up covered in markings that annotate daily frustrations: “dangerous at night,” “not enough time to cross,” “very slippery in winter.” “When we ask people if their neighbourhood is good for walking, they often start off saying yes. But the interesting stuff comes out in the details,” notes Hess. “There are a lot of typical problems that come up over and over,” things that could be addressed, some of them very simply. For example, care needs to be taken to create details such as well-functioning sidewalks that drain well, are not icy in winter, and are lined with healthy shade trees in the summer. Fences, too, he says, are overused and often run needlessly between destinations—such barriers are

Up Front

often taken down by pedestrians as soon as they are put up, if these barriers block connections to parks and ravines, for example. Destinations such as grocery stores, transit stops, and apartment buildings need to be connected as directly as possible with safe pedestrian infrastructure. Hess suggests that landscape architects consider adding walkways and shade to mall parking lots so people can get from the bus stop to stores in comfort and safety. Although the results of Hess’s walkability studies are currently being compiled and analyzed, the conceptual underpinning of his work has immediate relevance: Hess urges designers to begin thinking of the landscapes of arterial roads, apartment towers, and strip malls as functioning social places rather than simply as collections of streets and buildings. Although they may not have the main-street conditions we normally associate with vibrant cities, these areas are nonetheless home to thousands of people, many of whom do not own cars. In these neighbourhoods, people of all ages hang out, stroll after supper, shop, and visit by foot. The key, says Hess, is that “designers need to reorient their understanding of these places, and then plan how neighbourhood activities can be facilitated.” TEXT BY NETAMI STUART, OALA, AND LORRAINE JOHNSON, BOTH OF WHOM TEND TOWARDS BICYCLE RATHER THAN BIPEDAL LOCOMOTION.

.06

BOTANICAL GARDENS

debate in ottawa

As a capital city, Ottawa shares many commonalities with other great capital cities of the world: celebrated parks, monuments, buildings, and greenspaces. Many of us can remember being paraded through the city on class field trips or on dreaded family vacations, and we probably shared similar itineraries: Parliament Hill, the Byward Market, Sussex Drive, and maybe even a foray into the Gatineau Hills. However, there are a number of lesser known, often overlooked features to the city. For example, no other capital city in the world can boast a richly historic working farm—the Central Experimental Farm—within a short bike ride from the seat of government. Despite its long list of attributes, Ottawa is one of very few capital cities that does not have a botanical garden. Perhaps fitting for a place with a somewhat bureaucratic reputation, the idea of a national botanical garden for Ottawa has been studied for close to a century. In 1929, the National Research Council of Canada proposed one; Greber’s famous 1949 plan for Ottawa included a national botanical garden; and the 1951 Massey Commission also proposed one. Yet in spite of this historic support, the idea has not, until recently, taken root. Taking its cue from a 1998 study which found that public opinion supported the creation of a botanical garden, a group called the Ottawa Botanical Garden Society (OBGS) was formed to promote the idea. The OBGS adopted the following as its mission statement: “To re-establish and enhance a botanic garden at the Central Experimental Farm dedicated to display the diversity of plant life, explain the economic and social role of plants, and expand our knowledge of plants and their cultivation.” The OBGS selected as its preferred site 34 acres at the Central Experimental Farm, in

an area adjacent to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden and the Hartwell Locks of the Rideau Canal. The OBGS notes that when the Central Experimental Farm and Dominion Arboretum were established in 1886, 65 of the Farm’s 465 acres were intended to be devoted to “ …the important purposes of an Arboretum and Botanic Garden where all the useful trees, shrubs and plants of the Dominion …will be brought together…“ The chosen site has been controversial. The volunteer group Friends of the Farm, which since 1988 has worked tirelessly to protect the integrity of the cultural landscape of the Farm, opposes the development of a national botanical garden on the Farm, which was designated a National Historic Site in 1998. And so, the story of Ottawa, the Central Experimental Farm, and the would-be National Botanical Garden raises a series of complex questions that combine cultural landscape preservation, horticulture, arboriculture, agriculture, and an elusive quest to achieve a balanced solution for a unique landscape challenge. The Ottawa Botanical Garden Society continues to work towards its goal of establishing a National Botanical Garden at the Central Experimental Farm, while Friends of the Farm continues to work towards the maintenance and enhancement of the Farm. Who said life in Ottawa is boring? For more information on the Central Experimental Farm, visit www.friendsofthefarm.ca. For more information on the National Botanical Garden, visit www.ottawagarden.ca. TEXT BY ANDREW B. ANDERSON, OALA, A PROUD OTTAWA-PHILE AND A MEMBER OF THE GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD.

Up Front

.06

SHADE

protecting public health

The health and environmental benefits of shade might seem like a topic unencumbered by controversy. Few people would dispute the assertion that strategic increases in shade can protect against skin cancer (the most common cancer in Ontario, and yet also a disease that is largely preventable), encourage physical activity, reduce greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions, mitigate the heat island effect, and reduce energy costs. Why, then, have shade-policy efforts not been more enthusiastically embraced at the political level? Considering the widespread concern over many of the health and environmental issues connected with shade, the pace of positive change could be called glacial (at worst) or incremental (at best). (The tree piece of the shade puzzle is an exception to this, with widespread up-take at municipal and provincial levels.)

To conduct shade audits, the researchers assessed the features of each of the eight sites, analyzed sunlight conditions, and studied patterns of use. Students conducted field work, collecting data about existing trees (species, heights, canopy widths), surfaces, buildings, location of play structures, etc. All the information was then fed into specialized software (WebShare) developed by Australian architect and shade expert John Greenwood to assist municipalities in preparing strategic shade plans for public open space.

However, the Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition (TCPC) is clearly not interested in pointing fingers or parcelling out blame. Instead, this decade-old, multi-stakeholder group is focused on action, and continues to educate, advocate, and demonstrate the many ways that Toronto could become a sun-smart, shade-forward city.

“The magic of this computer software,” says Kapelos, “is that it assesses the quality of the site in terms of UV risk to users. It provides a risk profile and a risk overview and how these vary across the site.” For example, in one of the eight parks, the risk for UV exposure was “extreme” at the monkey bar area, but “low” in the open play and seating areas.

At a recent conference—held in January 2009 at Ryerson University—the Ultraviolet Radiation Working Group of the TCPC presented the initial results of a pilot study to do “shade audits” at eight parks and playgrounds scattered throughout Toronto—the first project of its type in Canada. “We picked playgrounds and waterplay areas as a place to start because of the known risks of early exposure to ultraviolet radiation for children,” explains George Kapelos, Associate Professor in the Department of Architectural Science at Ryerson.

Along with assessing risk, the program also analyzes how much shade is required to reduce the risk in different areas from high to low. “Some of the problems are pretty easy to solve,” says John Greenwood of the risks revealed by the shade audits: “In some of the seating areas, one tree will do it.” He stresses that when resources are limited, the key is “not just to scatter trees everywhere, but to position them effectively. The audit analyzes what the opportunities are, where the need is greatest, and how to get best results.”

Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation is a lead partner in the pilot project and has been very actively involved in shade issues, creating a comprehensive shade policy for the department. Likewise, in 2007 the Toronto Board of Health endorsed a shade policy which says, in part: “The provision of shade, either natural or constructed, should be an essential element when planning for and developing new City facilities such as parks or public spaces, and in refurbishing existing City-owned and operated facilities and sites.” City Council has not yet approved such a policy (and, indeed, rejected one in 2005, out of concerns over cost and perceived liability), but it seems likely that as the Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition continues to connect the dots between shade, public health, and environmental goals, the politicians might follow. “The impetus for this work has come from the community,” says Kapelos, “and the people in public health have led it.” While he notes that “the professions aren’t embracing this at the same level as members of the public,” perhaps change is on the horizon—a horizon with enhanced UV protection. For more information on the Toronto Cancer Prevention Coalition and its shade work, see www.toronto.ca/health/resources/tcpc/. TEXT BY LORRAINE JOHNSON, EDITOR OF GROUND.

0D/

Shade sail in Dovercourt Park, Toronto

IMAGE/

City of Toronto

Up Front

.06

INTERNATIONAL

rio’s modern master

It’s early March. Imagine twenty-one landscape design students from London’s Fanshawe College sitting in the summer shade at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach across the road from the famous Copacabana Palace Hotel. They’re not staying there; they’re hanging out until the Mellow Yellow Hostel opens at noon. It’s already 34˚ celsius. A man is wetting down a path in the sand to make it more comfortable for ocean-bound bare feet. A woman is systematically tanning her much revealed and already brown skin to the delight and fascination of the students, some of whom are more painfully red than brown.

We’re in Rio to see the work of landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994). We’re in it. He designed the public realm of the Copacabana Beach; underfoot is the famous, Portuguese-inspired paving pattern in waves of black and white marble. The public realm extends from a beach-facing wall of buildings, the Copacabana Palace Hotel for one, to the ocean. The beach-side promenade is generous enough for scores of people. Cafes and bars characterized by unique service kiosks with shaded tables and chairs define areas along the four-kilometre beach. There’s a dedicated bikeway/running path separated from motorized vehicles by a raised curb—the sensible runners come out in the cooler morning and evening. The roadway is six lanes: two three-lane sections separated by a wider median with grouped trees at regular intervals; gas stations are in the median. The building-side promenade is as wide as the combined roadways. Fullleaved, strangely contorted though seemingly healthy trees punctuate the paving in formal groups with simple, backless benches providing shaded seating; restaurants spill out onto the promenade, more outside than inside venues, some tented, some not; as specified by Marx, night illumination is the quality of moonlight. Unfortunately, we were in Rio for three days only. That’s not enough time to see and appreciate all of Marx’s local work, at least not with twenty-one students in tow, and not if they’re going to stand at the mountaintop base of Rio’s landmark icon,

O Cristo Redentor; marvel at the city from the height of the Sugarloaf Mountain; and wander through the two-hundred-year-old botanical garden with its incredible axial avenue of Imperial Palms. Apart from the Copacabana, and a bus ride through Flamengo Park, the students’ experience of Marx’s work came from a visit to his sitio, or estate, where he lived from 1973 until his death. Now a Brazilian national monument, the 40-hectare estate is a remarkable embodiment of Marx’s genius loci, both in 0E/

The axial avenue of Imperial Palms at Rio's botanical garden

IMAGE/

Andrew Wilson

0F/

Copacabana Beach at night

IMAGE/

Andrew Wilson

0G/

Marx is renowned for his use of indigenous plants.

IMAGE/

Andrew Wilson

Up Front

.06

terms of the landscape architecture and his obvious genius. There is such a strong sense of the place as a designed landscape. Some of that is no doubt related to the fact that it was Marx’s home: we expect the place to be a reflection of the person; we expect to have a sense of his colourful, abstract, landscape plans. But regardless of what we may know of Marx as a landscape architect, his home landscape is simply beautiful. It unfolds for a visitor as a composition that is at once simple and complex, diverse and unified. Paths and roadways divide and demarcate, contain and traverse the sloped site. Restored 16th-century buildings are harmoniously integrated with the gardens. A modernist pavilion in stone and concrete is enlivened by a tile mosaic in red, bronze, black, and blue reminiscent of a Marx landscape plan. Sun and shadow define a cast-in-place concrete pergola. Water highlights and contrasts as natural pools

and formal ponds. Zen-like rock arrangements go unnoticed by most of the students. Architectural remnants are located as follies, walls, and steles. Modern sculpture presides over a generous veranda; in the blue-tiled cool of a loggia, Marx’s face captured in bronze. Marx is renowned for his use of indigenous plants—some of which are familiar to us as house plants. It’s remarkable to see a hillside covered by one of those plants, one of 3,500 species that Marx reputedly collected. I don’t know enough about those plants to comment on the ecological aspects of the plant associations Marx employed; however, the aesthetic result is fantastic, if not surreal—all the more so to an eye used to North American ecosystems and the ornamental plants commonly in use in Ontario and British Columbia. Marx’s work is associated with the Modern art movement. Some of his plans are more like Modern abstract paintings than conventional landscape plans of the mid20th century. In the quality of his biomorphic forms and the sweep of his planting plans we see our design legacy. That is what

was so satisfying about walking through his estate: so much is unfamiliar yet underlying the unfamiliar is what we now regard as familiar design ideas boldly, beautifully, lovingly, and perhaps most significantly, originally expressed. This year, in October, the 46th IFLA World Congress is being held in Rio de Janeiro. One of the trips being offered in conjunction with the congress is to Sitio Roberto Burle Marx—reason enough to consider attending the congress. TEXT BY ANDREW WILSON, OALA, WHO TEACHES AT FANSHAWE COLLEGE IN LONDON, ONTARIO.

0H/

Architectural remnants, lush with foliage, are located throughout Marx's estate.

IMAGE/

Andrew Wilson

0I/

Landscape architect Ian Payne's nursery, Not So Hollow Farm, specializes in containergrown native trees and shrubs.

IMAGE/

Ian Payne

Up Front

NURSERIES

grow your own

Landscape architect Ian Payne, OALA, not only has deep roots in the plant world—at age 14, his first job was at a nursery—but he knows plant roots intimately. “As a kid, I learned how to identify species by their below-ground growth,” he says, just one of the benefits of spending his high-school March breaks potting bare-root shrubs at Weall and Cullen Nursery. Another benefit was learning early on about the business side of the plant world—an experience that spurred him on to start his own landscaping company, with his brother, while still in high school. “In the beginning, we did maintenance, but then we moved in the direction of construction. When we switched to construction, I would sell a job and then figure out how to build it.” Clearly a go-getter, Payne didn’t let obstacles get in the way of his chosen path. When he decided in the late 1970s to apply to the University of Toronto’s landscape architecture program, he wasn’t deterred by the fact that the program was already at full enrollment. He and a friend built their own drafting tables and erected a loft-like structure in the faculty’s fifth-floor design studio. “That year, the class had two extra students,” he says with a grin.

.06

over the decades. Recently, he’s added a new project to the mix—starting a native plant nursery on his 47-acre property near Creemore, in the Mulmur Hills. “As a landscape architect, I could see the demand for native trees and shrubs and the difficulty in sourcing them. I’ve always loved growing plants, so I decided to start a nursery.” Specializing in container-grown native trees and shrubs, Payne’s Not So Hollow Farm has found a niche selling to community groups doing naturalization projects. “Because of the size of our plants,” the bulk of which are in 1- to 2-gallon pots, “they’re especially good for use in community plantings done by volunteers,” says Payne. Another growing market is municipalities and conservation authorities: “They’re putting out tenders asking for plants from a specific seed zone,” Payne points out, noting that his nursery tracks seed provenance and is concentrating on local seed sources and specifying seed zones on his plants lists.

With his own landscape business and commuting to school using the company truck, he must have seemed a rather precocious student. “One of my first-year teachers said, ‘Why are you even here?’” Payne admits, though he also confesses, “I wasn’t what you’d call a good student. I didn’t get great marks.” Marks aside, Payne’s entrepreneurial spirit has taken him far, and his design/build company, Enviroscape Inc., has flourished

Of the connection between his work as a landscape architect and his endeavours with the nursery, Payne sees it as a natural progression—from growing plants to design services and vice versa. When a project calls for trees that are generally hard to source, such as American beech or basswood, he knows where to find them—in the more than 20,000 containers currently comprising his nursery stock. “I’ve started collecting my own seeds, too,” says Payne, who has set himself the goal of propagating the notoriously difficult-topropagate native shrub leatherwood (Dirca palustris): “I like the idea of growing species that aren’t commercially available.” And he adds: “yet.“ For more information on Not So Hollow Farm, email natives@enviroscape.on.ca. TEXT BY LORRAINE JOHNSON, AUTHOR OF THE NEW ONTARIO NATURALIZED GARDEN AND 100 EASY-TOGROW NATIVE PLANTS.

CSLA Awards

.06

CSLA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE— ONTARIO REGION

The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Professional Awards are given for outstanding accomplishment in landscape architecture. Congratulations to the following Regional Award winners.

CSLA Awards

.06

OALA Regional Honour Award: Project Name: Cornell Master Plan for The Ithaca Campus Organization: George Dark, OALA, FCSLA, ASLA, Urban Strategies Inc. Client: Cornell University Location: Ithaca, New York, USA Category: Planning and Analysis

Judges' Comments: A comprehensive master plan that effectively incorporates and links to the surrounding regional landscape and reinforces the campus identity. Solid landscape architectural work that succeeds in creating a sustainable, marketable vision for campus development.

01/02/03/04/ Cornell Master Plan for The

Ithaca Campus IMAGES/

George Dark, Urban Strategies Inc.

CSLA Awards

.06

OALA Regional Merit Award: Project Name: Franklin Children's Garden Organization: Janet Rosenberg + Associates (JRA) / Schollen & Company Inc. / City of Toronto Client: City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division Location: Toronto Islands, Toronto, Ontario Category: Design

Judges' Comments: This design takes a fresh and inspiring approach to play that departs from the reliance on catalogue standards to fully immerse children in a multi-layered experience: spatial, sensory, cognitive, physical. It creates a whimsical narrative with a strong connection to the primeval and elemental. A great introduction to ecology for children. 03

01/02/03/04/ Franklin Children's Garden IMAGES/

Janet Rosenberg + Associates (JRA) / Schollen & Company Inc. / City of Toronto

CSLA Awards

.06

OALA Regional Merit Award: Project Name: Boustrophedon Garden Organization: PLANT Architect Inc. Client: Societe du 400e anniversaire de Quebec 01/02/03/04/ Boustrophedon Garden IMAGES/

PLANT Architect Inc.

Location: Quebec City, Quebec Category: Design

Judges' Comments: This novel, playfully complex, temporary installation pushes the boundaries of our profession. “I had no idea of what to expect, I got here and said wow.” It’s successful as a machine that materializes the passage of time and as a very rich garden experience.

CSLA Awards

.06

OALA Regional Merit Award: Project Name: Ellis Avenue Stormwater Management Wetlands Organization: Ecoplans Limited Client: City of Toronto Location: Toronto, Ontario 02

Category: Landscape Management

01/02/03/04/ Ellis Avenue Stormwater

Management Wetlands IMAGES/

Ecoplans Limited

Judges' Comments: This project has been a great ecological and recreational improvement to this part of Toronto. The landscape architect is to be commended for reversing the engineering approach to stormwater control toward a more holistic weaving of habitat, recreation, circulation, bank stabilization, and stormwater. 04

CSLA Awards

.06

OALA Regional Citation Award: Project Name: Seaton Natural Heritage System Management Plan and Master Trails Plan Organization: Schollen & Company Inc. Client: Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Location: Toronto, Ontario Category: Planning and Analysis

Judges' Comments: Clear, rational, proactive approach with ecologically sound criteria. The precise knowledge in this report will help to safeguard the integrity and value of the community’s natural/cultural landscapes. One of the challenges in landscape architecture is to capture this kind of information before the environment is threatened. This initiative sets a precedent for the protection and management of natural heritage resources in other communities across the country.

01/02/03/

Seaton Natural Heritage System Management Plan and Master Trails Plan

IMAGES/

Schollen & Company Inc.

Round Table

.06

Winning Trends For this Awards issue of Ground, a panel of Editorial Board members was convened to discuss trends that might be identified in a selection of this year’s CSLA Regional Awardwinning projects by Ontario-based landscape architecture firms and to address general issues raised by awards programs.

Does the division of projects into categories such as “design” and “planning analysis” capture the nuances of the different projects, or does it create somewhat fragmented distinctions? Johanna Evers (JE): As stewardship and sustainability become prerequisites for our work as landscape architects, does that negate the need for a “landscape management” category in awards programs? Netami Stuart (NS): All management plans are not sustainable, necessarily. And all sustainable projects are not necessarily management plans. The management category is interesting because it highlights timescale in our work. Andrew B. Anderson (AA): Yes, so maintaining these various categories of awards serves to represent the breadth of what we do as landscape architects. NS: The award winners are often similar in scope every year, so I wonder if projects of different scopes even get submitted. And if not, why not? Yvonne Yeung (YY): I think it may be a matter of timing; many innovative projects are kept sensitive because they are subject to approval. Or perhaps in a competitive industry some firms may not submit in order to not give their clients away.

PARTICIPATING IN THIS ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION WERE EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS ANDREW B. ANDERSON, NANCY CHATER, JOHANNA EVERS, JOCELYN HIRTES, FUNG LEE, NETAMI STUART, AND YVONNE YEUNG.

Nancy Chater (NC): But wouldn’t they want to be published in a magazine and get the associated publicity that an awards program confers?

ORGANIZED BY NETAMI STUART, OALA EDITED BY NANCY CHATER, OALA, AND LORRAINE JOHNSON

Jocelyn Hirtes (JH): They already have the commitment from their client, so perhaps they don’t need publicity. NC: I would have thought that the prospect of an award would have been motivating.

Round Table

AA: Well, that is part of a discussion about the benefits of awards programs like this. Some people couldn’t care less, and other people think they are really important. YY: The big question is how people outside of our profession see the awards, and this, in part, defines the value. NC: What sort of stature do the awards have, outside of our colleagues? Fung Lee (FL): That’s what I always ask. And that’s what people in my office always ask. AA: I think that in general, awards mean, quite simply, “these projects are award-winning.” Hence, there’s the perception that they must be good. NS: There’s a great proliferation of awards in the world. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you can get an award for pretty much anything, no matter how obscure. There are a lot of awards! NS: I wonder if you could get a developer to pay you to make the submission to an awards program, because getting that award is going to increase the value of that development. While avoiding qualitative judgements of the CSLA award-winning projects specifically, the panel did make some general observations. JE: We are winning awards for things now that people in Europe were winning awards for five years ago. NC: We’re certainly always behind Europe in terms of sustainability and in terms of embracing public space as a highly valued part of our culture.

.06

JE: Even if you look at places like Portland, Oregon, or Vancouver, where projects can be so much more forward-thinking, things here can seem so rigid and conservative and tied to economics in comparison. AA: That’s a factor of what the client wants or what the municipality will allow. Those are the confines. That’s the box that our projects are in, and we try to push out of that box, but the projects, in the end, are projects, and the client wants them. Real projects for real clients. JH: So are you saying that design in Ontario is kind of earnest? AA: I’d say so. JH: So, these are earnest projects that take themselves quite seriously? Even the ones that are kind of playful—the ephemeral garden and the children’s garden, for example—still have a sort of serious undertone to them. NC: The Importance of Being Earnest. (laughter) AA: That’s what we should call our Round Table discussion… One of the key features identified by the panel in the award-winning projects had to do with sustainability, and the way that the idea of sustainability becomes a narrative force in the designs: there are different narratives of sustainability embedded in all of the winning projects. NC: Perhaps we’re in a new era of McHargian landscape planning. Several of the projects are indebted to that tradition. Is this the 2009 version of McHarg’s influence on landscape analysis as in his Design With Nature? We could ask if the projects are doing something different or adding some other layers? In the Cornell Master Plan project, for example, they are trying to plan for densification and development of the campus in the most sus-

tainable way possible while maintaining their open space by reducing sprawl. That’s also what McHarg was advocating decades ago. AA: I wonder if part of the trend is that sustainable principles are so much a part of the core that they’re not in your face. NS: It happens to be sustainable but it’s a story about something else. AA: Right, as opposed to maybe ten years ago, when it would have been much more literal, like “look at this, it’s sustainable.” Now, there are no little signs saying, “look at the bioswale.” I think those sustainable principles are becoming inherent, and people are feeling that it’s no longer what sets them apart… Narratives are, of course, stories. And stories are concerned with time… FL: Is a temporary installation, such as the Boustrophedon Garden project, still landscape architecture? NS: Absolutely. I think it’s a good experimental terrain. JH: There are very different constraints, though, for something that has to stay there forever versus something that is going to come down in a few months. AA: The context of a four-hundred-yearold walled city, one of the oldest cities in North America, contrasted with a contemporary aesthetic contributes to the power of the Boustrophedon Garden design, I think. NC: I like narratives for gardens, the story of the concept behind the project, but then there’s always the question: if you just encountered the garden, would you understand that narrative context?

Round Table

FL: Sometimes, whether or not you understand it is almost irrelevant if it’s still a beautiful space. NC: Yes, if something captures you, it draws you in in some way. One of the other interesting things about the Boustrophedon Garden design is that it’s looking at land use as well as land aesthetics. It is bringing to light the current interest in the productive landscape and various forms of agriculture. YY: I often wonder if people who live in an urban setting look at a garden, basically, as a piece of furniture. That aesthetic doesn’t really have a temporal quality to it whereas this project is trying to communicate the role of time in a garden by showing how the weight and the height of the plants actually evolve. AA: And the designers are using that temporal aspect as a feature, celebrating it, instead of trying to contain something that is inherently dynamic and keep it static. There’s the whole concern these days, even at the municipal level, that we want something low maintenance, we don’t want to have to do anything to the garden. It’s like denying the dynamics of a living landscape. The narratives get more complicated and layered when a landscape already has existing uses and infrastructure is designed as an overlay to that. For the panel, the issue was particularly at work in the Ellis Avenue Stormwater Management Wetlands and the Cornell Master Plan. NS: Infrastructure in recreational settings is complex. Ponds are not necessarily very helpful to recreational purposes—they take away from the space in a park. NC: There’s a lot of emphasis on creating habitat with the infrastructure which adds another layer.

.06

AA: Whether it is within the urban context or not, people are realizing the importance of sustainability issues and having to find a means to overlay that sustainable infrastructure into an existing setting. And both the Cornell Master Plan and the Ellis Avenue Stormwater Management Wetlands are examples of this, to a degree. This is the whole point of the projects as opposed to being one of the features. As we become more informed about ecological systems, the question becomes how do we integrate them into an existing environment? YY: Also, as the city grows, it means there’s so much more construction and built-form which needs to be balanced without disturbing the natural environment. Where will the stormwater go, and where will the wastewater go? And, how do you create a neighbourhood for these thousands of new people in a community without sacrificing the natural system that was already there? AA: Plus, more and more, this type of infrastructure is now being implemented in high-profile, highly used areas. NS: Really, the question is: “where do you put all that water?” You gotta put it somewhere! AA: Municipalities are investing huge amounts of money into building stormwater management facilities in various forms. How do they get implemented into existing park settings without destroying the park? NC: It’s also interesting to ask how infrastructure can be used to restore natural system linkages. In one of the Ellis Avenue Stormwater Management Wetlands sites at the south end of Grenadier Pond, the roadways [Gardiner and Lakeshore Boulevard] severed the linkage between the pond and Lake Ontario. The pond used to be a natural wetland that discharged into the lake, but that whole function was cut by filling in the road. Now they

have put a wetland back, on the south side of the existing roadways. JE: It’s sort of ironic that there was a naturally functioning ecosystem, and then we completely destroyed it and fragmented it, and then we come in and try to recreate the conditions that were there, and put the pieces back together. NS: I guess that’s what landscape architects do. In recreational settings, safety becomes an important issue in design, a topic that the panel addressed in their discussion of the Franklin Children’s Garden. AA: Alternative and natural creative play is coming back into what people want. I think that’s a major thing about the Franklin Children’s Garden. As an award-winning alternative playground, the pendulum has really swung back from the late 90s when an unbelievable number of playgrounds were ripped out because the safety standards changed. YY: Playgrounds are perhaps becoming more dynamic and imaginative. AA: It’s so much richer for a child’s experience. I think that in Ontario we are really behind. I think of a lot of European precedents, and it’s just embarrassing what we are calling playgrounds. NC: There is a lot of revaluing imaginative play rather than just making physical, vigorous places. And this change requires a reconsideration of danger and liability. North America is so concerned with liability and being sued. The catch is that if you purchase play equipment from one of the big manufacturers , they have already done all the testing as far as accidents that could happen and safety precautions. If you do something new, you have to consider all the ways a child could hurt themselves—and there are so many—and then you need to get it passed and approved, which is

Round Table

difficult, especially for a municipality. That’s why designers keep going back to the catalogues. YY: Does the City of Toronto have a guideline for every park to have a play structure? AA: No. YY: So it’s up to the designer. AA: Well, it’s up to the community. It’s up to us to promote this type of play, this kind of self-induced activity. And it’s up to us as landscape architects to promote these types of alternate play gardens and parks. We tend to rely on the catalogues. It’s up to us to come to up with other solutions. YY: I am curious to know the budget of the Franklin Children's Garden, because in a lot of communities, when we do a park, we need to put in a playground and those structures are not cheap. And when you put in a structure like this, it means that the city becomes responsible to maintain it. That is a big part of the decision and also of the maintenance budget. Turning to the Seaton Natural Heritage System Management Plan and Master Trails Plan, the panel saw it as an example of what can be achieved with a landscape architect-led master planning process: that is, landscape systems become the driving force, shaping where development can and cannot occur. AA: I think the main thing about the Seaton project is that it’s all about an environmental systems functioning approach—an “environment first” approach to community planning. It’s more than just the pretty stuff, it’s the science behind it. NC: The other thing that really caught my attention was that this plan is being developed in collaboration with First Nations. That’s very progressive and too often ignored, or invisible.

.06

AA: Seaton is an example of a landscape architect leading a project, whereas too often landscape architects are brought in at the end. That’s now changing. Landscape architects are now leading the teams, and are being involved earlier in the process. It’s refreshing, and I think that’s going to happen more and more. This award for the Seaton project exemplifies how a landscape architect can have a direct influence on the shape of an entire new town. FL: Are landscape architects being brought in earlier now because people are seeing our role as being the responsible role? Like, we’re not just making things pretty. So is this representing the greater public’s understanding of what we can offer? NS: That is a good example of landscape architects leading the natural heritage part of the development, but I’m not convinced that this plan wasn’t a compromise. In the drawings of the project’s plans, there is only one house. It is ambitious, but we don’t know enough about the rest of the development to say that landscape architects are finally getting to do what they do the best. FL: That’s normal for any project though, isn’t it? NS: This Seaton project is also interesting because not only do they talk a lot about green spaces and connectivity of forest, but at the same time what they are doing in this green system is building an alternative transportation system: a set of bike paths that will get you from Highway 7 to Concession Road 3. It’s a really strong network of non-motorized transportation ways. The relationship between having a trail system and a natural heritage system doesn't always agree so it is good to see this integration.

And finally, to sum up… NS: We’ve talked a little bit about patchups versus landscape architects leading natural environment projects. And we’ve talked a little about narrative and sustainability, and the place of sustainability in all of these. We said earlier that it appears as though we don’t win awards simply for making a bioswale anymore, we win awards for projects that have a bioswale in them. I wonder if we could talk about that in terms of sustainability and how it appears in all of the projects. FL: They are all about being responsible, all about finding the best practices in some way. Not only ecologically, but also culturally and socially. I think that is a huge difference compared to several years ago, where it was the coolest or prettiest or whatever that won the day. You know, the novel project. All of these Regional Award projects, to some extent, are trying to be responsible, or are going in a more responsible direction. YY: I think that is becoming the fundamental criteria. In the call for nominations for the IFLA awards, for example, no matter what category you are entering, you have to fulfill that environmental criteria. And they talk about promoting biodiversity; they talk about use and reuse of local materials instead of shipping from across the globe. So, this is now becoming the requirement. FL: This is a shift. It’s not just about the contemporary aesthetic; I think it’s about how inherent sustainability has to become to all projects. MANY THANKS TO LESLIE MORTON, ASSOCIATE MEMBER, OALA, FOR TRANSCRIBING THIS ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION.

OALA Awards

.06

2009 OALA AWARDS

The 2009 OALA Awards were presented in March during the OALA’s Annual General Meeting in Toronto. Congratulations to all those honoured with the awards, and a special thanks to the Honours, Awards and Protocol Committee: Nelson Edwards, Jim Melvin, Jim Vafiades, and Jane Welsh, and the Chair of the Committee, Linda Irvine.

OALA Awards

.06

OALA PINNACLE AWARD FOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCE:

Gerald Lajeunesse, OALA This award recognizes an OALA member and his or her professional work. It singles out specific projects to draw attention to a body of work which demonstrates outstanding professional accomplishment. As a practising landscape architect since 1978, and Chief Landscape Architect for the National Capital Commission (NCC) since 1990, Gerald Lajeunesse has directed and supervised the landscape architecture and urban design disciplines in support of the landscape design and construction mandate of the NCC. Gerald has continued the legacy of his distinguished predecessors through his dedication, tireless energy, and pursuit of design excellence, which has resulted in the realization of countless exceptional projects for Canada’s Capital Region. The professional work that he and his dedicated staff have produced has been recognized in Canada, North America, and throughout the world, winning numerous prestigious awards both nationally and internationally. Gerald has been directly responsible, since 1988, for the development and implementation of NCC’s most significant urban streetscape project, Confederation Boulevard. This project required sensitive negotiations and collaboration with the City of Ottawa in order to harmonize with other municipal infrastructure improvements.

Gerald’s professional accomplishments include: the planning and development of the Capital’s urban corridor network and recreational pathway system; the development of public open spaces; the rehabilitation of large sites, parks, parkways, and public green spaces; and urban design projects with the National Capital Region.

landscape architecture over the span of his significant career, and for his inspired contribution to the outstanding design and development of Canada’s Capital.

Gerald has also participated as a jury member with the “Communities in Bloom” program since 1995, has served on many awards juries in Ontario and Quebec, and has been active as a volunteer in many community initiatives within the National Capital Region as well as the OALA, AAPQ, and the CSLA throughout his career. Gerald is a respected and distinguished professional who is held in high regard by his peers, colleagues, superiors, and staff for his outstanding leadership, legacy, and impressive body of work in our Nation’s Capital. The OALA honours Gerald with the Pinnacle Award for Landscape Architectural Excellence in special recognition of his dedication and ambassadorship to the profession of

01/

Gerald Lajeunesse, recipient of the OALA Pinnacle Award for Landscape Architectural Excellence

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

02/

The Capital's urban corridor network has developed under Lajeunesse's guidance.

IMAGE/

Courtesy of Gerald Lajeunesse

03/

For two decades, Lajeunesse has been responsible for NCC's most significant urban streetscape project, Confederation Boulevard.

IMAGE/

Courtesy of Gerald Lajeunesse

OALA Awards

.05

OALA CERTIFICATE OF MERIT FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT:

KARA – Kleinburg and Area Ratepayers Association, for their Kleinburg New Forest / Forster Woods Project This certificate is given to a non-landscape architectural individual, group, organization, or agency in Ontario to recognize and encourage a special or unusual contribution to the sensitive, sustainable design for human use of the environment. Contributions may have had a local, regional, or provincial impact through policy, planning, or design, or as an implemented project. 01

Through twenty years of continuous efforts, the Kleinburg and Area Ratepayers Association has been able to transform 40 acres of former farmland to an emerging forest. They have fought off threats and plans for buildings, residential lots, and other high-impact proposals and have created a 40-acre forest for the community, by the community, and to define the community. It is now a wildlife refuge and passive recreation resource where herbicides once maintained an annual crop of corn.

OALA DAVID ERB MEMORIAL AWARD:

Jane Welsh, OALA This award is named after David Erb, who was an outstanding volunteer in furthering the goals of OALA. His example set a truly high standard. The award is the best way to acknowledge one outstanding OALA member each year whose volunteer contributions over a number of years have made a real difference.

Over the years, KARA has involved the community, the City of Vaughan, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and the University of Guelph to create the Kleinburg

Jane Welsh is a long-standing volunteer with more than twenty years of service to the OALA. Jane has been integral to the planning and hosting of several OALA and CSLA conferences and has been a member of the Honours, Awards and Protocol Committee since 1991. Jane brings great joy, seriousness, and a sense of purpose to all of her volunteer activities. She has been, and continues to be, an outstanding volunteer and has contributed greatly to the goals of the OALA. In accepting the award, Jane paid tribute to David Erb, describing him as “a great friend and mentor.” She noted that Erb had convinced her to co-chair the CSLA Conference Committee when she was four months pregnant: “That was quite a maternity leave…”

01/

Jane Welsh has provided more than twenty years of volunteer service to the OALA.

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

New Forest. Most critical was that a triumvirate partnership was formed whereby changes to the open space lands have to be approved by KARA, the City of Vaughan, and the TRCA, who hold ownership. At least six OALA members have been involved in supporting or voluntarily helping KARA’s cause. KARA has learned that urban pressures will continue to menace the community’s desires for a greenbelt that distinguishes the Village of Keinburg from other neighbouring communities; therefore, in 2008, KARA presented the legacy of the Kleinburg New Forest to the City of Vaughan Council. This organization serves to demonstrate how citizen groups can mobilize to save and create landscapes that they value.

OALA Awards

.05

04 OALA AWARD FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT:

Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation This award is given to a non-landscape architectural individual, group, organization, or agency in the Province of Ontario in recognition of a special or unusual contribution to the sensitive, sustainable design for human use of the environment. The contribution must emulate the fundamental principles of the OALA and the OALA Mission Statement and go beyond the normal levels of community action in preserving, protecting, or improving the environment. The Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation (TPTF), established in 2002, is a non-profit, charitable public foundation dedicated to enhancing Toronto’s parks. Its intent is to

promote philanthropy, corporate support, and community involvement to achieve a range of enhancements to the parks system that can no longer be achieved through city funding alone. The Foundation has been successful in raising funds to enhance the physical environment within City parks as well as in providing funding for “small grassroots park projects” through the Community Grants Program. Projects that have benefited from the Toronto Trees and Parks Foundation include: Lung Cancer Canada Grove, Market Lane Park, University Avenue Beautification, the Agincourt Community Services Association, the Black Creek Conservation Project, the Historic Garrison Creek Watershed Greening Project, and

the Memorial Garden Project by the Community Head Injury Resources Services of Toronto, to name only a few. In accepting the award for the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation, Arthur Beauregard noted that the TPTF is “seven years young,” and he acknowledged that its achievements are the results of partnerships, many of which are with OALA members.

02/

KARA has been deeply involved with the community.

IMAGE/

KARA

03/

Accepting the award for KARA, Ken Schwenger and Bob Klein

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

04/

Arthur Beauregard (left) receiving award on behalf of the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation, from Arnis Budrevics

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

OALA Awards

.06

Employed in a consulting firm north of Toronto specializing in tree preservation, restoration, and creek stabilization projects, it’s his long list of volunteer activities that led to this award: a director of the Ontario Urban Forest Council, an advisor to LEAF (Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests), designer of the San Lorenzo Latin American Community Centre’s naturalization project, co-founder of the Ecological Resource Group, plant rescue coordinator for the North American Native Plant Society, volunteer labourer and advisor for the North Toronto Memorial Heritage Community Garden…This partial list provides a glimpse into his passion and commitment: “I try to be a conduit between the volunteer sector and the profession.”

OALA CARL BORGSTROM AWARD FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT:

Marc Willoughby, OALA This award is given to a landscape architect or a landscape architectural group to recognize and encourage special or unusual contributions to the sensitive, sustainable design for human use of the environment. This award is named in honour of Carl Borgstrom who, of all OALA’s founders, was the most actively in tune with the natural landscape.

01-04/

Marc Willoughby's long list of volunteer activities are all centred around enhancement of the environment through community involvement.

IMAGES/

Marc Willoughby

05/

Marc Willoughby

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

Marc Willoughby cuts a striking figure, dressed in his regular army fatigues and a crisp white shirt from Goodwill. Not surprisingly, he tends to stand out in a crowd. As he took to the stage to accept the Carl Borgstrom Award for Service to the Environment, he said, “People like me don’t usually receive these kinds of awards.” While he’s not one to seek out the limelight, he is one to seek out volunteer opportunities where his combined skills as a landscape architect and certified arborist can be put to use for the common good: “Landscape architects should aspire to be altruists. Big-picture issues such as declining biodiversity values, habitat loss, and global climate change must be paramount in all design decisions,” is how he sums up his guiding credo. 05

OALA Awards

OALA PUBLIC PRACTICE AWARD:

Elyse Parker, OALA This award recognizes the outstanding leadership of a member of the profession in public practice who promotes and enhances landscape architecture by working for improved understanding and appreciation of the work of landscape architects in both public and private practice. Elyse has recently been appointed as the Director of the Public Realm Unit in the Transportation Services Division of the City of Toronto. With this appointment, Elyse will continue her work advocating for, and fostering support for, the continued advancement of the practice of landscape architecture in the public sector. Over the past five years, Elyse has led the City’s Clean and Beautiful Secretariat Section, responsible for identifying and delivering projects that renew public spaces with the support of the people who live and work in those areas. Residential areas, public walkways, roadways, business areas, and park entrances have been cleaned up and greened up with neighbourhood gardens and brightened with community art. Since 2005, Elyse has worked with more than 200 private sector partners to promote the inclusion of landscape architecture in public projects and the retention of landscape architects as project leads and members of inter-disciplinary teams.

.06

In her acceptance speech, Elyse noted that she’d always been taught that “a good public servant doesn’t get acknowledged,” but the audience at the awards luncheon was clearly keen to honour her outstanding leadership with sustained applause.

OALA HONORARY MEMBER AWARD:

Philip Weinstein The Honorary category of membership is for non-landscape architects the OALA Council wishes to recognize for outstanding contributions in their own fields to improve the quality of natural and human environments. Philip is recognized as one of Ontario’s leading physical planners. He has spent the last four decades as the principal designer of new communities, waterfronts, town centres, and campuses across North America and was recognized by his peers in planning when he was made a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners in 2005.

Johnson to David Leinster. (Indeed, he noted in his acceptance speech that David Leinster has called him a “closet landscape architect,” to which Weinstein responded, “you will certainly see me at all your parades.”)

Philip has always had a deep commitment to collaboration with landscape architects. He has worked in partnership with other professional disciplines all of his career, beginning at Project Planning, then forming Johnson Sustronk Weinstein, and then as founding partner of The Planning Partnership. Philip speaks with great admiration of the landscape architects who have had a profound influence on this work, from Macklin Hancock to Brad

He has said that he would not know how to plan a community without the collaboration of landscape architects as well as the contributions of engineers, architects, biologists, marine engineers, and market analysts. At 75 years old, Philip attacks every project with the same vigour that he did at 25. He is passionate about design and is said to outlast most of his current (and more junior) partners at design workshops, where he works tirelessly with residents teaching them about the principles of community design. Without hesitation, Philip does whatever it takes to design the best solution for his clients.

06/

Elyse Parker accepting the OALA Public Practice Award

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

07/

Philip Weinstein is now an honorary member of the OALA.

IMAGE/

Douglas Pinnell

Embers in the Shadows

.06

Embers in the Shadows In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Landscape Architecture in Canada, Ron Williams writes about Ontario’s remarkable landscape projects of the 1930s

01/

Art-déco garden, Parkwood, Oshawa

IMAGE/

Courtesy Ron Williams

02/

Oakes Garden Theatre, Niagara Falls

IMAGE/

Courtesy Ron Williams

03/

Art-déco bridge, Hamilton

IMAGE/

Courtesy Ron Williams

03 02

Embers in the Shadows

.06

TEXT BY RON WILLIAMS

The world Depression of the 1930s caused devastation throughout Canada, and it did not spare the practitioners of landscape architecture. But, paradoxically, the troubled decade from 1929 to 1939 provided us with many of our best gardens and public spaces. It was inevitable that the economic crisis would have an impact on the “design professions”—architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, engineering, and interior design. Members of these disciplines are, as a rule, among the first to be affected by economic change. The experiences of Humphrey Carver (1902-1995), a young British architect newly arrived in Toronto in April 1930, provides a striking example. While seeking work in the city’s architectural offices, he and his former classmate visited a succession of offices bearing signs on their doors that said the owners had gone out for lunch. In fact, the majority were to be “out to lunch” for seven years. Carver was lucky to find a job in a city planning / landscape architecture firm, Wilson, Bunnell and Borgstrom, an interdisciplinary office that was still benefiting from a backlog of work inherited from the realestate developments of the prosperous 1920s. But as the year 1930 advanced, the office’s activities gradually declined. Employees departed one after the other, often leaving to try their chances in other fields. Finally, in the summer of 1931, the three partners had to close down their firm and move on in different directions. Only one project remained to be completed, and the partner in charge of it, Carl Borgstrom, asked Carver to act as his associate in carrying it out. During the previous decade, many landscape architects had specialized in the design of elaborate private gardens and country estates. The arrival of the Depression brought ruin to some of their clients, and the majority were no longer able to spend large sums of money on non-essential projects. The luxury market did not entirely disappear, but it was clear that, as a main support of landscape architectural practices, the “country house era” was finished. Landscape designers and their offices had to turn their talents, finely honed by designing large-scale residential gardens for demanding clients, to other projects. Against all odds, there were such projects. Great public gardens As the gravity of the Depression deepened, governments reacted rapidly, providing money, food, and other goods to families whose breadwinners were unemployed. Governments at all levels also responded to the crisis by creating public work projects to fight unemployment; other projects were the fruit of private philanthropy. Among the most important of these initiatives, created in the decade of the 30s thanks to the vision of some remarkable civic leaders, were several of the country’s great botanic gardens. These included the renowned Montreal Botanical Garden, founded by frère MarieVictorin (1885-1944) and laid out by Henry Teuscher (1891-1984) from the New York Botanic Garden. Another magnificent public garden was inaugurated in the 30s in western Canada, on the frontier between Manitoba and North Dakota: the International Peace Garden, initiated by Dr. Henry J. Moore, a professor of horticulture at the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph.

The greening of Steel City In Hamilton, Ontario, the 30s saw the realization of a third great botanic garden, which also owed its existence to the efforts of a highly dedicated innovator, Thomas Baker McQuesten (1882-1948), a longtime Hamilton resident who had become a lawyer and city councillor. In 1928, before the economic storm broke, McQuesten, then a member of Hamilton’s Parks Board, had already set in motion a long-term plan for the development of the city’s North-West Entrance, located at a dramatic site where the waters of a vast marshland—Cootes Paradise—swept through Burlington Heights, a narrow crest of glacial origin, on their way to Burlington Bay, the western extremity of Lake Ontario. McQuesten and his colleagues sponsored a design competition for the entire entrance sector. The plan of Wilson, Bunnell, and landscape architect Carl Borgstrom won the competition, followed by the propositions of Harold and Lorrie Dunington-Grubb, two landscape architects of English origin who had arrived in Toronto in 1911 and subsequently established both a successful and prolific landscape architecture firm and a major supplier of plant material, Sheridan Nurseries. John Lyle, a distinguished architect from Hamilton, placed third. The Parks Board decided to combine the ideas of the three winning contestants. Using job-creation funds made available at the beginning of the Depression, they proceeded, in 1930-31, with the first stage of the work, a Rock Garden situated in an old quarry below the crest. Construction of this garden followed the designs of Borgstrom, who carried through the project with his new associate Humphrey Carver. A native of Sweden, Borgstrom had worked in the great gardens of Europe before immigrating to Canada after World War I; Carver admired the veteran landscape architect’s deep understanding of plants and trees, and his capacity to integrate his projects to the natural environment. Borgstrom’s “naturalistic” design consisted of a sequence of pools and streams, set among massive blocks of limestone at the bottom of the former quarry. He contrasted the vivid colours of bulbs, perennials, and annuals with a solid green backdrop of large conifers, planted on the slopes. This stunning garden constituted the first stage of the Royal Botanical Gardens, one of the great gardens of Canada. Parks and civic projects: weapons against unemployment “Put people to work!” was the motto of the 1930s, and public landscape projects provided a crucial means of responding to the challenge, since they could employ large numbers of people who did not have a specific training. Canadian landscape architects were quick to turn their hands to such public projects in the 30s. Gordon Joseph Culham, a Canadian “graduate” of the Olmsted Brothers office at Brookline, Massachusetts, worked throughout this period on the campus of the University of Western Ontario, located on both sides of the Thames River in London. His designs for the campus landscape followed the tradition of the English pastoral garden, which married well with the grey-stone buildings in “collegiate gothic” style that he located in picturesque fashion on elevated sites, enjoying views toward the wooded corridor of the river. Besides placing the buildings at Western, Culham oversaw the

Embers in the Shadows

.06

management of trees on the site, directed reforestation, erosion control, and the opening of perspectives, among other tasks. He played a determining role in the creation of the beautiful “natural” site of the contemporary university. His fellow landscape architect Edwin Kay, a native of England who had worked in the Dunington-Grubb office before setting up his own practice, designed the Alexander Muir Commemorative Gardens in Toronto in 1934, on the occasion of that city’s centennial celebrations: a symmetrical composition of stone terraces that framed planting beds of colourful perennials and annuals, entirely paid for by donations from the general public. Removed from its original location in 1951-52 and rebuilt on a new site, farther north, this garden’s formal terraces step down from Yonge Street, leading to one of the many ravines that dissect the broad plateau of the Toronto urban area and creating an elegant transition between the geometric forms of the city and the irregular topography and shaded privacy of the ravine landscape.

Thomas McQuesten extends his mission Besides playing a key role in creating Hamilton’s Royal Botanical Gardens, Thomas B. McQuesten contributed to many other institutions of the city of his birth, particularly McMaster University. In 1928, he succeeded in attracting the university from Toronto, its original location, by offering the institution a large site at the edge of the slope that descends to Cootes Paradise. The construction of the new campus proceeded throughout the 30s according to a master plan prepared by landscape architects Dunington-Grubb and Stensson; their plan located the university buildings around a great central space, and merged the campus smoothly into the landscape of the Royal Botanical Gardens. The new name of the venerable firm signalled the presence of a new partner, Vilhelm « Bill » Stensson, son of the chief horticulturist at Sheridan Nurseries. Stensson, who had studied landscape architecture at Harvard, was like a son to the Dunington-Grubbs, who had no children of their own. Another component of Thomas B. McQuesten’s vast plan for the transformation of Hamilton illustrates how, for one brief moment in the 1920s and 1930s, Canadian bridges went beyond their usual functional and practical role to become monuments of civic design. Among the best examples of this trend was Hamilton’s high-level bridge at the dramatic north-west entrance to the city. Built in 1931-32 following the drawings of engineer E. M. Proctor and architect John Lyle, the Art-déco style bridge had originally been part of the overall entrance plan proposed by Carl Borgstrom in the 1927 competition. As it passed from crest to crest, the main span of the bridge was framed by four great stone pylons that dramatized the approach to the city; the broad views opening up to extensive bodies of water, on both sides of the span, were perfectly exploited by the designers. Following his many contributions to the urban design of Hamilton, McQuesten extended his ambitions to the provincial arena. He became Minister of Transport for Ontario in 1934 and immediately began a series of road-building projects that included the Queen Elizabeth Way and a series of international bridges to the United States. Job creation was obviously a main goal of these projects, but McQuesten also aspired to create permanent civic works of high quality. He assembled his regular team of consultants, a sort of “repertory company” of environmental design, to carry out the work:

04/

University of Western Ontario, London

IMAGE/

Courtesy Ron Williams

05/

Oakes Garden, Niagara Falls

IMAGE/

Courtesy Ron Williams

Embers in the Shadows

.06

landscape architects Borgstrom and Carver and Dunington-Grubb and Stensson, architect William Somerville, a protégé of John Lyle, and the sculptress Elizabeth Wyn Wood, among others. Named to the Niagara Parks Commission, McQuesten sponsored many other projects including the restoration of historic forts from the War of 18121814, and the rebuilding of the old river road as a scenic route for automobiles—the Niagara Parkway—on a linear route next to the gorge. McQuesten’s initiatives also included planting along the parkway, the creation of an arboretum, and the founding of the Niagara Horticultural School to ensure the expert maintenance of the Commission’s extensive park and garden system. Directly opposite Niagara Falls and oriented so as to take maximal advantage of spectacular views of the cataracts, the Oakes Garden Theatre (1936) was certainly the pièce de résistance of this garden network. Built on a site given to the Parks Commission by rich industrialist Sir Harry Oakes, the theatre was first proposed by Borgstrom and Carver; but the fluid and natural layout that might have been expected from these consultants was very far from the design finally carried out by Dunington-Grubb and Stensson. The central element of the theatre was a grand sloping lawn, focused on the falls and framed by numerous pavilions, colonnades, pedestals, urns, staircases, and other familiar site elements, all carried out magnificently in a style inspired by the Italian Renaissance. Last gardens of the “country-house era” A few owners of large private gardens who were less affected personally by the Depression accelerated the realization of their gardens so as to help maintain employment for residents of their regions. This was true of Mrs. Elsie Reford at her Jardins de Métis on the Gaspé Peninsula, and of Colonel R. Samuel McLaughlin, magnate of the Canadian automobile industry, at his Parkwood domain at Oshawa, Ontario. The latter garden bears witness to the talent of several eminent landscape designers who worked on different areas of the gardens over several decades, beginning in 1915. In 1935-1936, architect John Lyle transformed the south-western corner of the site, previously a cow pasture and equestrian ground, into a formal aquatic garden. This garden is a masterpiece of the “Artdéco” style mastered by Lyle. Its curved forms, stylized decoration that recalls natural elements, and symmetrical disposition of sculptures and clipped conifers make it almost unique among Canadian gardens. An organized profession The Depression furnished the motivation and backdrop for Canadian landscape architects to join together in creating a professional association, a crucial landmark in the development of the profession in Canada. By the middle of the 1930s, there was a sort of “critical mass” of landscape architects in the Toronto-Hamilton region; they knew each other and liked to get together; some shared common ideas concerning the social and political evolution of the country. Several of these professional colleagues met regularly in the garden of a restaurant on Bloor Street in Toronto, the “Diet Kitchen.” Their informal meetings led to the founding of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and Town Planners, officially constituted at a meeting held in Toronto’s Royal York Hotel in March 1934. Nine founding members participated in the creation of the CSLA: Howard

and Lorrie Dunington-Grubb, the prestigious leaders of the group, as well as their partner Bill Stensson; Carl Borgstrom and his associate Humphrey Carver; Gordon Culham and Edwin Kay; and two specialists in residential gardens, Helen M. Kippax, who excelled in the design of the small-scale landscape, and Frances Steinhoff, pastmaster in planting design. It was a very diverse group in terms of age, nationality of origin— several members were born in Great Britain, two were of Swedish heritage—and in educational background. The presence of three women among the nine founders is significant. Many women had been involved in garden design since the 19th century, as both amateurs and professionals. Gardening and landscape architecture were, in fact, among the first disciplines to open their doors to women, who hastened to take advantage of the opportunity. The early 20th century witnessed the founding of three American institutions that offered specialized training to women in these fields; one of them, the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture, Gardening and Horticulture for Women, established in Massachusetts in 1901, was the alma mater of both Helen Kippax and Frances Steinhoff, as well as their contemporary Frances McLeod (1914-1992), generally known by her married name, Frances Blue. The association expanded rapidly into Quebec and other parts of Ontario, eventually welcoming members from all regions of the country. In 2009, its 75th anniversary year as the national association of landscape architects, the CSLA counts some 1,500 members across the country in a federation of ten provincial, territorial, and regional associations. Conclusion Concurrently with these landscape projects in Ontario, work of an equally high standard was being carried out all across the country during this difficult period. In examining the achievements of Canadian landscape architects during the Depression era, we see that the profession, like society in general, reacted rapidly and effectively to a critical situation. In spite of all the difficulties, there seems to have been a spirit of collaboration and mutual support; and, against all odds, this period brought forth some of our most impressive works of landscape architecture, in both aesthetic and social terms. Let us hope that the current economic difficulties will not present challenges as severe as those of the Depression; but that whatever they are, we will respond to them with the same energy and originality as did our professional forebears of the 1930s. For a list of references for this article, visit the Ground section of the OALA website (www.oala.ca). BIO/ RON WILLIAMS IS A FOUNDING PARTNER OF THE MONTREAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN FIRM WAA (WILLIAMS, ASSELIN, ACKAOUI AND ASSOCIATES) AND A PROFESSOR AT THE SCHOOL OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL. ON AUGUST 13, 2009, HE WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN A PANEL DISCUSSION, “AUTHORS IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE,” AT THE OALA/CSLA CONGRESS.

Catalyst Map

.06

2003

Catalyst Map: WATERFRONToronto Design Competitions & RFP's = Catalysts for City Building MAP AND TEXT BY NANCY CHATER + LESLIE MORTON

The transformation of Toronto's waterfront is under way, with numerous landscape architecture projects leading the regeneration. New, sustainable neighbourhoods, visionary design, and continuous public space along the lake are set to revitalize the city. It's hard to keep track of all the activity in this ambitious period of city building, so this map breaks out many (but not all) of the exciting projects recently opened or coming our way. Sites in their current state are linked to WATERFRONToronto's rendering of Toronto's future lakeshore. BIO/ NANCY CHATER, OALA, AND LESLIE MORTON, ASSOCIATE MEMBER, ARE MEMBERS OF THE GROUND EDITORIAL BOARD.

1 Queen’s Quay Revitalization 2006 International Design Competition 2011 Opens Size: 1.1 kilometres Design: West 8, du Toit Allsopp Hillier Awards: 2007 Toronto Urban Design Award for Central Waterfront Masterplan 2007 Toronto Urban Design Award for Harbourfront Water’s Edge Revitalization 2007 CSLA Certificate of Excellence for Toronto Waterfront’s Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy 2007 CSLA National Merit for Central Waterfront’s Design Competition 2 Water’s Edge Promenade (Central) 2006 International Design Competition 2010 + Opens Size: 1.9 kilometres Design: West 8, du Toit Allsopp Hillier Awards: 2009 CSLA National Merit Award for Spadina Wavedeck 2009 Spadina Wavedeck Nominated for Brit’s Insurance Design Award 2009 ASLA Honor Award for General Design for Spadina Wavedeck

3 HTO 2003 Design Competition 2007 Opened Size: 22,300 m2

9 West Don Lands Precinct Plan 2004 RFP 2011 + Opens Size: 32.4 hectares

Design: Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagiste, Janet Rosenberg + Associates

Design: Urban Design Associates, du Toit Allsopp Hillier

Awards: CSLA Regional Honour Award Gold Medal - Design Exchange *Not WATERFRONToronto Project

Awards: 2005 Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Award

4 York Quay Promenade 2003 RFP 2006 Opened Size: 4000 m2 Design: Michael Kirkland, architectsAlliance, MBTW Group 5 Sugar Beach 2007 Invited Design Competition 2010 Opens Size: 4000 m2 Design: Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagiste 6 East Bayfront Water’s Edge Promenade 2006 International Design Competition 2012 Opens Size: 660 metres Design: West 8, du Toit Allsopp Hillier 7 Sherbourne Park 2007 Open RFP 2010 Opens Size: 1.47 hectares Design: Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, The Planning Partnership, Koetter Kim and Associates 8 East Bayfront Precinct Plan 2004 RFP 2012 + Opens Size: 22.3 hectares Design: Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, Koetter Kim and Associates, Urban Strategies Inc. Awards: 2005 Boston Society of Architects Millo Von Multke Award for Urban Design 2005 Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Award 2006 CSLA Regional Honour Award

10 Cherry Street Streetscape 2005 RFP 2011 Opens Size: 4 street blocks Design: Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, The Planning Partnership 11 Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park 2006 International Design Competition 2007 Master Plan Completed Size: 390 hectares, 37 kilometres of shoreline Design: Field Operations, Schollen & Company Awards: 2009 CSLA National Honour Award 12 Lower Don Lands 2007 Open International Design Competition 2009 Master Plan TBD Opens Size: 47.8 hectares Design: Michael Van Valkenberg Associates Awards: 2008 Toronto Urban Design Award for Sustainable Development for Lower Don Lands Design 2008 Royal Architecture Institute of Canada’s Sustainable Development Award 2008 ASLA Honour in Analysis and Planning for Port Lands Estuary 13 Cherry Beach Improvements 2002 RFP 2004 Opened Design: Schollen & Company 14 Don River Park 2006 Open RFP 2010 Opens Size: 7.3 hectares Design: Michael Van Valkenberg Associates, The Planning Partnership, Ken Greenberg

Catalyst Map

2004

.06

2005

2006

2007

2008

2010

2009

2011

2012

West Don Lands Precinct Plan

Master Plan for Lake Ontario Park

7 5 2

14 10 3

4 8

East Bayfront Precinct Plan

WATERFRONT RENDERED MAP COURTESY OF WATERFRONToronto

Awards Corner

.06

Recognition and Opportunity Provincial, national, and international awards offer landscape architects the chance to promote their projects and gain recognition TEXT BY ALEXANDRA HOSSFELD, ASSOCIATE MEMBER, OALA

PROVINCIAL awards

Ontario Association of Landscape Architects The OALA holds an annual awards program, with six different categories of awards adjudicated by a committee of landscape architects:

Deadline for entry: TBD, call for nominations to go out in January 2010 Website: www.oala.ca Contact Information: Karen Savoie registrar@oala.ca Landscape Ontario Awards of Excellence Each year, Landscape Ontario members submit projects, designs, and displays to the Landscape Ontario Awards of Excellence. The annual competition features more than forty categories of entries judged by a panel of horticulture industry experts. Awards are given in the following categories: Construction Maintenance Design Interior Plantscaping Garden Centre Growers Deadline for entry: October 5, 2009 Website: www.loawards.com Contact Information: Kristen McIntyre 1-800-265-5656 ext. 321 awards@landscapeontario.com

NATIONAL awards

2010 National Urban Design Awards An Urban Design Awards program has been established by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada to recognize individuals, organizations, firms, and projects that have contributed to the quality of life and sustainability in Canadian cities. Deadline for entry: TBD, call for submissions to begin in Fall 2009, and entry deadline will likely be February 2010 Website: www.raic.org Contact Information: Chantal Charbonneau Honours and Awards Manager / College of Fellows and RAIC Foundation Coordinator Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Institut royal d’architecture du Canada 330 – 55, rue Murray St., Ottawa ON K1N 5M3 613-241-3600 ext. 214 Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Awards The awards program of the CSLA includes awards of both excellence and recognition. Awards of Recognition include: The Schwabenbauer Award Community Service Awards Lifetime Achievement Award President’s Award Student Award of Merit Teaching Award The CSLA Awards of Excellence recognize and encourage excellence in all aspects of the landscape architecture profession. The awards are offered at both the national and regional levels. Deadline for entry: TBD, late January 2010 Website: www.csla.ca Contact Information: Alan Tate tatea@cc.umanitoba.ca

Awards Corner

Design Exchange Awards The Design Exchange Awards, presented by Canadian Business magazine, promote Canadian design excellence and recognize the critical role of design in all types of organizations including commercial entities (large and small businesses), not-forprofit organizations, and the public sector. The Awards celebrate the success stories achieved through close partnerships between clients and designers. The DXAs judge design by results, balancing function, aesthetics, and economic success. Deadline for entry: TBD, late August or September 2009 Website: www.designexchange.org Contact Information: Kristine Williamson Professional Programs Coordinator 416-216-2120 programs@dx.org

INTERNATIONAL awards

International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Student Design Competition This competition challenges students of landscape architecture to explore the IFLA World Congress theme of sustainability in landscape through new visions for the future. Participants are invited to select a site that challenges the concept of sustainability and to develop designs which investigate, interrogate, challenge, and propose sustainable options to the site conditions. The theme is “Green infrastructure: landscape, infrastructure and people for tomorrow.” The design proposals should also reveal something about the social, cultural, economic, and/or political conditions related to the site’s context. Deadline for entry: August 18, 2009 Website: www.46ifla2009.com.br Contact Information: ABAP - Associação Brasileira de Arquitetos Paisagistas Brazilian Society of Landscape Architects Rua Campevas, 115, conj, C - Perdizes CEP 05016-010 - São Paulo, Brasil

.06

American Society of Landscape Architects Awards: Professional and Student Awards Each year, the ASLA Professional Awards honour the best in landscape architecture from around the globe, while the ASLA Student Awards provide a glimpse into the future of the profession. The categories include awards in the following, and are awarded every year at the ASLA annual meeting (Washington, 2010): General Design Residential Design Analysis and Planning Research Communications The Landmark Award The Student Community Service Award Student Collaboration Deadline for entry: TBD, February 2010 for professional awards, May 2010 for student awards Website: www.asla.org Contact Information: info@asla.org International Architecture Awards: Distinguished Building and Urbanism Awards Program The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, together with The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press, Ltd., have organized the International Architecture Awards to honour the best, new significant buildings and landscape and planning projects designed and/or built around the world by architects, landscape architects, and urban planners practising nationally and internationally. Deadline for entry: December 1, 2009 Website: www.chi-athenaeum.org/ or www.europeanarch.eu Contact Information: lary@chicagoathenaeum.org Green Good Design Awards 2010 Green Good Design’s goal is to bestow international recognition to those outstanding individuals, companies, organizations, governments, and institutions— together with their products, services, programs, ideas, and concepts—that have forwarded exceptional thinking and inspired greater progress toward health

and sustainability. Eligible submissions should have an emphasis on the development and implementation of measures to achieve CO2-reduction, energy conservation, renewable energy sources, recycling, sustainability, and improvements to the quality of life and environment. Eligible entries from architecture/urban planning/landscape architecture include: skyscrapers, offices, homes, green buildings, green spaces, factories, reforestation projects, restorations, and renovations that achieve sustainable living, working, and recreating environments. Deadline for entry: TBD Website: www.europeanarch.eu Contact Information: info@chicagoathenaeum.org Peter Joseph Lenné Prize of Berlin The Peter Joseph Lenné Prize of Berlin is a competition of ideas for garden and landscape architecture and for the planning of open spaces and landscaping. The prize is aimed especially at young landscape architects, planners, scientists, architects, and artists who are in training or are employed in the above-mentioned special areas. The award is intended to support the professional development of young people and to promote new ideas and planning approaches in the design and planning of open spaces. Deadline for entry: August 10, 2009 Website: www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/aktuell/ wettbewerbe/lenne/index_en.shtml Contact Information: Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung (Senate Department for Urban Development) Abteilung Stadt- und Freiraumentwicklung (City and Open Space Planning Division) “Lenné-Preis” (Lenné Prize) Am Köllnischen Park 3 10173 Berlin Tel.: + 49 30 9025 1721 Fax: + 49 30 9025 1604 Peter-Joseph-LennePreis@senstadt.berlin.de BIO/ ALEXANDRA HOSSFELD, ASSOCIATE MEMBER, OALA, IS A RECENT GRADUATE OF THE BLA PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH.

Technical Corner

.06

Irrigation Innovation TEXT BY NANCY CHATER, OALA

Recent innovations in irrigation design indicate that delivering water to plants in creative, more sustainable ways is a burgeoning area within landscape architecture. Conserving water through the use of low-volume irrigation systems is being coupled with plant selection that favours species requiring less water once established. At the same time, the source of water for irrigation is being reconsidered. Instead of feeding plants potable water, which wastes the substantial energy required to treat and deliver it, landscape architects are looking to alternate sources including harvested rainwater, other forms of stormwater runoff, and splash-pad water. Renewed attention to water budgets is simultaneously being driven by directives from municipalities and incentive from programs such as LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) to contain runoff within a given project site and allow for infiltration and even treatment at the site scale. Replacing aging infrastructure is hugely expensive and will take decades; offsetting this cost by devising what is in effect alternate water infrastructure that links stormwater treatment and irrigation options has therefore come of age and confronts multi-disciplinary design teams everywhere.

01/02/

Water features at Sherbourne Park in Toronto will integrate functional systems, such as stormwater management, with art and public narrative.

IMAGES/

Courtesy WATERFRONToronto

On the Ground: Low-Volume Irrigation High-efficiency irrigation systems are equated with drip irrigation, but a more accurate term is low-volume irrigation. Any system rated in gallons per hour (GPH) is low volume, while traditional rotor and spray systems are measured in gallons per minute (GPM). Drip lines can be combined with micro-spray heads and root watering systems (RWS) equipment in low-volume systems. A newer generation of root bubbler, an RWS, is a capped, plastic woven cylinder of various lengths, set below grade to water trees and shrubs while also allowing oxygen into the root zone. Micro-spray heads are typically vulnerable to breakage (they stay exposed all the time), but a recent hybrid by Rainbird, the XP Series ‘Xeri-Pops,’ used with XPCN Xerigation Pressure Compensating Nozzle, offers a micro-spray on a conventional pop-up base and delivers water at a GPH rate. While sub-surface drip irrigation is widely recognized as the most efficient way to irrigate because it delivers water directly to the root zone, there are some challenges to widespread application. Drip tubing is more vulnerable to damage from maintenance and foot traffic because it is usually installed close to the surface. If accidentally cut, pressurized drip lines can flood an area. And, to date, drip systems have not been effective for use on lawns because the tiny grass roots penetrate and clog emitters. However, some irrigation design consultants are proposing solutions. Lorne Haveruk of DH Water Management has been working with low-volume systems for twenty years. His credits include the design of the low-volume system for the 2007 “Live Green, Live Smart Sustainable House,” the world’s first remodeled home to earn platinum LEED certification, and a larger-scale system for Bloorview Children’s Hospital in Toronto. Both projects combine rainwater harvested into below-grade cisterns with low-volume irrigation. Haveruk buries the 1/2” distribution tubing and the emitters 10-12” below grade (like conventional systems), then feeds spaghetti tubing to each plant, staked close to the trunk or stem, just above the surface of the soil, with a “bug cap” (which stops bugs and dirt from entering the line). This method works best in shrub beds or where plants are spaced about two feet apart. Haveruk addresses the issue of accidental cutting of pressurized drip tubing by employing “pressure compensating on-line emitters” so the pressure in the spaghetti tubing leading to the plant is greatly reduced. If it is accidentally cut, the tubing will simply drip, not flood, and the system will keep working. Haveruk is also experimenting with drip irrigation for turf, using line buried 10 cm below grade and a soil moisture sensor to aid in managing soil moisture levels, thus deterring turf roots from entering emitters.

Technical Corner

.06

In the Playground: Splash-Pad Recycling The Planning Partnership is taking an innovative approach on some current projects with proposed re-use of splash-pad water for landscape irrigation. At one of their Toronto condominium projects, 501 Adelaide, water falling on the splash pad is directed to a concrete cistern located in the parking garage. It is then re-used to irrigate selected areas through a low-volume drip irrigation system set in raised planters. The water is filtered but not treated. Re-use of harvested water in general works best with sub-surface drip systems because it avoids the public health concerns about broadcasting untreated water into the air. Johanna Evers, OALA, of The Planning Partnership notes that space and budget constraints typically limit the size of cisterns, so not all the water generated by the splash pad can be stored. There is a check valve on the cistern so that if it runs dry, it will automatically top up with potable water. The beauty of the relationship between splash-pad water entering and irrigation water exiting the cistern is that the splash pad will be in heaviest rotation just when irrigation is most needed—when it is hot and dry. Storage, as Evers identifies, is probably the major stumbling block for harvesting alternate sources of water for irrigation. Below-grade cisterns are expensive because of the excavation, while above-grade tanks are typically unsightly. In either case, space is an issue. It is difficult to compete economically and logistically with relatively low-cost potable water. At the residential or commercial site scale, the rule of thumb is that rainwater costs about $1 per gallon, including storage. Haveruk posits that, at present, rainwater does not pay for itself. Support will likely grow in areas where there are restrictions on use of potable water or where municipalities can’t deliver enough water at peak demand. Evers suggests that integrating storage into the design is a key design challenge for landscape architects to address. Out in the Open: Integrated Stormwater Systems The challenge of water storage has been addressed on larger-scale sites by using open water bodies that double as both water treatment components and design elements, such as ponds and channels. If the water is to be used for irrigation, treatment and water quality issues come into play. The University of Ontario Institute for Technology (UOIT) campus, with landscape design by du Toit Allsopp Hillier (DTAH), was designed to take stormwater “off the grid.” It includes an integrated system of stormwater collection from parking lots, which is then fed through vegetated bioswales into a linked series of storm ponds, scupper bays, and stepped linear wetlands. This system filters debris and improves water quality before the water is ultimately discharged into Oshawa Creek. Water from rooftops is fed into a 250,000-litre cistern where it can be used for irrigation of the central planted spaces. The irrigation component is still in the approval stage with the municipality of Oshawa. The physical presence and details of the stormwater system form a major spatial narrative in the campus and celebrate the variations in water level and volume associated with rainfall and dry spells. Yvonne Battista, OALA, of DTAH notes that on this project, the client was committed to investing in innovative infrastructure. The biggest hurdle was the extraordinary level of coordination and cooperation required of a multi-disciplinary team comprised of civil, mechanical, and structural engineers, architect, landscape architect, irrigation consultants, and ecologists to make new infrastructure work.

Another integrated stormwater treatment system using open water storage is under way at Sherbourne Park in Toronto, led by Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg with The Planning Partnership. Sherbourne Park includes a complex system designed by The Municipal Infrastructure Group (TMIG) in which stormwater from the entire East Bayfront Precinct is collected and conveyed first through a series of stormwater sediment settling tanks that run the length of the dock wall, under the West-8/DTAH designed promenade, from Jarvis to Parliament Slip. Adam Nicklin, OALA, of DTAH explains that the large settling tanks do triple-duty as support for the boardwalk and shoring-up of the dock wall. From the tanks, water is conveyed to the basement of a pavilion in Sherbourne Park, where it will be UV-disinfected using ultra-violet lamps. The disinfected water then travels through a series of open water art features in Sherbourne Park before being discharged into an open channel running the length of the park. Further biofiltration takes place before the water is finally discharged into Lake Ontario. The design is intended to reveal the water process as a public narrative. After the UV treatment, some of the water is siphoned off to be used in landscape irrigation, comprised of both sub-surface and sprayhead equipment. The UV treatment resolves any public health concerns about using the water for irrigation and open water features. Similar to UOIT, the project involves coordination among many players including landscape architects, architects, mechanical, civil, structural, and geotechnical engineers, and various City agencies, including the parks department and public health. On the Books: Regulating Non-Potable Water Use of non-potable water for irrigation in Ontario falls into a grey area when it comes to regulation. As Chris Le Conte of SMART Watering Systems, part of the Sherbourne Park team, explains, the Ontario Building Code (OBC) needs to catch up to the developments in irrigation design and explicitly address a variety of water sources. At present, the OBC states only that harvested rainwater can be used for irrigation and flushing toilets, but it does not address other classifications of recycled water such as stormwater runoff or greywater. The next review of the OBC is in 2011. For more information on DH Water Management Services, visit www.dhwatermgmt.com; for SMART Watering Systems, visit www.smartwateringsystems.ca. BIO/ NANCY CHATER, OALA, IS THE TECHNICAL CORNER COLUMNIST FOR GROUND AND A MEMBER OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Education Corner

.06

Testing the Test A report on changes to the Landscape Architecture Registration Exam

Education Corner

.06

TEXT BY DON NAYLOR, OALA

The role of the LARE (Landscape Architecture Registration Exam) is to test a candidate’s knowledge of the principles of landscape architecture that relate directly to public health, safety, and welfare. Administered by CLARB (Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards), the exam is meant to test a candidate’s knowledge in a fair and effective manner. In 2004, CLARB published the results of the professional Task Analysis Survey of landscape architecture. The data collected by the survey provided “a body of knowledge” that CLARB uses to evaluate their exams and make necessary refinements to the content in order to ensure that relevant and current subject matter is being tested. The survey also allows CLARB to identify the areas of practice that are the most universal and broadly based. This information is critical in determining the weighting of content within the LARE. Having had the privilege of attending many grading sessions over the years and participating on both Section C and E Exam Committees through 2002, I agreed in January 2009 to attend the grading session in Greenville, South Carolina, and was assigned to Section E: Grading and Drainage. Having been away from the process for five years, I was not anticipating any significant changes despite the fact that over the years, member boards, on behalf of their candidates, have expressed their opinions on all aspects of the LARE, the most common being the perceived degree of difficulty, low pass rates, testing criteria, and cost. I am pleased to report that there are clear improvements to both the exam and the grading criteria. This is not to say that the exam is now easier or harder than what I remember. The exam tests for the same general content as it always has, but now there is a process that recognizes that Grading and Drainage, while interrelated, are stand-alone technical disciplines and that both are worthy of evaluation on their own merits within each of the four graphic vignettes. The first two problems test a candidate’s knowledge of Conceptual Grading and Water Conveyance. A correct solution must demonstrate a candidate’s understanding of the protection and management of land resources as well as water resources. The third and fourth problems test for three-dimensional thinking and the finer aspects of grading. Candidates must show an understanding of the relationship between landscape architecture and other consulting disciplines.

In the past, a candidate could make an error on a question and the result would be a failing grade. (A fail grade reflects an error serious enough that the candidate is considered not minimally competent to practise.) Although each vignette tests for more than one criterion of knowledge, each vignette previously received only one grade for a total of four grades for the section. Thus, a candidate could fail a question without receiving any recognition for their knowledge of other testing criteria offered by their solution. On the current Section E, each question is still based on realistic circumstances, and marking (grading) is determined in accordance with the LARE reference manual and professional practice standards. The most significant change has occurred in the assessment of the candidate’s performance. A total of eight grades are scored, two per vignette. While this methodology does not eliminate the prospect of a failing grade on the exam, it does prevent a candidate from being penalized for being less successful on a specific aspect of a problem. If a candidate is stronger in one of the categories than the others, they will have an opportunity to demonstrate their full knowledge over the course of the four vignettes. The other benefit is to those candidates who are unsuccessful in their first attempt. Over the course of completing the four vignettes, it becomes very clear where a candidate’s broader knowledge lies and where improvement may be needed. This new evaluation methodology will improve the exam administrator’s ability to communicate the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate with greater accuracy. The process of developing effective exam questions and creating fair and meaningful evaluation criteria is a challenging task. CLARB continues to respond effectively to our changing times. Landscape architects must maintain high practice standards and our registration exam must be a reflection of these standards. I commend CLARB and the many individuals who volunteer their time to this essential process—a process that continues to define our professional role in the context of public health, safety, and welfare. BIO/ DON NAYLOR, OALA, IS FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF DON NAYLOR & ASSOCIATES LTD., BASED IN BRAMPTON.

Notes

.06

Notes: A Miscellany of News and Events

festivals As it enters its tenth year, the International Garden Festival at Les Jardins de Metis/Reford Gardens on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, presents an ambitious program of innovative gardens by leading international designers. Of the 18 gardens in this year’s festival, six are new. They were jury-selected from more than 125 proposals received from teams in 17 countries. Jane Hutton, OALA, and Adrian Blackwell, both of Toronto, comprise one of the six teams selected for this year’s event. Their winning entry, Dymaxion Sleep, is a topographic structure of nets that suspends visitors above a garden of aromatic mints: plants are distributed in regions defined by pungency; orientation is gained by smell rather than sight. Other new gardens have been created by teams from London (UK), Montreal, New York City, and Rougemont, Switzerland.

Along with the six new gardens, eleven gardens from past editions of the festival will be reinvigorated for this 10th anniversary, and another garden—Claude Cormier’s iconic Blue Stick Garden first presented in 2000—returns as a permanent installation. Opening on June 27, 2009, the International Garden Festival runs until October 4, 2009. For more information, visit www.refordgardens.com. 01 01/

Round Up (d'aprés Monet) by Legge-Lewis-Legge

IMAGE/

Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens

02/

Bon arbre au bon endroit by NIPpaysage

IMAGE/

Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens

03/

Bascale by Cédule 40

IMAGE/

Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens

04/

Poule mouillée by A4

IMAGE/

Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens

05/

Jane's Walk citizen-led neighbourhood tour

IMAGE/

Centre for City Ecology

06/

John Carley and Victoria Lister Carley

IMAGE/

Victoria Lister Carley

07/

Blue Spruce, Picea pungens

IMAGE/

Notes

.06

honours Congratulations to Victoria Lister Carley, OALA, who, with her husband, John Carley, was named this year’s Ontario Field Ornithologist’s Celebrity Birders for the OFO’s Baillie Birdathon (the oldest sponsored bird count in North America, held annually in May). A portion of all pledges for the Carleys’ bird count has been donated to the OFO’s work to monitor and protect Ontario’s bird populations. Along with her work as a landscape architect and involvement with the Ground Editorial Board, Victoria Carley has also volunteered on the boards of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Toronto Botanical Garden.

walking

art

There’s a lot of buzz in Toronto these days about walking. The second annual Jane’s Walk, a series of citizen-led neighbourhood tours held in May in honour of Jane Jacobs, was a resounding success with 117 tours and 5,000 participants. As well, City Council recently approved a Toronto Walking Strategy. And to round out all of this walking-related activity, Toronto’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division recently published an innovative walking map, “Exploring Toronto’s Parks and Trails,” and launched it at the city’s first Walking Information Fair. Project lead Jerry Belan, OALA, coordinated the map, working with numerous community groups, including the People with Disabilities Committee. Intended for leisure walkers, cyclists, and hikers, the map provides updated trail and route locations, major trail access points and links, TTC coordinates, accessible washroom locations, and information about hard surface trails for people with disabilities. It also includes details about off-leash areas and sunsafety. To order a copy of the map (also available in download), visit www.toronto.ca/parks/maps/htm.

Botanical art—sometimes described as a marriage of art and science—has a long tradition, dating back thousands of years. In 2001, a group of artists working in the tradition of botanical illustration formed Botanical Artists of Canada (BAC), a notfor-profit group that organizes exhibitions and public lectures. “Trees: From Roots to Crown,” a juried show of work by BAC members celebrating arboreal plant forms, will be on exhibit from November 4-15 at The Papermill Gallery (Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Road) in Toronto. For more information, visit www.botanicalartistsofontario.org.

forests On November 12, 2009, the Ontario Urban Forest Council holds its annual conference and AGM at the University of Guelph Arboretum. Landscape architects, planners, consultants, developers, municipal workers, arborists, and interested citizens will discuss protection of urban trees. For more information, visit www.oufc.org.

Notes

.06

escarpment The Niagara Escarpment Commission’s biennial Niagara Escarpment Achievement Award series recognizes individuals and groups for outstanding accomplishments, including exceptional design / landscaping in keeping with the tenets of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, leading examples of community efforts in environmental restoration projects, and lifetime achievement for contributions to the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve. Artist, naturalist, and former Niagara Escarpment Commissioner Robert Bateman received the Niagara Escarpment Lifetime Achievement award on April 16, 2009. “Robert Bateman has been a steadfast supporter of the Niagara Escarpment Commission since its establishment,” said NEC Chair Don Scott. “As a Niagara Escarpment Commissioner from 19731985, an early and lifelong champion of the Bruce Trail, Canada’s longest footpath, and a devoted advocate of conservation and land preservation, he inspires the Niagara Escarpment Commission to continue in its work of conserving the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve for future generations of Ontarians.” The 2009 Niagara Escarpment Achievement Award series honours a range of community groups, landowners, architects, and schools. For a full list of 2009 Niagara Escarpment Achievement Award winners, please visit www.escarpment.org.

awards

in memoriam

Each year, visitors and industry contributors to Canada Blooms, the largest horticultural show in Canada, held in Toronto in March, vote for their favourite displays and gardens at the show. OALA members and associate members received a number of awards at Canada Blooms this year. The Judges Choice Garden winner was “Connected: The Canadian Cancer Society Garden,” designed by Ronald Holbrook & Associates Landscape Architects Inc. An honourable mention in this category was awarded to “Seasons,” designed by D.A. Gracey & Associates Ltd. Ronald Holbrook’s garden also won the S.G. Ulbright Award for Outstanding Garden and the W.E. Bridgeman Award for Best Overall Use of Hard Landscape Elements. D.A. Gracey & Associates also won an award for Outstanding Use of Trees. Stephen Robinson’s company Gardens for Living Inc. was honoured with three awards: Most Imaginative Garden Design, Universal Access Award, and the Leslie L. Solty Memorial Award for Best Overall Creativity in Garden Design. Graham Moore of the CIty of Toronto won two awards for the “Now and Then” garden: Outstanding Interpretation of the Show Theme and the Garden Club of Toronto Award for Best Overall Use of Colour. Robert Boltman of b sq. landscape design studio won the Environmental Award for his design, “Outside the Box.”

JANINA STENSSON EH, MFA, OALA, FCSLA 1919 – 2009 BY RYAN JAMES, OALA

The OALA also adjudicated an awards program at Canada Blooms. Judges this year were Alexander Budrevics, Shalini Ullal, and Christine Abe. An Award of Excellence went to Ronald Holbrook. Certificates of Honourable Mention went to Sander Freedman and Graham Moore. Certificates of Merit were awarded to Robert Boltman and Christine Gracey.

Janina (n. Korkuc) Stensson was born in Warsaw, Poland. She came to Canada as an established landscape architect of international renown, with fifteen years of practice and membership with the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). In 1957 she married Jesse Vilhelm Stensson (1907-1972), who was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and another important figure in the early history of landscape architecture in Ontario. Their marriage produced one daughter, Ewa Gaede. In 1958 Ms. Stensson signed a Business Partnership with her husband and Howard Dunington-Grubb (1881-1965). The firm, Dunington-Grubb and Stensson, was recognized as an outstanding professional practice that focused mostly on public and commercial projects. Ms. Stensson and her partners worked on many projects, including University Avenue in Toronto and Expo ’67 in Montreal. In 1964 a proposal to design Expo ’67 came to Dunington-Grubb and Stensson and it was agreed that Ms. Stensson would be the sole representative of the firm to participate in this project. Ms. Stensson worked in a consortium with Macklin Hancock and Austin Floyd. From this time onward, Ms. Stensson became the sole principal of the firm as the other two partners became more involved with their roles at Sheridan Nurseries. Through the course of her practice Ms. Stensson was also involved in teaching at the University of Guelph and at Ryerson. The landscape drawings of DuningtonGrubb and Stensson are now located at the archives of the University of Guelph.

Notes

.06

practical and meaningful for our landscape. This approach has been pivotal in fostering the emergence of uniquely made-in-Canada thinking about landscape architecture.

Our young profession is maturing as we close the second chapter in the development of Canadian landscape architecture. The pioneers of Chapter Two have done their bit. Ed’s retirement marks an extremely significant milestone in the maturation of the profession in Canada. We are now all working on Chapter Three.

retirement ED FIFE: AN APPRECIATION BY JOHN DANAHY, OALA

magazines

Professor Ed Fife is retiring after forty years of teaching landscape architecture at the University of Toronto. Ed has probably logged the longest and most continuous role in landscape architectural teaching of any Canadian academic. The education of almost half of Canadian-schooled landscape architects has been touched by Ed’s unbroken contribution. Ed will continue to be involved in his famous, high-paced, urban ecological boot camps for U of T’s students, but he is stepping away from full-time work in the studio.

In the midst of gloomy news about the economy’s impact on the publishing industry, the Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) has taken the bold step of launching a fresh new look for Trellis, the TBG’s membership publication. Now in full colour on glossy paper (recycled and printed with vegetable-based inks), the quarterly publication features practical and inspirational articles, news, event listings, and how-to tips. The revitalized Trellis, available free to TBG members, was made possible through a donation from the Toronto Master Gardeners. For more information on joining the TBG, visit www.torontobotanicalgarden.org.

Leading up to the 1960s, the first chapter in the development of Canadian landscape architecture was populated by people who either had to leave Canada to get a university education in the profession or immigrants who brought with them an education from elsewhere. As we all know, everything changed in Canada during the era of Expo ‘67 and the Canadian centenary celebrations. These events marked a sea-change in Canadian culture and identity. The era marked the formation of the first BLA degree programs in Canada and the start of Ed’s transplanted contribution to nurturing a fundamentally Canadian approach to landscape architecture. Ed’s style focuses on empowering students to think for themselves and pursue intelligent ideas that are both

books Anyone interested in the mix of native and introduced trees in urban settings will find a recent book published by the Owen Sound Field Naturalists useful. Exploring an Urban Forest—Owen Sound's Heritage of Trees describes and illustrates 87 species, all of which are likely to be found in any eastern Ontario city. Priced at $14.50 plus shipping, the book is available from Ginger Press (maryann@gingerpress.com) or from Joan Crowe (crowe@log.on.ca).

new members The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects is proud to recognize and welcome to following new full members to the association: David Billham Henry Byma Melissa Cameron Nancy Chater * Sandra Cooke * Ashley DeWitt * Stefan Fediuk * Peter Heyblom * Jane Hutton Robert Lau * Frank Mazzotta Tara McCarthy Melanie Morris Marc Nielsen * Peter North * Patricia Sharpe Bradley Smith * N. Cambell Steuart * Wayne Swanton Sara Taylor * Li Wang * Shawn Watters Asterisk (*) denotes a Full Member not having custody and use of the Association seal.

08/

Robert Bateman receiving the Niagara Escarpment Lifetime Achievement Award

IMAGE/

Niagara Escarpment Commission

09/

Ed Fife at his retirement celebration in May

IMAGE/

Andre Beneteau

Interested in being involved with Ground: Landscape Architect Quarterly?

The OALA Editorial Board is looking for volunteers who can help out with various tasks, such as research, transcription, and writing. Any level of commitment is appreciated, from researching upcoming events for the Notes section to transcribing Round Table discussions... Fun, satisfying work—and the best part, no need to attend meetings! To get involved, please e-mail magazine@oala.ca.

Jambette full page ad

Artifact

.06

Beauty and the Bike 02

01/

The bicycle stands designed by OCAD students push street furniture into the realm of urban art. The winning entry, “Untitled,” is designed by Justin Rosete and Erica Mach.

IMAGE/

Ontario College of Art and Design

02/

Second prize went to Kelli EV Hui and Olivier Mayrand for “Express(sion).”

IMAGE/

Ontario College of Art and Design

Building a better rack Public art or street furniture? It's hard to tell the difference with these bike racks. As sculptural as they are practical, they were designed by Ontario College of Art and Design students as part of a competition to create bike stands for the redevelopment of a property at Queen and McCaul streets in Toronto. Thirty-five student teams submitted their designs; ten were shortlisted as finalists; and five won prizes. First prize ($6,000 plus development and implementation) went to Justin Rosete, second-year Industrial Design, and Erica Mach, secondyear Drawing and Painting.