M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA, to receive ASLA Medal, The Office of James Burnett wins Firm Award
WASHINGTON, June 9, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) today announced its 2015 honors recipients. Selected by ASLA's Board of Trustees, the honors represent the highest awards ASLA presents each year. The honors will be presented at the president's dinner on November 9, held during the 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO, November 6–9, in Chicago.
2015 Honors
ASLA Medal: M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA
M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Medal, the Society's highest award for a landscape architect. A founder of M. Paul Friedberg and Partners in New York, Friedberg has designed public places that not only break the boundaries of traditional design, but also increase the quality of life for those who use these spaces. Some of his recognized public spaces include Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis, Pershing Park in Washington, D.C., and the 67th Street Playground in New York. He is the founder and professor emeritus of the Urban Landscape Architecture Program at City College of New York, the first urban-oriented undergraduate landscape architecture program to be located in a major city.
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ASLA Design Medal: Thomas Balsley, FASLA
Thomas Balsley, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Design Medal in recognition of his exceptional design work. Balsley, the principal designer of New York City-based firm Thomas Balsley Associates, has created numerous public spaces that enrich the lives of people and their communities. His work often exists in the margins of the city, the industrial edges, the waterfronts and the scraps of land left over from the urban grid. His designs include Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park and Riverside Park South in New York City, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Tampa and Main Street Garden Park in Dallas.
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Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal: Carl Steinitz, Hon. ASLA
Carl Steinitz, Hon. ASLA, will receive the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal for significant and sustained excellence in landscape architecture education. For more than 50 years, Steinitz, a professor emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, has dedicated himself to the field of landscape architecture education. Underlying all of his work is the firm belief that landscape architects should be leaders in solving some of the most pressing issues of our time. Steinitz has influenced thousands of students worldwide with his teaching, and his methods and values influence the many who have gone on to be leaders in the field.
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LaGasse Medal – Non-Landscape Architect: Gregory Long
Gregory Long will receive the LaGasse Medal for contributions to the management and conservation of natural resources and public landscapes. Long, the president and CEO of the New York Botanical Garden, has devoted 25 years to the restoration and revitalization of one of the world's greatest botanical gardens and research institutions. ASLA recognizes him for achieving the remarkable resurgence of this century-old garden, often in times of challenging austerity. For 15 years Long has also promoted and supported the work of landscape architects from the United States and abroad through the botanical garden's annual fall lectures known as the Landscape Design Portfolios series.
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Olmsted Medal: Design Trust for Public Space
The Design Trust for Public Space will receive the Olmsted Medal. The award recognizes individuals, organizations, agencies, or programs outside the profession of landscape architecture for environmental leadership, vision, and stewardship. Since 1995, the Design Trust has been a champion of the public space of New York City, and more significantly a leader and innovator for other cities. The Design Trust believes that design matters—including landscape design—and that design should be supported by public-private partnerships, ensuring that their projects are both educational and a catalyst to action.
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Medal of Excellence: City of Scottsdale and McDowell Sonoran Conservancy
The City of Scottsdale, Arizona and McDowell Sonoran Conservancy will receive the Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence. The award recognizes significant contributions to landscape architecture policy, research, education, project planning and design, or a combination of these items. Working in symbiotic collaboration, the Conservancy and the city created a public-private partnership and have conserved for posterity more than 30,000 acres of mostly pristine Sonoran Desert. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is now the largest urban preserve in the United States and will forever be sustained for the future enjoyment and benefit of all.
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The Landscape Architecture Firm Award: The Office of James Burnett
The Office of James Burnett will receive the Landscape Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor ASLA may bestow upon a landscape architecture firm in recognition of distinguished work that influences the profession. James Burnett, FASLA, founded the firm in 1989 in Houston with one part-time employee. Today, the firm employs 45 professionals working in Houston, San Diego and Boston. To date, the firm has garnered more than 80 state and national design awards for projects consistently cited for innovative and iconoclastic redefinition of human interaction with the environment.
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Community Service Award: Randolph Hester Jr., FASLA
Randolph Hester Jr., FASLA, will receive the Community Service Award for providing sustained, pro bono service demonstrating the sound principles or values of landscape architecture. Hester, a professor emeritus of landscape architecture and environmental planning at the University of California Berkeley, and a partner in the Tucson, Arizona-based firm Community Development by Design, has dedicated his career to the improvement of public landscapes for the underserved. His pro bono work for communities as well as his teaching and professional practice has contributed to the nurturing of healthy communities.
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2015 Honorary Members
Honorary membership is among the highest honors ASLA may bestow upon non-landscape architects in recognition of notable service to the profession. Since its inception in 1899, ASLA has inducted only 175 honorary members.
Joel Albizo, Affiliate ASLA, Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards
Joel Albizo, Affiliate ASLA, became the executive director of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) in 2007. Under his leadership, CLARB has made significant accomplishments that have benefited the profession of landscape architecture. Achievements include the development of the Landscape Architect Continuing Education System (LA CES) in collaboration with ASLA and other key organizations, and a historic research project, completed in 2009, that defined the impact of landscape architecture on public welfare. Under Albizo's guidance and direction, CLARB transformed the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.) into a fully computer-delivered model through the pioneering of a unique graphical exam.
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Roxanne Blackwell, American Society of Landscape Architects
