This year’s ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture will be held in San Francisco, CA November 11-14, 2022, with a focus on “designing a better future” – a theme very much in keeping with SWA’s work! The firm will have a robust presence among the conference’s speakers, with multiple presenters on each of the event’s four days.
Please see below to read more about our presenters’ topics, which touch on a wide variety of topics – from climate, fire, and social justice as they relate to resiliency as well as on how research, BIM technology, and employee-owned firm models affect the practice of landscape architecture in 2022.
Events for Harvard Graduate School of Design and American Academy in Rome will also be taking place during the conference; SWA’s San Francisco studio will be hosting an invitation-only reception sponsored by the two schools on the evening of November 12. We look forward to welcoming alumni, fellows, and department chairs during this exciting week in the city!
This year’s ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture will be held in San Francisco, CA November 11-14, 2022, with a focus on “designing a better future” – a theme very much in keeping with SWA’s work! The firm will have a robust presence among the conference’s speakers, with multiple presenters on each of the event’s four days.
Please see below to read more about our presenters’ topics, which touch on a wide variety of topics – from climate, fire, and social justice as they relate to resiliency as well as on how research, BIM technology, and employee-owned firm models affect the practice of landscape architecture in 2022.
Events for Harvard Graduate School of Design and American Academy in Rome will also be taking place during the conference; SWA’s San Francisco studio will be hosting an invitation-only reception sponsored by the two schools on the evening of November 12. We look forward to welcoming alumni, fellows, and department chairs during this exciting week in the city!
CONFERENCE
SCHEDULE
CHINATOWN & NORTH BEACH: THE REVIVAL OF TWO COMMUNITIES THROUGH GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC SPACES
8:30am-5:00pm
Jim Lee, FASLA
San Francisco has transformed the Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods through 20 years of strategic investment in public parks. Experience an insider’s tour and hear directly how local landscape architects have fulfilled every key role in this transformation by representing government agencies, design teams, nonprofit organizations, and the community.
LGBTQ+ CASTRO: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
11:00am-5:00pm
Daniel Cunningham + Yusheng Dent
San Francisco serves as the global center of culture, activism, and sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ community. Join us to walk the Castro to highlight LGBTQ+ history, Harvey Milk’s impact, queer arts, memorials, and future development that will define the district and ensure it remains an inclusive destination that welcomes everyone.
CLIMATE ACTION NOW:
LEVEL UP YOUR
CLIMATE ADVOCACY
1:30-3:00pm
Sarah Fitzgerald
Learn how landscape professionals can expand their climate advocacy efforts. Highlighting the Advocacy section of the “Member Guide” of the ASLA Climate Action Plan, professionals from various generations and geographical regions will outline and model approachable actions that you can take, where it’s your “first step” or “the next step.”
CONFERENCE
SCHEDULE
CHINATOWN & NORTH BEACH: THE REVIVAL OF TWO COMMUNITIES THROUGH GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC SPACES
8:30am-5:00pm
Jim Lee, FASLA
San Francisco has transformed the Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods through 20 years of strategic investment in public parks. Experience an insider’s tour and hear directly how local landscape architects have fulfilled every key role in this transformation by representing government agencies, design teams, nonprofit organizations, and the community.
LGBTQ+ CASTRO: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
11:00am-5:00pm
Daniel Cunningham + Yusheng Dent
San Francisco serves as the global center of culture, activism, and sanctuary for the LGBTQ+ community. Join us to walk the Castro to highlight LGBTQ+ history, Harvey Milk’s impact, queer arts, memorials, and future development that will define the district and ensure it remains an inclusive destination that welcomes everyone.
CLIMATE ACTION NOW:
LEVEL UP YOUR
CLIMATE ADVOCACY
1:30-3:00pm
Sarah Fitzgerald
Learn how landscape professionals can expand their climate advocacy efforts. Highlighting the Advocacy section of the “Member Guide” of the ASLA Climate Action Plan, professionals from various generations and geographical regions will outline and model approachable actions that you can take, where it’s your “first step” or “the next step.”
CITY OF TREES: PROTECTING THE URBAN FOREST THROUGH CHANGING CLIMATES
2-3:15pm
Jeremy Klemic
Numerous environmental stressors impact the longevity of urban forests. Panelists expand on the value of canopy coverage, with topics including heat island reduction, storm water treatment, tree species selection, wildlife habitat, and human comfort. Learn from case studies and collaborations of successful planning, maintaining, and replenishing of urban forests.
ON THE EDGE: MERGING WILDFIRE RESEARCH AND DESIGN IN REIMAGINING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES
3:45-5:00pm
Alison Ecker
As wildfires become more frequent and destructive, we must reimagine how to design and plan communities for this new environmental era. This panel brings together three leading practitioners to explore how wildfire climate research and emerging technologies can be integrated into large-scale regional planning and site-specific design tactics for the protection and creation of fire-resilient frontline communities.
CITY OF TREES: PROTECTING THE URBAN FOREST THROUGH CHANGING CLIMATES
2-3:15pm
Jeremy Klemic
Numerous environmental stressors impact the longevity of urban forests. Panelists expand on the value of canopy coverage, with topics including heat island reduction, storm water treatment, tree species selection, wildlife habitat, and human comfort. Learn from case studies and collaborations of successful planning, maintaining, and replenishing of urban forests.
ON THE EDGE: MERGING WILDFIRE RESEARCH AND DESIGN IN REIMAGINING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES
3:45-5:00pm
Alison Ecker
As wildfires become more frequent and destructive, we must reimagine how to design and plan communities for this new environmental era. This panel brings together three leading practitioners to explore how wildfire climate research and emerging technologies can be integrated into large-scale regional planning and site-specific design tactics for the protection and creation of fire-resilient frontline communities.
THE VALUE OF AN ESOP FIRM STRUCTURE
9-10:00am
Gerdo Aquino, FASLA, SWA Co-CEO
What’s in it for you? This session explores various cultural and economic benefits of being part of an employee-owned firm. Attendees will examine some reasons why making the ESOP transition is an attractive succession strategy for many firms, and what this transition means for the employees of these firms.
PURPOSEFUL PLACES – DESIGNING WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE AFTERMATH OF URBAN RENEWAL
9:-10:00am
Ying-yu Hung, FASLA
Two contemporary design leaders will share their experience in collaborating with communities and local authorities to reclaim urban spaces, reestablish cultural identity, and provide public amenities to underserved communities’ post-urban renewal. The presenters will share sharply focused explorations of accessible and community-informed design processes at the site and neighborhood scale.
HOW HAVE YOU BIM? AN OPEN DISCUSSION WITH THE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY PPN
12-12:45pm
Radu Dicher
Radu will be participating in this session, during which the Digital Technology PPN invites attendees to an interactive conversation about technology as applied to our practice. For more on the session he will be leading, please see events for Monday, November 14, below.
THE VALUE OF AN ESOP FIRM STRUCTURE
9-10:00am
Gerdo Aquino, FASLA, SWA Co-CEO
What’s in it for you? This session explores various cultural and economic benefits of being part of an employee-owned firm. Attendees will examine some reasons why making the ESOP transition is an attractive succession strategy for many firms, and what this transition means for the employees of these firms.
PURPOSEFUL PLACES – DESIGNING WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE AFTERMATH OF URBAN RENEWAL
9:-10:00am
Ying-yu Hung, FASLA
Two contemporary design leaders will share their experience in collaborating with communities and local authorities to reclaim urban spaces, reestablish cultural identity, and provide public amenities to underserved communities’ post-urban renewal. The presenters will share sharply focused explorations of accessible and community-informed design processes at the site and neighborhood scale.
HOW HAVE YOU BIM? AN OPEN DISCUSSION WITH THE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY PPN
12-12:45pm
Radu Dicher
Radu will be participating in this session, during which the Digital Technology PPN invites attendees to an interactive conversation about technology as applied to our practice. For more on the session he will be leading, please see events for Monday, November 14, below.
RESILIENCY AND INNOVATION: EVOLUTION OF STANFORD’S OLMSTED PLAN AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGN
8:30am-5:00pm
John L. Wong, FASLA, FAAR
For over 125 years, Stanford University has incorporated climate responsive design, native plant material, and water conservation. See firsthand how the avant-garde campus framework has adapted to modern-day education, circulation, and housing needs in ways that are welcoming to students, faculty, and staff from around the world.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH NOW: HOW NINE FIRMS INFORM THEIR PRACTICES
9:00-10:30am
Anya Domlesky, Director of Research
This panel shows how nine landscape architecture firms use five strategies to engage in research within practice. Benefits include better information and tools to address complex design challenges, as well as promoting leadership and innovation, sparking creativity, retaining and recruiting staff, developing a market niche, and increasing knowledge for the profession.
DATA DRIVEN DESIGN: INSIGHTS FROM THE ASLA BIM WORKING GROUP
9:00-11:30am
Radu Dicher
Within the framework of current major shifts in the AECO industry driven by BIM, particularly the US market, landscape architecture fits an ideal coordinating role of connecting tissue between other trades. This session, for which Radu will be the lead speaker, targets to depict concrete solutions to this challenge in a data-centric design world.
RESILIENCY AND INNOVATION: EVOLUTION OF STANFORD’S OLMSTED PLAN AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGN
8:30am-5:00pm
John L. Wong, FASLA, FAAR
For over 125 years, Stanford University has incorporated climate responsive design, native plant material, and water conservation. See firsthand how the avant-garde campus framework has adapted to modern-day education, circulation, and housing needs in ways that are welcoming to students, faculty, and staff from around the world.
LANDSCAPE RESEARCH NOW: HOW NINE FIRMS INFORM THEIR PRACTICES
9:00-10:30am
Anya Domlesky, Director of Research
This panel shows how nine landscape architecture firms use five strategies to engage in research within practice. Benefits include better information and tools to address complex design challenges, as well as promoting leadership and innovation, sparking creativity, retaining and recruiting staff, developing a market niche, and increasing knowledge for the profession.
DATA DRIVEN DESIGN: INSIGHTS FROM THE ASLA BIM WORKING GROUP
9:00-11:30am
Radu Dicher
Within the framework of current major shifts in the AECO industry driven by BIM, particularly the US market, landscape architecture fits an ideal coordinating role of connecting tissue between other trades. This session, for which Radu will be the lead speaker, targets to depict concrete solutions to this challenge in a data-centric design world.