May 10, 2006

Jury Chair Challenges Students to Take on the Future

Gary R. Hilderbrand, FASLA, principal of Reed Hilderbrand Associates, Inc., in Watertown, Massachusetts, will chair the ASLA 2006 Student Awards Jury. He sat down with LAND to share his thoughts on what he would like to see from this year’s competition.

When the awards jury convenes, what do you hope to see when you look through the entries?
We are hoping to be inspired. The best students and their teachers should be leading us into the future. The Student Awards should be forward thinking. I hope that the student projects will examine the issues facing our profession—including sustainability, hazard mitigation, and population growth—and view them in innovative ways that address the problems while enhancing the surrounding communities.

Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA, will chair this year’s ASLA Student Awards Jury. Kira Appelhans, Student ASLA, of the University of Pennsylvania, receives an Award of Honor from ASLA Past-President Patrick Miller, FASLA, during the 2005 ASLA Annual Meeting.

How does the Student Awards program benefit the profession and the public at large?
What ASLA has done in the past few years to enhance the visibility of the student awards is truly remarkable—everyone in the field of landscape architecture benefits from the program—and it contributes to greater awareness of the profession overall. Anyone who doesn't see this enhanced visibility has their head in the sand. Also, as I said earlier, the student projects predict the future. This is a great opportunity for the press and the public to see what types of projects will be coming out of the top firms in the future. The students who win awards today will be the professionals who are winning awards tomorrow. 

The new Residential Design category has been very popular among professional awards entrants, but drew very few student entries last year.  What is your theory on this?
Residential design is a tremendous market for landscape architects and represents one of our biggest opportunities to promote sustainable practices, which should appeal to students in particular.  It isn't that residential design isn’t taught in schools; it's just that design studios usually focus on more complex problem sets, involving multiple agendas and programs, and that's appropriate. I really look forward to seeing more student residential entries this year and recognizing some fresh, new ideas, to be sure.

What type of design aesthetic, or philosophy would you like to see the students bring to their submissions?
Last year's Hurricane Katrina disaster tells us we need to give greater emphasis to durable, equitable, economically viable, expressive, and sustainable design at all scales of community. More than ever, we need to look at landscapes at a holistic level—at streets and neighborhoods, town centers, infrastructure, institutions and public spaces, work spaces, production sites, historic sites, and homes and gardens. In all these project types—in looking at real places—students can develop their sensibilities for design expression, community, and place, and take their convictions out into private and public practices. Everyone's design aims need to be higher in this country, and the students can help us raise our sights.

What kind of impact does winning an ASLA award have on a student’s career path? Of course it looks good on a resume, but do you have a sense that firms are actively recruiting these winners?
We have a strong employment picture today—which has not always been the case—and a highly competitive situation for students. The awards certainly help distinguish accomplished graduates, especially those with in-depth thesis projects or self-directed independent work.

ASLA Student and Student Affiliate members may receive one entry kit absolutely free of charge by completing and submitting the entry form; additional kits are only $15 each.  Non-members may request their first entry kit for $43, which includes a one-year membership in ASLA, and additional kits are $15 each.  The deadline for entry forms is May 19. The deadline for submissions is June 2.
Click here for submission information.