ASLA Celebrates the Art of Balance at Annual Meeting
With representatives from 36 countries in attendance and well over 6,800 registrants, the 2007 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO was an inspiring success.

Columbus Day weekend saw the culmination of ASLA’s largest and most successful Annual Meeting in the Society’s history. The five day meeting in San Francisco drew over 6,800, beating last year’s registration numbers by over 2,500 registrants. Dozens of high-profile speakers, wide-ranging tours, and illuminating continuing education sessions let attendees learn, share, and reconnect with their fellow landscape architects. More than 600 students in landscape architecture were also in attendance, a fact which speaks highly for the future of the profession. A highlight for many attendees was the chance to see Lawrence Halprin, FASLA, speak at the closing general session on Monday.

The meeting was also attended by a wide variety of professionals, with representatives from 36 countries adding an international flair to the proceedings. The largest delegations of foreign attendees came from Canada, China, Mexico, and Korea. Education was the top motivator for attending the Annual Meeting; overall there were 96 education sessions including field sessions, forums, and workshops.

In keeping with the theme of the meeting, “Designing with Nature: The Art of Balance,” ASLA leadership touted landscape architects’ long history of being mindful of the environment, and urged the profession to continue taking the lead in bringing sustainability to their projects.

“We were green before it became popular. We were green when everyone else thought it was simply a color. We’ve been green for years—decades, actually,” Past President Pat Caughey, FASLA, said in his address to the Opening General Session. “It’s my belief that there’s never been a better time to be a landscape architect. I believe that for a couple of reasons: people pay us for doing what we love, for doing what we believe in, and for doing what we can be proud of.”

ASLA President Perry Howard speaks at the ASLA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Perry Howard, FASLA, who was sworn in as President during the closing session of the meeting echoed Caughey’s sentiments, saying he would make stewardship, leadership, and membership the primary focus of his tenure as president. “Our most important work as landscape architects is the promotion and creation of healthy, sustainable, and artful environments,” Howard said in his address. “Our most important work as a society is projects such as our green roof and the Sustainable Sites initiative. These projects are making us strong as a society and we want to continue this type of good work. We will develop a plan to identify potential and emerging leaders with attention to diversity of practice type, gender and ethnicity; and develop a plan to encourage their participation in and guide their development through the leadership ladder of ASLA.” 

Getting landscape architecture into the public eye has been one of ASLA’s continuing goals. Nancy Somerville, ASLA executive vice president and CEO, noted now much national press coverage has grown. “In the past five years news coverage of ASLA and the profession has more than doubled. Additionally our growth in television coverage has increased ten fold….Hundreds of millions of people were exposed to our messages about landscape architecture just this year alone.”

Highlights of Saturday’s Opening General Session included a report from Charles H. Thorton, PhD, on growing the landscape architecture profession through the ACE Mentor program. Thorton shared inspiring stories of high school students diving head-first into the world of planning and design, all across the country. Click here to watch a short highlight video of the opening session, including comments by Past President Pat Caughey.

On Sunday morning, the “Newsmakers” roundtable saw a lively conversation among Walter Hood, ASLA, Laurie Olin, FASLA, Martha Schwartz, ASLA, and Ken Smith, ASLA, moderated by Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times. Click here to watch a short highlight video of Sunday’s session, including statements by ASLA EVP and CEO Nancy Somerville.

Monday’s Closing General Session saw a remarkable interview of Lawrence Halprin, FASLA, by Charles Birnbaum, FASLA. Halprin’s long career and successes were discussed in a lively half-hour interview. Halprin shared his thoughts on a wide range of topics, including how some of his most famous designs have changed over the years. Click here to watch the interview or here to listen to the interview as a podcast.

Lawrence Halprin, FASLA, greets the standing ovation crowd before his interview with Charles Birnbaum, FASLA.

Vice President Al Gore, Hon. ASLA, was unable to join attendees in San Francisco because of a death in his family. However, he was able to deliver an address via satellite from Tennessee. Gore discussed some of the latest scientific findings about global warming and also discussed landscape architects’ role in combating climate change. “Your role is ever more crucial in our society’s efforts to deal with the climate crisis and the related environmental challenges that we are facing," Gore said. "I’d like to thank you for the leadership your fast-growing, fabulous organization has demonstrated. I feel as if a lot of the world is catching up with you and messages you have been delivering for a long time now….We’re seeing professionals and landscape architecture professionals among the real leaders in bringing about change in the daily business decisions and design decisions that you make.” Gore then called on landscape architecture professionals to continue that leadership into the future.

Vice President Al Gore, Hon. ASLA, addresses the Closing General Session crowd via satellite.

Next year’s ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO will be held October 3-7, 2008, in Philadelphia, PA.