FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASLA Medals and Firm Award Recipients Selected

WASHINGTON, DC, May 12, 2003—The Board of Trustees of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has selected the recipients of the 2003 Medals and Firm Award, to be presented during the ASLA Annual Meeting, October 30-November 3, in New Orleans.

Richard Haag, FASLA

Richard Haag, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Medal, which is the highest honor the ASLA may bestow upon a landscape architect whose lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession have had a unique and lasting impact on the welfare of the public and the environment. Mr. Haag has had a distinguished career in the dual roles of teaching and professional practice, with more than 500 projects to his credit, including Seattle’s Gas Works Park and the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, WA. As an activist, he was instrumental in saving Seattle’s Pike Place Market from the wrecking ball—today it is Seattle’s top tourist attraction. He founded the Department of Landscape Architecture and Building Construction at the University of Washington in 1960, which became the Department of Landscape Architecture under his chairmanship in 1964. Now serving as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington, Mr. Haag continues to teach and lectures internationally.

Lawrence Halprin, FASLA

Lawrence Halprin, FASLA, has been selected as the first recipient of the new ASLA Design Medal recognizing an individual landscape architect who has produced a body of exceptional design work at a sustained level for a period of at least ten years. Born in New York City in 1916, Mr. Halprin attended Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin, and Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1942 with a Bachelors degree in landscape architecture. Just a few notable examples of his work include the master plan for the Seattle Center, the Seattle World’s Fair, Sea Ranch, Ghiradelli Square, Yerba Buena Gardens, and portions of the BART System in San Francisco and Freeway Park in Seattle. More recently, he has won wide acclaim for the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC, and the Walter and Elise Haas Promenade overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. He is currently working with the National Park Service on redesigning the approach to Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. Mr. Halprin has been honored many times in his career by organizations around the globe. ASLA awarded him the ASLA Medal in 1978. Most recently, President George W. Bush awarded him the Medal of the Arts. Project photos available, contact Jeff Lofton.

Craig W. Johnson, ASLA

Craig W. Johnson, ASLA, will receive the Jot D. Carpenter Medal for his sustained and significant contribution to landscape architecture education. Professor Johnson has served on the faculty of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Utah State University for 37 years. He has been named Teacher of the Year eight times, Department Advisor of the Year twice, and Utah State University College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science Teacher of the Year in 1984, 1996, and 1999—competing with 225 other faculty members for this recognition. He served as President of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) in 1981. In 1990 he was elected as National Distinguished Member of the National Honor Society in Landscape Architecture, Sigma Lambda Alpha.

John G. Parsons, FASLA

John G. Parsons, FASLA, has been selected to receive the LaGasse Medal in the Landscape Architect Category. This award recognizes landscape architects who have made notable contributions to the management and conservancy of natural resources and/or public lands. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Mr. Parsons moved to Washington, DC, in 1967 to join the National Park Service. His vision to protect existing park resources has resulted in acts of Congress that doubled the size of Antietam National Battlefield, Manassas National Battlefield, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Piscataway Park, and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Through his service as Chairman of the National Capital Memorial Commission since 1973, Parsons has been primarily responsible for the siting, design, and construction of memorials in our nation’s Capital. As Chairman of the National Capital Memorial Commission, he guided the formation of an interagency task force that developed a master plan for memorials.

Joseph T. Edmiston, FAICP

Joseph T. Edmiston, FAICP, will receive the Lagasse Medal in the Non-landscape Architect Category. A native of Southern California, Mr. Edmiston received his undergraduate education at East Los Angeles College and the University of Southern California. As Executive Director of the Santa Monica Mountains Comprehensive Planning Commission he helped enact the Santa Monica Mountains Comprehensive Plan that set land use policies for local governments to follow. The subsequent establishment of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has saved 50,000 acres from the bulldozer’s blade. Since 1997, Mr. Edmiston has led the implementation of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Strategic Plan, working to provide the entire Los Angeles and Ventura County Metropolitan region with a green buffer. Previous recipients of this medal include: Lawrence S. Rockefeller, Hon. ASLA; The Hon. Morris K. Udall, Hon. ASLA; The Hon. John Seiberling, Hon. ASLA; The Hon. William K. Reilly; and The Hon. Bruce Babbitt.

NCPC Maryland Avenue Capital Plan

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) will receive the Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence for its significant contributions to landscape architecture policy, research, education, project planning, and design. Established in 1924, NCPC is an independent federal agency responsible for preserving the beauty and historic urban design that have made Washington one of the most admired capital cities in the world. Since its formation, NCPC has guarded and advanced the original urban design blueprint of the L’Enfant Plan for the city while effectively accommodating the contemporary forces of growth and change. The Commission provides overall planning guidance for federal land and buildings in the region. As NCPC has led these significant planning activities, the agency has concurrently managed the planning review process for all development actions within the region affecting the federal interest, all with thoughtful implementation. Project photos available, contact Jeff Lofton.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been selected to receive the ASLA’s Olmsted Medal, recognizing his sustained environmental leadership, vision, and stewardship. A graduate of Harvard University, Mr. Kennedy studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. He is senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeepers, a clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law, and president of the Water Keeper Alliance. He has prosecuted government entities and private companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, expanded citizen access to the shoreline, and sued sewage treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act. Mr. Kennedy is credited with leading the fight to create New York City’s watershed agreement, which is internationally regarded as a model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development.

Jones & Jones

The new ASLA Firm Award recognizes landscape architecture firms that have produced bodies of distinguished work influencing the professional practice of landscape architecture for a sustained period of at least ten years. The first recipient will be Jones & Jones of Seattle, WA. Firm principals Grant Jones, FASLA, and Ilze Jones, FASLA, met in the late fifties as classmates in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington and founded their own firm in 1969 to practice landscape architecture, environmental planning, architecture, and urban design as a fully integrated collaborative. Signature projects include: the Nooksack River Plan; the Pioneer Square Historic District; the Woodland Park Zoo; the Portland International Airport Parkway; the San Diego Zoo; the Singapore Botanic Gardens; the North Carolina Botanic Gardens; the Jerusalem Zoo; Disney’s Wild Kingdom in Orlando; Paris Pike Historic Highway in Kentucky; DMZ Biosphere Peace Corridor in Korea; Tepotzotlan: Mexico City Green Lung Plan; the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; and Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail from Montana to Oregon. Jones & Jones has received more than 100 awards for its work from a broad spectrum of organizations, including the ASLA, the Landscape Architecture Foundation, the American Planning Association, the American Institute of Architects, the Waterfront Center, the International Downtown Association, the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Federal Highway Administration. Project photos available, contact Jeff Lofton.

Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 13,500 members nationwide. Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land analysis, planning, design, management, preservation, and rehabilitation. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication, and fellowship.

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