The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is
pleased to announce the launch of The Landscape Architect’s Guide to
Washington, D.C. This online, mobile-friendly guide will help visitors and
locals discover more than 75 historic, modern and contemporary landscapes in
Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Va. Expert commentary and more than 800 photos
are provided by 20 landscape architects. It is located at www.asla.org/guide.
According to Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, executive vice
president and CEO of ASLA, the guide is the first of its kind devoted to
Washington, D.C. It highlights historic monuments and parks—including the National
Mall and Memorial Parks and Capitol Hill—and examples of new sustainable works—including
Constitution Square, a cutting-edge green street that is one block long, and Diamond
Teague Waterfront Park, which incorporates man-made, water-cleansing wetlands
on the Anacostia River.
“The guide will provide the 19 million tourists who visit
D.C. annually, along with locals, a fresh perspective on both iconic and
brand-new landscapes within the nation’s capital,” says Somerville. “D.C.’s
vibrant public realm didn’t just magically appear but was carefully designed
over the years, and is continually evolving, through interactions among elected
leaders, communities and landscape architects.”
The guide is divided into 16 distinct tours in all four
quadrants of the District—as well as a tour of the new D.C. bicycle network. Each
tour covers multiple neighborhoods, and includes a printable walking or biking
map.
The guide was created by ASLA in partnership with 20 nationally
recognized landscape architects, all of whom are designers of the public realm
and leaders in sustainable design. The guides were asked to explain the sites
from a landscape architect’s point of view and show how the design of these
sites influences how people interact with or even feel about these places.
The guides are:
- Claire Bedat, ASLA, Associate, RTKL Associates
Inc.
- Charles Birnbaum, FASLA, Founder and President,
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF).
- Hallie Boyce, ASLA, Partner, OLIN
- Dennis Carmichael, FASLA, Principal, Parker
Rodriguez, and Past President of the American Society of Landscape Architects
(2006)
- Beth Carton, ASLA, Park Planner for the City of
Alexandria's Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities
- Jonathan Fitch, ASLA, Principal, Landscape
Architecture Bureau
- Skip Graffam, ASLA, Partner and Director of
Research, OLIN
- Liz Guthrie, ASLA, Manager of Professional
Practice Programs and Staff Liaison to the Sustainable Sites Initiative™, ASLA
- Joan Honeyman, ASLA, Owner, Jordan Honeyman
Landscape Architecture LLC
- Glenn LaRue Smith, ASLA, Principal, Smith +
Murray studios, Inc.
- Adrienne McCray, ASLA, Senior Associate, Lee and
Associates
- Ron Kagawa, ASLA, Division Chief of Park
Planning and Capital Development with the City of Alexandria’s Department of
Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities
- Dena Kennett, ASLA, Manager of Professional
Practice Programs, ASLA
- Elizabeth Miller, ASLA, Acting Director, Physical
Planning Division, National Capital Planning Commission
- Radhika Mohan, ASLA, Senior Program Manager, Mayors’
Institute on City Design/National Endowment of the Arts
- Jane Padelford, ASLA, Dumbarton Oaks Research
Institute, Harvard University
- Amanda Shull, Project Assistant, The Cultural
Landscape Foundation.
- Susan Spain, ASLA, Project Executive, National
Park Service
- Jennifer L. Toole, ASLA, President of Toole
Design Group
- Michael Vergason, FASLA, Founder, Michael
Vergason Landscape Architects
Media wishing to interview the guides or learn more about
the website should contact Karen Trimbath, public relations manager, at ktrimbath@asla.org or (202) 216-2371.
List of Sites
Featured in the Guide
Pennsylvania Avenue John Marshall Park Pennsylvania Avenue Freedom Plaza Pershing Square Park
Rock Creek Park Rock Creek Park
Bike D.C. Tour D.C.’s Bicycle Network
The White House The White House & President’s Park Lafayette Park 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue The Ellipse
The National Mall The Mall National Museum of the American Indian National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Enid Haupt Garden Washington Monument National War II Memorial Constitution Gardens Vietnam Veterans Memorial Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool Korean War Memorial DC War Memorial Martin Luther King Memorial Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Thomas Jefferson Memorial George Mason Memorial Tidal Basin (West Potomac Park)
Capitol Hill National Japanese American Memorial Upper and Lower Senate Garden Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carrillon West Grounds of the Capitol / Summer House Union Square The U.S. Botanic Garden / Bartholdi Park U.S. Capitol Visitors Center Eastern Market Congressional Cemetery
Chinatown / NoMA Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery ASLA Green Roof Constitution Square |
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Dupont Circle / Embassy Row
Dupont Circle Spanish Steps Embassy Row National Cathedral
Columbia Heights / Shaw / Adams Morgan Meridian Hill (Malcolm X) Park Union Row African American Civil War Memorial Howard University Quadrangle
Brookland Franciscan Monastery The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception McMillan Sand Filtration Site
Woodley Park / Upper Northwest D.C. Smithsonian National Zoo Park Hillwood Estate
L’Enfant HUD Plaza Benjamin Banneker Park Southwest Duckpond
Navy Yard Half Street Fairground The Yards Park Diamond Teague Waterfront Park
Anacostia / Deanwood / Mahaning Heights Frederick Douglass Historic Site Fort Mahan Park Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens
Georgetown Georgetown Waterfront Park Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Cady’s Alley The Exorcist Steps Georgetown University Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks Park Oakhill Cemetery
Arlington / Pentagon / Rosslyn Arlington Memorial Bridge Women in Military Service for America Memorial Pentagon Memorial Arlington Cemetery The Air Force Memorial U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial
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About ASLA
Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional
association for landscape architects, representing nearly 16,000 members in 48
professional chapters and 76 student chapters. The Society's mission is to
lead, to educate and to participate in the careful stewardship, wise planning
and artful design of our cultural and natural environments. Members of the
Society use their “ASLA” suffix after their names to denote membership and
their commitment to the highest ethical standards of the profession. Learn more
about landscape architecture online at www.asla.org.