Most Read DIRT Posts of 2023

By Jared Green

Before looking ahead to what’s happening in landscape architecture in 2024, we also look back to learn what was of greatest interest to readers over the past year.

Readers wanted to know how landscape architects are taking action to reduce the climate impacts of their projects and advance new low-carbon design strategies. Popular posts sought to answer the questions: How can we decarbonize landscapes? And how can we make them more resilient to climate shocks at the same time?

2023 also showed that equitable, inclusive design remains top of mind. Readers were interested in how to expand the health benefits of parks to all communities and reduce the risks of gentrification from ambitious parks projects. They wanted to know how mission-driven landscape architects are putting communities first and leading with an activist approach.

And landscape architects achieving STEM designation was the top story of the year. After a decade-long advocacy campaign led by ASLA and landscape architecture educators, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognized that STEM is integral to landscape architecture programs.

ASLA members: Have an op-ed you would like to write? Tell us about your ideas at [email protected].

Dept. of Homeland Security Designates Landscape Architecture a STEM Discipline

“The STEM designation finally reflects the reality of the discipline of landscape architecture. Our work is fully dependent on science and technology, from understanding soils at the level of microbial interactions and nutrient exchanges, which keep our urban canopy alive, to coastal adaptations informed by continuously evolving climate data,” said Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA, the Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Urban Parks Should Be a Greater Part of the Healthcare System

Each year, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) issues its ParkScore, which ranks the park systems of the 100 most populous cities in the U.S. This year, the organization also explored the positive health outcomes of top-scoring cities, looking at more than 800 innovative programs and practices that integrate park and healthcare systems.

New Strategies for Preventing Green Gentrification

“How do we ensure new parks don’t cause ‘green gentrification,’ which can lead to the exclusion and displacement of underserved communities? How can we ensure we don’t displace the communities that new parks are meant to serve?,” asked Dede Petri, CEO of the Olmsted Network (formerly the National Association of Olmsted Parks), during an Olmsted 200 event.

Carbon-First Design: The Ellinikon Metropolitan Park in Athens

A 600-acre park in development in Athens, Greece shows the value of prioritizing carbon. The Ellinikon Metropolitan Park is being designed by landscape architects at Sasaki to significantly increase carbon sequestration, avoid emissions, and reuse embodied carbon on a massive scale. Leveraging Sasaki’s Carbon Conscience App, Climate Positive Design’s Pathfinder tool, and Atelier Ten‘s carbon analysis, the project will cut emissions by 45 percent in comparison with a business-as-usual scenario. By designing for the climate first, the project is expected to become carbon neutral in 35 years.

Interview with Sara Zewde: “I Find a Lot of Creative Inspiration from People and Place”

"There are so many cultures underrepresented in design pedagogy and practice. Part of the insistence on my part about not having a design signature so to speak is that our office really tap into the particular place, people, ecology, and cultural context. It helps us challenge some of the quiet constraints we’ve inherited about space and design."

Climate Change Is Driving Canada’s Worst-Ever Wildfire Season

Climate change is causing abnormal weather patterns, increased temperatures, and droughts, leading to drier forests. When combined with growing forest fuels — which include combustible pine needles, twigs, shrubs, and dead trees — wildfire risks significantly increase.

Landscape Architects as Activists

A growing number of landscape architects are running mission-driven practices meant to advance social, equity, and political goals through planning and design work. For landscape architects who take this approach, the questions often are: “How do we decide to take a position? What does that look like?,” said Gina Ford, FASLA, founder of Agency Landscape + Planning, at the Oberlander Prize Forum II on Landscape Activism, organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) in Dallas, Texas.

Ken Smith Goes Hardcore in Gowanus

Along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, a 118-year-old power station has become Powerhouse Arts, a contemporary arts and fabrication space. To protect its waterfront from storm surges and sea level rise, landscape architecture firm Ken Smith Workshop layered in steel and concrete defenses. But they also wove in a nature-based solution to capture stormwater. “It’s both a defensive measure and a living shoreline that will make the site adaptable,” said Ken Smith, FASLA. “It’s how we could use a tight space with a steep slope to do a lot.”

Interview with Chris Hardy: How to Decarbonize Design

"The purpose of Carbon Conscience is to make it easier to have an intuitive understanding of the climate impacts of design proposals. It’s designed for early-phase design work. It’s for landscape architects, architects, urban planners, and urban designers. It’s even for community advocates who may want to get a better grasp of the carbon potential of what’s being proposed."

With Climate-Smart Design, Less Is More

“We try to be light on the land. We try to do minimal engineering, with minimal impact. We try to design less. This is part of the decarbonization process. This is part of climate action for the profession of landscape architecture,” explained Jenny Jones, ASLA, with landscape architecture firm Terremoto.