THIS WEEK: Oberlander Prize Forum V: RE: SEARCH at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA, October 28-30

LAST CHANCE: Join The Cultural Landscape Foundation and Longwood Gardens for a provocative symposium on October 29 examining how landscape architects are redefining the relationship between research and design, with a keynote address and reception on October 28 and engaging mobile workshops on October 30.
October 27, 2026
Cultural Landscapes Partnerships

What makes a great and memorable landscape? Leading experts, including 2025 Oberlander Prize laureate Mario Schjetnan, Walter J. Hood, and MIT’s Anne Whiston Spirn, will examine the vital role of research in landscape design in a thought-provoking symposium at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA.

Inspired by the depth of research that informs the design work of Schjetnan and his firm, Grupo de Diseño Urbano (GDU), panelists will explore prime examples of research-driven landscape designs that reveal, honor, and integrate cultural systems and lifeways into landscapes in the face of inevitable change, including the recent transformation of Roberto Burle Marx’s Cascade Garden at Longwood Gardens by landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand and architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi.

Order of Events:


OCTOBER 28
OPENING RECEPTION & KEYNOTE
An energetic and inspiring keynote address by Mario Schjetnan.

OCTOBER 29
CONFERENCE
More than a dozen top practitioners and rising stars from the U.S. and Canada will reveal how probing research leads to great design. Included are landscape heavyweights Marc Hallé, CCxA Co-President and Partner, University of Virginia Professor, Elizabeth K. Meyer, Reed Hilderbrand Principal, Eric Kramer, and many more.

OCTOBER 30
MOBILE WORKSHOPS
Explore several sites that reveal how broad, multi-system-based research is informing present-day design and stewardship decisions. Included sites are the garden at Winterthur, the former estate of the Henry Francis du Pont family from 1839 to 1969; the historic Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA; and Mt. Cuba Center, a 1,000-acre botanical garden in the eastern Piedmont region of Delaware.

Don’t miss out—secure your spot.

Register Now

LA CES credits will be available for all conference events.

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