The Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture’s 27th annual LA Days event will be held virtually this year. A staple of the College of Agricultural Science’s landscape architecture program, the annual student-organized program has adapted to a virtual landscape and broadened the event to span the entire spring semester. Originally a week-long event, the 2021 LA Days will now be held as a series of eight talks, held during spring semester. From Jan. 27 to April 7, join industry professionals from around the United States to learn about the complex world of landscape architecture.“I am very excited for LA Days this year!” said Annie Irwin, undergraduate student in the landscape architecture program. “I think it’s a great opportunity for students to see examples of the scope of this profession and where it can take them. It is always an inspiring series and I think even in the online format it will be very worthwhile.” LA Days is organized by CSU’s Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (SCASLA), and made possible through generous support from the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU), the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Colorado Chapter, and the CSU College of Agricultural Sciences Ag Council. “Given the year of the COVID pandemic, CSU SCASLA has taken the opportunity to bring a virtual 2021 LA Days spring lecture series to our students and a larger audience,” said Kelly Curl, professor of Landscape Architecture in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. “We are thankful and very excited for our lineup with renowned professionals.” Members of the CSU community are invited to attend the program to learn more about landscape architecture. More information can be found at scasla.agsci.colostate.edu. Kona is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and currently serves as ASLA representative to the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board. He also served as ASLA Vice President – Professional Practice and is a Past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation. Kona is a member of the ULI Southeast Florida and Caribbean District Council and NSU Huizenga School of Business Real Estate Advisory Board. He is a registered Landscape Architect in Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Commonwealth of Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia. Currently Sierra directs the ongoing design and implementation of MASS’s planning and architectural projects and is currently overseeing The Kayanja Center, an academic facility supporting rural health care delivery and research in Uganda, a number of African Conservation Schools in DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, and Rwanda, and the Butaro Hospital Expansion Plan, among others. Those completed include Butaro Hospital, the Umubano Primary School, the Butaro Doctors’ Housing, and the Butaro Ambulatory Cancer Center. Laurie is a distinguished teacher, author, and one of the most renowned landscape architects practicing today. From vision to realization, he has guided many of OLIN’s signature projects, including the Washington Monument Grounds in Washington, DC to Bryant Park in New York City and the Getty Center in Los Angeles. His recent projects include the award-winning Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Apple Park in Cupertino. Laurie studied civil engineering at the University of Alaska and architecture at the University of Washington. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and former chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University. Laurie is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and recipient of the 2012 National Medal of Arts, the Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum. Andrea Cochran, FASLA is founder and principal of San Francisco-based Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture and has been practicing landscape architecture in the Bay Area for over thirty years. Known for seamlessly interweaving sustainable landscapes, art, and architecture, her designs highlight the experiential qualities of the built environment. Her firm has garnered numerous design awards, most notably the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Landscape Architecture. In 2014 Andrea was honored with the ASLA Design Medal, the second woman to receive this award. A monograph of her firm’s work was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2009. April Philips is a landscape architect, thought leader, artist and author. Founder of April Philips Design Works, her firm focuses on the fusion of nature, art, and technology in urban environments. April is a national leader in both research and practice associated with urban agriculture, sustainable sites and an integrated design approach. She is the author of Designing Urban Agriculture and contributed to ASLA’s Sustainable Landscapes animation series The Edible City. A passionate advocate on climate resiliency, April is a member of Al Gore’s Climate Reality Corps and a certified Climate Reality Leader. She frequently speaks on the link between sustainable development change, climate change, and building resilient communities. Landscape Architect Thomas Woltz has forged a body of work that integrates the beauty and function of built forms with an understanding of complex ecological, cultural, and engineered systems. As owner and principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) Woltz has infused narratives of the land into the places where people live, work, and play, deepening connections between people and the natural world and inspiring environmental stewardship. From public parks to models of biodiversity and sustainable agriculture within blighted infrastructure and depleted landscapes, NBW’s work is recognized for revealing powerful cultural stories while pioneering innovative ecological solutions in the face of climate extremes. Blaine leads the US west coast practice at Gehl, an urban design and strategy consultancy based in Copenhagen, New York and San Francisco. As partner and managing director, he oversees a hybrid practice using behavioral science to inform design. He’s committed to championing public spaces as sustainable technology for economic opportunity, health and social belonging in a diverse society. He cofounded the art and design collective Rebar, Park(ing) Day, and has worked with clients ranging from community groups to tech giants. He earned his master’s in landscape architecture from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in history from Reed College. Trained as an architect, Chris Grubbs is a renowned illustrator. His love of drawing the world around him and worlds yet to be imagined has led him to unsuspected and significant places. Chris was not just the illustrator but a part of the design team for many projects over the last thirty years. He received the 2005 Hugh Ferris Memorial Prize, the American Society of Architectural Illustrators’ highest honor. In 2006, he told the environmental story of post-Katrina New Orleans through a major series of plein-air charcoal studies. Those studies are now part of his archive of over three thousand drawings at the Library of Congress.2021 LA Days Lecturers
Kona A. Gray, FASLA, PLA – January 27th, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
Sierra Bainbridge, RLA – February 3rd, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
Laurie Olin, FASLA – February 11th, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
Andrea Cochran, FASLA – February 22nd, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
April Philips – March 3rd, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
Thomas Woltz, FASLA, CLARB – March 10th, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
Blaine Merker – March 24th, 2021 at 5 pm MST.
Chris Grubbs – April 7th, 2021 at 5 pm MST.