Come visit, schmooze and bowl away the winter blues.

Go to ASLA’s advocacy page to Take Action Now.

In 2012, the American Society of Landscape Architects-Minnesota Chapter will focus on protecting, enhancing, and celebrating our regional waters. Our theme is Making waves. Changing course. How landscape architecture is changing the way we understand water.

Changes in climate and increased human pressures are difficult to predict. What is certain is that our complex connection with water will continue as will our constant effort to understand and improve that relationship. The waterways we take for granted here in the Midwest create environmental, social and economic ripples that can be felt across the country and around the world. Similarly, 21st century solutions and innovations have the power to alter the course of industries, fields of research, and the way we live.

Water is one of the most powerful and important elements of our landscape.  ASLA-MN looks forward to showcasing the work it inspires and the legacy landscape architects will leave.

Capstone graphic. Rachel Baudler (MLA)

On November 16, the University of Minnesota’s Department of Landscape Architecture will host an open house for prospective students in the Masters of Landscape Architecture program.

Events begin a 12:15, with a presentation by alums Tyler Grissman and Tom Kerby from the design and installation firm Phillips Garden. At 2pm visit our graduate design studios, listen-in on some formal and informal design reviews, and talk with students and faculty about the current studio work. At 4pm, Rachel Baudler (MLA) and Satoko Muratake (MLA) will present designs for the plaza in front of the Weisman Museum. At 5pm Director of Graduate Studies, Kristine Miller will give a brief program overview and answer questions about our curriculum and application process.

A PDF with more detailed information about the open house can be downloaded at http://landarch.design.umn.edu/PDF/OpenHouse_2011.pdf. For more information about our graduate programs, please go to see our department website at http://landarch.design.umn.edu/at 612 625 6860 or sgrothe@umn.edu.

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Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Commissioners approved a resolution to extend its extensive community engagement process for the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative to include a formal 45-day public comment period. Park Board Planning Services staff proposed the resolution following the presentation and acceptance of the MR|DI team’s draft RiverFIRST: A Park Design Proposal and Implementation Framework for the Minneapolis Upper Riverfront report on September 21st.

There are a few ways to comment.  You can read the proposal and/or the executive summary on this page, where you can also submit your comments. You can also view a reference copy of the proposal and submit comments at any Minneapolis Parks recreation center or Park Board headquarters, 2117 West River Road.

Speakers from the federal Sustainable Communities Partnership and state agencies will highlight emerging policy directions in sustainability. Researchers from the University of Oregon, University of Colorado, Virginia Tech, and the University of Minnesota will highlight cutting edge research addressing urban infrastructure, energy, air quality, health, and natural resource issues. U of MN research center directors, including CURA and CTS, will explore new approaches to connecting research and practice around sustainability.

TCUS_FLYER

The Minnesota Women in Landscape Architecture group will be hosting an event focusing on the great multitask.  The event is entitled: Lessons Learned: Seeking Life/Work Balance
and will be held at RSP Architects on Thursday, October 27.
6:30 p.m. Meet and Greet + Light Refreshments | 7:00 p.m. Program

This special program features a panel discussion driven by questions received from members of the WILA-MN community.  Those who have questions for the panel are invited to submit them prior to the event. Please send them to Chris Behringer at cabehringer@gmail.com.

Registration is open, so please mark your calendars and plan to attend!  Check asla-mn.org for the official posting/registration link.

ASLA-MN member, John Uban, is chairman of the City of Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission discussed the importance of the urban tree canopy with in the Sunday September 24th edition of the Star Tribune.

Image from Star Tribune, 9.24.2011

Tanner Springs Park/ Portland, OR

The second annual UMore Park Sustainable Communities Interdisciplinary Lecture  features internationally renowned sculptor, artist and landscape architect Herbert Dreiseitl, founder of Atelier Dreiseitl in Ueberlingen, Germany.

He has an intimate relationship with water, stone, and place making.  Check out his work and spread the word!

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Great article in the latest Landscape Architecture Magazine.  The three national memorials that pay tribute to the people lost at the three crash sites on September 11th are emerging as significant destinations of communal mourning and perseverance.

However, LAM also highlights the formal and informal tributes throughout the country that fittingly memorialize unique community reverence and loss.

There’s a small excerpt of the article online. For the entire coverage, get your hands on the September issue.