Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Landscape architect and planner David Yocca, a principal with the Conservation Design Forum, will bring his passion for sustainable design to Texas A&M’s College of Architecture Feb. 20 as the keynote speaker at Aggie Workshop 2009, “Arising Forefronts: Are We Prepared?”
Workshop 2009, the 34th annual landscape architecture conference at Texas A&M, organized and hosted by the Aggie student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, takes place Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 19 - 21, at the Langford Architecture Center on the Texas A&M campus. Workshop aims to bridge the gap between students and professionals in landscape architecture and urban planning with speakers, design charettes and panel discussions.
“This year’s event,” said Kelli Ivy, chair of the ASLA Workshop committee, “is intended to explore what landscape architects have accomplished, are accomplishing and aspiring towards, and reveal innovative ideas and career paths.”
She said this year’s workshop theme, “Arising Forefronts: Are We Prepared?” responds to the continual change in the world’s natural and designed elements.
“Through well-planned, sensitive design and construction processes, we can accommodate the growing human population and still conserve and sustain the natural environments and integrity of the land,” she said.
Registration for students on or before Feb. 2 is $60, which includes breakfast and lunch Friday and Saturday, a mix and mingle Feb. 19 and all other workshop events; registration forms and additional registration information for professional firms, sponsors, and those wishing to share their professional experiences in landscape architecture are available on the Workshop website.
Yocca, the event’s keynote speaker, is with the Conservation Design Forum, a nationally recognized design firm that explores and creates integrated, water-based design strategies that aim to promote economic, social, and ecological sustainability.
Yocca will speak 11:15 a.m. Feb. 20 in Preston Geren Auditorium, located in Building B of the Langford Architecture Center.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture in 1985 from Michigan State University and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association, the Urban Land Institute and the Congress for New Urbanism.
“He has a remarkable ability,” said James Patchett, founder and president of the Conservation Design Forum, “to quickly assess the potential of a site, a neighborhood, or a community, and based on multiple factors including the development program and corresponding budget, identify solutions that creatively integrate economic, social, and ecological considerations.”
“Rather than rely on a set of rigidly applied principles imposed repeatedly regardless of scope, scale, and geographic context as is so often the norm,” added Patchett, “David has the ability and life experience to adapt the underlying principles to the physical and cultural qualities unique to each and every place.”
Featured speakers:
Several other speakers will be featured at Workshop 2009:
Brian Ott, is a principal at TBG partners, a landscape architecture firm based in Austin. Ott, who received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Texas A&M in 1991, works on a broad range of project types including healthcare facilities, mixed-use developments and public parks, incorporating sustainable design into each project.
Chris Lalich, a lecturer at the University of Texas’ landscape architecture program, will discuss his work designing a park system at the Robert Mueller airport site. Lalich’s work is part of an effort to convert the former airport, which closed in 1999, to a transit-oriented community including a town square, a mixed-use district, an employment center and a variety of residential uses.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Texas Tech University. His thesis focused on the inventory and preservation of open spaces in rapidly expanding suburban communities. He teaches a landscape technology workshop at UT focused on grading and landform design.
Eric Schultz, a landscape architect at TBG Partners, will discuss his work at Dell Children’s Medical Center. His design won awards from the Texas chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and Texas Construction magazine.
Heather Venhaus, sustainable sites project manager of the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower center, and Fred Hubnik of Architecture for Humanity will also be on hand to speak at Workshop 2009.
Design Charettes/ Workshops
Friday afternoon, Feb. 20 Workshop speakers will lead design charettes in the landscape architecture studios on the 3rd floor of the Langford A Building.
On Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. John Moon, an illustrator/designer at TBG Partners, will lead a graphics workshop in the Preston Geren Auditorium.
Following the workshop, recent graduates from Texas A&M’s landscape architecture programs will lead a 3:30 p.m. discussion on what it’s like in the professional world. Participants include: Jeff Boutte, MESA; Elizabeth Carroll, TBG Partners; Amanda Jaloway, Knudson; Trey Jones, Lone Star Land Design, and Wesley Salazar, Kuedela and Weinheimer.
After the former student presentation, veteran landscape architects Chris Crawford, Brent Luck and Merrie Talley Pope will lead a discussion on the profession. Crawford is with Austin-based RVI, a regional design firm making contributions in land use analysis, master-planned communities, design of outdoor spaces, parks and recreation design, and wayfinding graphics; Luck is vice president and public sector studio leader of Austin-based Land Design Partners, which opened a new office in San Antonio in 2008; and Talley-Pope is a landscape architect with Talley Pope & Associates.
