KINGSTON, R.I. – March 12, 2012 – Calvin Abe, principle of AHBE Landscape Architects in Culver City, Cal., is the next speaker in the University of Rhode Island’s Landscape Architecture Lecture Series. He will discuss “Mutualism: Sex Between City and Nature” on Thursday, March 22.

His presentation will be followed on April 12 with a talk by Thomas Balsley, principal of Thomas Balsley Associates in New York City, entitled “Uncommon Ground: The Process, Design and Tactics of Urban Placemaking.”

Both lectures take place at 7 p.m. in Weaver Auditorium in the Coastal Institute building on URI’s Kingston campus. The events are free and open to the public.

Abe has more than 20 years of professional experience in a wide range of landscape architectural and urban design projects. He is noted for his ability to transform conceptual design ideas into creative and artful built forms. His firm has been honored with design awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Institute of Architects, among others. Abe earned degrees from Harvard University and California State Polytechnic University, and he teaches landscape design at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Balsley has designed more than 100 public parks and plazas in New York City, and numerous others around the world. Among his most notable projects are: Leeum Museum in Seoul, Gate City Park in Tokyo, Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles and Gantry Park, Riverside Park South and Chelsea Waterside Park in New York City. He recently won international design competitions for the Magok Waterfront and the National Ecological Center in Korea and Kasumi Plaza in Tokyo. He is a graduate of Syracuse University and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and he has lectured at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, the National Building Museum and Seoul National University, among others.

The URI Landscape Architecture series is co-sponsored by the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association. For more information about the series, contact the URI Department of Landscape Architecture at 874-2983 or Professor Will Green at wagre@uri.edu.