KINGSTON, R.I.– September 20, 2018 — For the first time, the University of Rhode Island will host an all-female Landscape Architecture speaker series. Lisa Delplace, chief executive officer of Oehme, van Sweden, in Washington, D.C., kicks off the series today, Sept. 20 with her lecture titled, “Pushing the Palette Forward: Innovation in a Dynamic World.”
The talks will all begin at 7 p.m. in Room 105 of the Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, 140 Flagg Road, on the Kingston campus. The talks are free and open to the public.
William Green, professor of landscape architecture is the lecture series organizer.
This year, there’s a focus on climate change and sustainable design. Landscape architecture is an interdisciplinary field. All of the projects that these speakers have completed employ designers, engineers and scientists as a part of their process.
“Oehme, van Sweden’s’ work continues to revolutionize sustainable and ecological practices while producing contextually-appropriate, high-performance compositions that connect people to the land,” Delplace said in a statement.
Her talk will illustrate the evolution of the firm’s design aesthetic using a series of built case studies. The case studies will illustrate how she fuses art, science, and humanity to develop innovative, site-specific designs distinguished by a balance of horticultural complexity and architectural craftsmanship.
Much of the field has to do with planning for the future, especially when it comes to accommodating for shifting environments due to climate change.
While their methods and means may differ, all lecturers have one thing in common: all of the women are in leadership positions. Some of the lecturers are authors, principals of their firms, CEOs, professors and founders of landscape architecture firms.
The other talks are:
Martha Schwartz, principal, Martha Schwartz Partners of Brooklyn, New York, October 11, “My Existential Crisis and Other Random Acts.”
Laura Solano, principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Assoc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nov. 1, “Finding Opportunities to Link Landscape Performance and Place.”
Emily McCoy, principal, Andropogon, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nov. 29, “Integrative Research and Design in Practice–Verifying Landscape Performance in an Era of Assumptions.”
Kaila Bachman, URI class of 2010, principal CBA, Boston, Massachusetts, and Kristin Kaczmarek, class of 2005, QDA, Rhode Island, Feb. 28, 2019, “Stories from the Sandbox: Communication, Collaboration and Management in Work and Play.”
Gina Ford, Agency Landscape and Planning, of Boston, Massachusetts, March 21, “At the Water’s Edge: Case Studies in Riverfront and Coastal Restoration.”
Pippa Brashear, director of Planning and Resilience, Scape, New York, New York, April 11, “Resilient Landscapes: Rethinking Urban Open Space in an Era of Rapid Climate Change.”
Anne Spirin, professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 25, topic to be announced.
Green encourages all students and the public to attend.
“When people originally think of landscape architecture, they think of trees and shrubs,” Green said. “But these people are building cities.”
Lisa Delplace, CEO Oehme van Sweden & Associates, Landscape Architects: A graduate of the University of Michigan, Lisa Delplace received her Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture in 1988. OvS is an award-winning landscape architecture firm based in Washington, District of Columbia. The firm specializes in sustainability, where art, science and environmental sensitivity drive design.
Martha Schwartz, founder of Martha Schwartz Partners: Martha Schwartz is a landscape architect and artist with major interests in cities, communities and the urban landscape. In addition to her 35 years practicing in the field, she is a tenured professor at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her firm focuses on the design of urban landscapes and the public realm as the foundation for sustainable cities.
Laura Solano, Principal of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: In addition to being the Principal of the Cambridge office of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Laura Solano is an associate professor at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her areas of expertise include the integration of stormwater management, complexities of on-structure landscapes, use of sustainable soil, innovative approaches for landscape materials, and techniques for organic maintenance.
Gina Ford, PLA FASLA Principal and Co-Founder: Gina Ford is a landscape architect, co-founder and principal of Agency Landscape + Planning. Underpinning her two decades of practice are a commitment to the design and planning of public places and the perpetuation of the value of landscape architecture via thought leadership, teaching, writing and lecturing. She is an award-winning landscape architect, and is also on the board of directors for the Cultural Landscape Foundation.
Anne Whiston Spirn, Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning at MIT: Anne Whiston Spirn is an author, photographer, professor and landscape architect currently teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After working at private firms, she went on to teach at Harvard University, Penn State and MIT. She studies the processes of development, settlement, migration and disinvestment in her work.