Hosted by ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) and other ASLA departments as important issues emerge. These presentations provide landscape architects with information on current trends and products. Tune in live to ask experts questions, while earning LA CES approved PDH.
SPOTLIGHT mini-series: Transitional Landscapes & Tactical Mycelium - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Transitional Landscapes: Temporary Places with Permanent Impacts
‘Transitional landscape’ often refers to a median space between two main spaces, but what if we evaluated the concept of ‘transitional’ differently? What if transitional landscape referred to a timeline? Whether it is due to social, economic, or natural issues, many individuals often find themselves in transitional living situations - voluntarily or otherwise - such as camps, shelters, prisons, and temporary housing, to name a few. Most individuals who seek these temporary and transitional living circumstances have experienced trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder; however, the landscape and shared spaces of these places are far from serene, beautiful, and considerate of the physical and psychological needs of these individuals. The question that this research seeks to answer is how can landscape help improve the lives of those already suffering from trauma and unfortunate circumstances, through specific research on needs of individuals suffering PTSD, and designing a landscape in response to those needs in a local context.
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Tactical Mycelium: An Exploration of Wastewater Treatment Byproducts as Ephemeral Building Material
There is a growing movement of designers rethinking supposed waste products in urban industries. Within the current urban wastewater treatment process, one specific byproduct presents a unique opportunity for research into sustainable reuse: mycelium. These fine fibers of fungi serve as vast communication networks between plants and emerge on the soil’s surface as mushrooms. While ecologists and scientists research mycelium’s medicinal potential, designers are investigating its capacity as a new building material in a post-carbon future.
Tactical Mycelium explores this capacity in a 6-month Perkins+Will research grant framed by the pop-up approach and ephemeral nature of tactical urbanism initiatives, investigating the growth and optimized building potential of this fungus. The installation itself tests a singular catenary arch as the most effective way to grow the material into a self-supporting structure, use as little formwork as possible, and provide shelter and space for human occupation. Ultimately, the research aims to augment the tactical urbanist’s material palette and support future projects that reimagine our relationship with mycelium.
Learning objectives:
Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.
Speaker(s):
Creating Pollinator Habitat Along Roadsides - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Pollinators are essential to our health and to the health of ecosystems. However, pollinators are in trouble. With more than 17 million acres of land in roadsides in the United States alone, transportation rights-of-way are a significant, yet often overlooked, resource for pollinator conservation. Many of these roadway environments offer excellent opportunities to increase pollinator habitats. Landscape architects with transportation agencies across the country can take steps to improve the quality of roadside vegetation to benefit pollinators, steps that can also maintain public safety and improve public good will. Presenters will discuss roadsides, roadside design, and roadside vegetation management and how these affect the establishment and sustainability of pollinator habitats. An overview of best management practices will be provided, as well as a summary of resources for practitioners. Presenters will provide perspectives covering the eastern forest, arid southwest, and central prairies.
Learning Objectives:
Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.
Speaker(s):
Equity by Design: Connecting with Underserved Communities in Your Design Process - 1.5 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
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Credits: None available.
Contemporary planning may often require landscape architects to engage diverse and underrepresented communities during the design process to build consensus and positive change. Communities that are under-resourced or politically marginalized have long struggled to have a seat at the table for planning and development projects in their neighborhood. Design teams may face challenges in building trust and creating productive working relationships across real and perceived divides between community residents, local government, and community partners. This session will offer designers a menu of tools to develop trust between non-traditional partners, deepen historical and cultural understanding, and elevate community voices resulting in a richer, more robust and meaningful design outcome.
Learning Objectives:
Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.
Speaker(s):
Children's Heat and Radiation Exposures in Playgrounds and the Role of Bioclimatic Design - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Overexposure to ambient variables such as ultraviolet radiation and extreme heat are major risk factors to children’s health. Many playgrounds are designed in a way that result in higher air and surface temperatures than the surrounding neighborhood, which is due to the predominant use of heat retaining materials and lack of shade. Few guidelines exist to promote the naturalization of playgrounds and the use of shade, which can result in multiple benefits for children apart from lowering heat and radiant exposures. This research addresses child exposures to extreme heat and UV radiation in outdoor playgrounds in Phoenix, AZ and Lubbock, TX and the influence of bioclimatic landscape design. Multiple types of data (in-situ, personal, survey) are presented related to microclimatic and human activity factors that affect child exposures and perceptions. New sensing technologies offer opportunities to understand exposures and monitor children’s exposures while allowing for safe and active play.
Learning Objectives:
Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.
Speaker(s):
Park Rx America: Doctors Prescribing Parks to Prevent and Treat Chronic Disease - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Park Rx America (PRA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to decrease the burden of chronic disease, increase health and happiness, and foster environmental stewardship, by virtue of prescribing Nature during the routine delivery of healthcare. PRA works closely with managers of publicly-accessible land and water, as well as directly with healthcare providers and their respective organizations, to "make it easy" to prescribe parks and other protected areas to their patients real-time in the clinical practice setting.
Learning Objectives:
Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.
Speaker(s):
San Diego’s First Public Nature Play Area: How Park and Recreation Made it Happen! - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Children today face two challenges relating to open space and the outdoors: not only are open spaces shrinking, making nature less accessible, but children have lost the freedom to experience nature. Between safety concerns and the increased need to protect natural areas, children are often prohibited from unstructured play in nature.
In efforts to remove these barriers and provide more opportunities for children to access nature, many cities have sought to incorporate nature play areas into parks. Often public agencies and landscape architects are constrained by tight budgets and concerns of liability. Using San Diego’s first public nature exploration area as an example, this presentation will outline how to safely and economically develop innovative nature play sites within public parks. The City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department will share methods used, obstacles faced, and lessons learned in implementing the Morley Field Nature Exploration Area.
Learning Objectives:
Please complete a brief evaluation of this Online Learning presentation.
Speaker(s):