Landscape Architect Articles

2015 ASLA Medal Goes to Landscape Architect Pioneer M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA06-17-15 | News

2015 ASLA Medal Goes to Landscape Architect Pioneer M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA

M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA, AIPP, Professor Emeritus, will receive the ASLA Medal at the President's Dinner on November 9 in Chicago, one of the evening events of the 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting. Note: For more on Paul Friedberg, you can listen to the oral history he did for The Cultural Landscape Foundation that is divided into biography, design and projects.

M. Paul Friedberg, a creative force in landscape architecture for more than 50 years (practitioner, author, educator and mentor) is this year's recipient, and certainly deserving so, of the ASLA Medal.

Jennifer Nitzky, ASLA, ISA, the ASLA New York chapter president, authored one of the nomination letters to ASLA in support of Friedberg receiving the ASLA Medal. She noted his "lifetime achievements and profound contributions to our profession." She added: "Paul is a true pioneer of landscape architecture and urban design who has dedicated his life to providing public places that not only break boundaries of traditional design, but more importantly increase the quality of life for those who use these spaces. His design response to how people interact with their built environment has greatly impacted landscape design and will continue to shape our profession for generations to come."

Friedberg was born in New York City in 1931, and earned a BS degree from Cornell University. He founded M. Paul Friedberg and Partners (MPFP) Landscape Architecture and Urban Design in New York City in 1958. He is also the founder and professor emeritus of the Urban Landscape Architecture program at City College of New York, for which he was director for 20 years.

Early in his career he created an interconnected adventure playground in New York City that included a tree house, a tunnel, mounds, slides, swings and paths to challenge children with a variety of play experiences. He followed that up with a book on play design, Play and Interplay, and in 1975 published Handcrafted Playgrounds: Designs You Can Build Yourself. Friedberg is still active at MPFP. The firm's work is predominantly as lead designer in open space, parks and plaza projects in the New York City metropolitan area. Over the last several years the firm has expanded its domestic work to include projects in San Francisco, Phoenix, D.C., and international work in Brazil, Israel, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong and Japan.

In the past decade MPFP has collaborated with architects such as Cesar Pelli, James Ingo Freed, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Arata Isozaki, I.M. Pei, Edward Barnes, Louis Davis and Samuel Brody. The firm has also collaborated with internationally recognized artists such as Scott Burton, Siah Armajani, Jackie Ferrara, Walter Dusenbery and Ann & Patrick Poirier.

Friedberg, an active ASLA member since 1965, became an ASLA Fellow in 1979. In 1980 he received the AIA Medal in recognition of his influence on the architectural profession, and in 2004 received the ASLA Design Medal for his body of exceptional design work.