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Fostering Balance | 24
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Fostering Balance
Many tasks can be done by either engineers or Landscape Architects working alone: site grading, siting of buildings and other features, stormwater management, design of water quality facilities, and sediment control. For example, the ponds at Hayfields Golf Course (above) act as reservoirs for irrigation storage and water quality. When members of both disciplines work together, the end product is usually more harmonious, more complementary to the land, and more cost effective for the client.

A seamless team of multidisciplinary professionals takes advantage of a project-specific approach, shared company resources (computer systems, marketing, and record keeping), cost efficiency, team building and greater project control. Firm strategic meetings highlight and refine the various perspectives that Landscape Architects, surveyors, planners, engineers, and environmental specialists bring to a project. At Oak Crest Village this approach resulted in a successful series of ponds that provide the dual function of stormwater management and recreational use.

Landscape Architects working in interdisciplinary firms usually have greater access to technology than those in single discipline practices. Larger firms with multiple disciplines enjoy economies of scale and can absorb higher overhead costs, making technology more affordable.

 
While just over 30 percent of Landscape Architects practice in Landscape Architecture firms, nearly as many practice in multidisciplinary firms. (See "Task Analysis,"page 42). The trend is growing as clients seek individual delivery sources for the complex variety of services required for development today. While this trend may not be celebrated by the profession, it is becoming increasingly attractive as a career move for entry-level practitioners as more multidisciplinary firms retain Landscape Architects in positions of firm ownership and key management.
 
According to Melanie Moser, ASLA, Vice President of Towson, Maryland-based DMW, Inc., in the real world of work, however, collaboration and a basic understanding of the other related professions is essential to a successful and fulfilling career. The range in Landscape Architecture is quite varied, providing choices and challenges to suit each individual's specific talents. Moser explains, "The successful, interdisciplinary firm fosters a balance between the multiple perspectives brought to each project and seeks to find creative ways to resolve differences."
 
DMW President Thomas Repsher, ASLA maintains that in order to be genuinely interdisciplinary, a firm must have sufficient numbers of professionals from each given discipline in order to create a balanced team. One or two Landscape Architects in a firm made up predominantly of engineers or architects will not allow effective collaboration, nor will it allow the client or the firm to benefit from the contribution the Landscape Architect brings to a project. The Landscape Architect's perspective must be equally weighted among the firm's other professionals-- including representation at the principal level of management. Repsher explains, "While design emphasis may be the hallmark of many Landscape Architect practices, interdisciplinary firms can have a significant impact on architectural and engineering decisions where previously no thought was given to site design. For instance, Landscape Architects are now involved in traditional engineering decisions related to watershed management."
 
The interdisciplinary "one-stop shop" has other practical benefits for the client as well. Rephser explains, "At DMW, for example, we have weekly strategic planning meetings to review current projects. We consider design concepts, project history, client needs, technical requirements, legal issues, recent progress on the project, graphic representation, and even design costs and fees--all from our various perspectives as Landscape Architects, planners, engineers, surveyors, and environmental specialists. The meetings keep us informed of work throughout the office, and they bring the firm's most experienced minds to every project."
 
Yet, according to Landscape Architect Sam Crozier, FASLA, "Collaboration among independent, single-discipline practices is an alternative to the interdisciplinary firm. Each new project requires different alliances, and these collaborations can produce cross fertilization among single-professional practices. Many successful firms exist today as only Landscape Architects, and many as sole proprietors or partnerships."
 
While the larger firm has advantages in terms of exposure to other disciplines, the single discipline practice can offer some important advantages: greater opportunities for mentoring in Landscape Architect fundamentals; more individual control over the design process; more direct client contact; and stronger focus on design and less on process. Crozier remarks, "Having a balance of power, direction, and contributions by each individual discipline in a firm, while ideal, is difficult to achieve. It requires skillful, sensitive management that recognizes the abilities and strengths of all of the various individual disciplines involved."
 
The challenge in a interdisciplinary group is to balance the issues and input from experts so as not to allow one individual to dominate the design process. According to Development Design Group Landscape Architect Mark Willard, ASLA, "Many of the best examples of good design clearly reflect the work of a well-balanced team of consultants who never lost sight of their client's vision and excelled at bringing it to live." Many older towns and
cities are successful urban places because the balance or compromise between architects, landscape architects, civil, traffic
and environmental engineers was commonplace. The preferred scale of a street does not always allow for optimal traffic flow. Street intersections that are comfortable for pedestrians often require alternatives to traditional storm drainage structures and challenge the traditional curb radii preferred by civil engineers. Certain commercial districts, in order to stay economically viable, may better serve their community with fewer street trees. Certain architectural styles seem out of place and lose value quickly when their context is ignored. When a well-balanced team of consultants and experts focus on a site specific project, very site-specific solutions-- often the best solutions-- come about. lasn
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