Leadership In A New Age

“First of all, I would like to emphasize the society’s growth. We’ve grown from 3300 members in 1977 to 9000 today. Now what we want to do is get the society into position for what I would characterize as the next era of growth. The profession is experiencing a new kind of growth along with a change in technology and we want to enhance our services for the professionals recognizing such growth. For instance, computer aided design, advanced construction and building techniques, and construction and building materials, are just some of the new technologies that are having a tremendous impact on the hows and whys of our profession. It’s leading us to greater advantages. Therefore, the society will be providing the kind of creative leadership that supports new ideas and technologies that will move the profession away from the status quo.”

Rising Above The Status Quo

“I think there’s a tendency for professionals of any kind to become comfortable with where they are. They often don’t recognize other kinds of potentials. For example, in some respects, we are witnessing a move away from a focus on the individual architect as an individual practitioner into the collaborator. As you look at the emergence of multi-disciplinary forms within our profession you can see that there’s a real potential to have much more impact. Landscape architects are working with other professionals in a collaborative framework so that we have a terrific opportunity in our marketplace.”

“Another potential lies in the fact that the U.S. is experiencing a ‘quality evolution’ right now. For instance, ten years ago, you and I would not have traveled 20 miles to buy a suit. But now, not only will we travel such a distance, we’re willing to pay more for the suit once we get it. This kind of change is great for the landscape architect because, of its very nature, landscape architecture demonstrates important contributions to the quality of life and the aesthetics of life. The yuppies today are much better able to appreciate landscape architecture than their contemporaries 15 years ago.”

Key Services

Technology– “In cooperation with the Landscape Architecture Foundation, we are going to make available an on-line data base to members. All they will need is a computer modem and they will be able to get on line to a variety of very useful resource data. It should be up this year.”

Educational Information– “We are in the process of developing a unified publishing program that includes both of our magazines, Landscape Architecture and Garden Design, our monthly newsletter, Land, as well as the addition of instructional videos for the landscape architect.”

Public Relations– “The society is in the process of developing a public relations program to heighten the public’s and the user’s awareness to the unique skill and impact of the landscape architect both from a design and economical viewpoint.”

“What has happened is that landscape architecture has become somewhat of an invisible art in that the public is unaware of any difference between it and architecture. So, we want to set out to raise the consciousness level.”

“The other side of the PR effort is the need to build the sources of data that show the economic impact of our profession. We want to prove the net returns on a project.”

What You Can Do– “So there are things that the society definitely can do, but the raw materials, so to speak, must be provided by the landscape architect. I think that the most important public relations is done by design professionals across the nation continuing to do their best on their projects.”

“Landscape architects should also get out there with other design professionals, participating in civic activities and conducting educational programs on the profession to civic groups. There’s a lot a landscape architect can do to acquaint his or her community with the profession.”

Licensing of Landscape Architects

“The licensing of landscape architecture is directly related to the extent of the impact of health, safety and welfare on which our communities are built. And I would say that those who argue against the licensing of landscape architecture are simply short sited. The licensing would show the necessary level of skills that the landscape architect, civil engineer or construction engineer has that make a direct impact on the confidence communities have in public welfare.”

“On a state level, such as in California where legislation has been introduced that would repeal licensing, we can provide state legislative leaders with arguments for landscape architects, but the state ultimately makes its own arguments. The CCLA, for instance, does a pretty good job there. I think with the new Reagan era and hands-off government, we’ll be seeing a lot of this kind of deregulation.”