On April 26th, the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) hosted a live webinar consisting of a panel discussion entitled "Many Ways to Practice: Guiding Growth and Change on University Campuses". The participants were three people that work at different Universities on Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture. Each member introduced themselves followed by a short discussion on the impact the Landscape has at

Krista Van Hove, Stanford Campus Planner, talked about how much of her work revolves around discussing sustainability and that, being in California, it is important that she knows about the local climate and native plantings.

Byron Sampson, Arizona State University Architect/Associate Director, shared how working with a small team dedicated to the land planning and design of a 1,300-acre campus requires cooperation with consultants.

 

Melissa Bagga, Indiana University Landscape Architect Project Manager, discussed the projects the team at Indiana University had recently worked on, including installing a sculpture designed by a professor and an outdoor deck at the chemistry building.

After each participant's introduction, the panel discussion began with the question: What was the path to your current position? Each speaker had a relatively similar job path from school to private practice to university landscape architecture work.

When asked what advice they would give to up-and-coming Landscape Architects that want to work for universities, they promoted the idea that all of the experience you accumulate in your life will be useful when working will be useful as they are in each of their jobs.

After discussing the importance of Landscape Architecture on a university campus, which the participants agreed was vast due to the impactful nature of surroundings on students, the final question was asked: What are the biggest challenges in your profession?

The three participants each gave their input but agreed on a few key challenges they deal with in their work at University campuses. These were working to get a large volume of work done with a relatively small group of people, educating the University community about the value of Landscape Architecture, and thinking about the future impact the design decisions they are making will have.

If you want to watch the webinar, please click here: https://www.lafoundation.org/resources/category/recorded-webinars