"You can be an unprofessional Professional Landscape Architect, but you can't be a non-practicing Practicing Landscape Architect."

An online archive says that LASN's founding mission was "to entertain and educated landscape professionals and connect them to vendors and service providers." How has that changed?

George: It hasn't changed. That's what we do. We entertain and we educate Landscape Architects and development professionals. Well, maybe that's how it's changed. We don't say landscape 'professionals' anymore because Landscape Architects are the main thing and the focus is on the profession of landscape architecture . . . And it's not the 'industry' of landscape architecture. That was one of the early lessons. The difference between the two is that [landscape architecture] is a profession, so people practice. That's why when you say "PLA," it has to be a Practicing Landscape Architect. If you're licensed, then you're a Practicing Landscape Architect. If you're not licensed, then you're not a Practicing Landscape Architect, right? You can't even call yourself a Landscape Architect. So, if you're licensed, you could just call yourself a Landscape Architect, but if you want to put another letter in front of it, then it should be P for a "Practicing" Landscape Architect. ASLA seems to prefer "Professional", but it should "Practicing" because you can be an unprofessional Professional Landscape Architect, but you can't be a non-practicing Practicing Landscape Architect.

What were some of the trends in landscape architecture at this time?
George: About the time when LASN started, there was this drought everywhere, especially in California and Colorado. Colorado is one of the driest places, because as soon as the water hits the Rockies, all that moisture is soaked up and there's nothing left for the east side of the mountains. Even the snow in the Rocckies is powder because there's not a lot of moisture in it - it's just little frozen ice crystals. Anyways, people throughout the Southwest started to say, "The population is growing like crazy and we've got water issues." So, Nancy Leavitt of the Colorado Water Department, came up with the term, Xeriscape. "Xeri" means "dry" in Greek. They started saying, "You have to start thinking about Xeriscape." And that was at the very beginning of the sustainability trend. Nobody ever talked about sustainability; there was nothing like that. The existing idea of landscape was that it was lush, it was tropical, and it was exotic. People were using water all over the place and bringing trees into deserts, like in Las Vegas, that wouldn't exist there unless they were heavily watered. In Colorado, people just wanted to have landscape around their houses and in their parks, and they couldn't because they were trying to save water for people to drink and to grow crops and all that. In Denver, it was illegal for people to collect rainwater, because the city needed it for their water system so, Xeriscape - and thus sustainability - started in Colorado.

 
What were some of the landscaping trends in the 90s?
George: From Xeriscape, things shifted more towards sustainability. Landscape Architects have always been a part of the original green industry. So, sustainability became a big thing for development and in public opinion. People started taking the plants and grass out and putting little cactuses and rock in their yards. That's okay, but it's not useful and it just looks really hot. [...] The focus of sustainability was building a thriving landscape, so you don't really have to do anything and it'll stay the way it is, using resources as responsively as possible, if even at all. "Can we sustain this area? Should this be developed?" That was Don Roberts first priority, but if the decision was made to develop the land, it was full steam ahead with the best ideas to responsibly meet the needs of the project. So, sustainability is important, but it's kind of dividing Landscape Architects, too.

Environmental Architects
George: Back in the late 80s and early 90s, there was a big conversation because they were thinking about changing the name from Landscape Architects to Environmental Architects. This was a big conversation in the profession, back when licensure was new and sustainability was a growing concept. But no, it's "Landscape Architects." It's not just about the environment; it's about the built landscape and how it affects people.

There's a building, dare I say it, in New York City - and half of you are going to hate me - but the first person to incorporate this principle of a building with landscape in the development, especially in a downtown setting, was Donald Trump. If you look at Trump Tower, he's got a whole thing of trees that are all outside. There might have been another building like that somewhere, but that was the first high-profile development that actually put trees on the outside of the building, as a part of the building. That's all because of the influence of Landscape Architects and the popular demand of your work. It used to be that, when you built a building, you would make a sidewalk that was 10-12 feet wide, then you built the structure right to the edges, and there might be some streetlights, but that would be it. Now, you can't do that.

If you want to build a building somewhere today, you are literally required to develop the surrounding landscape, but back then, it was a new concept. In fact, the term 'landscape' began evolving, taking on a definition that included technology and the interaction of people. The thinking was, "Yes, there's going to be plant material, but now there's going to be root wells so you can plant the trees, where the rainwater will filter and be captured under the permeable pavers." These are the technological things that Landscape Architects needed to grasp. The permeable pavers draw water down into the wells, allowing trees to grow, causing canopy and biodiversity, and creating a people-friendly environment. So, we learned it was not just about the biodiversity, but a growing awareness of the process to get there and the way people interact with everything outside the building.

People will walk on that street, and when people are walking, Landscape Architects can impact their experience. Developers and cities want to draw people in. So, you provide canopy, benches, lighting, and even bump-outs to slow the traffic. The retail people are counting on Landscape Architects, saying, "Here's my concept. Here's my brand. Make my outside complimentary to my brand. I want to attract customers." If you have a strip mall, that's the Landscape Architect's domain. That's not for a landscape designer or an architect.

You don't want the architect to design the entry and the parking lot because they don't know about the irrigation and tree selection, they don't know the technology, they don't know permeable pavers, root wells, bio-filtration - they don't know those kinds of things. They're not thinking about canopy or biodiversity, but if you want that job, you also need to know about branding, marketing, and enhancing the experience of the people using the landscape. Once a project leaves the building and hits the ground, that's a Landscape Architects domain. And it's everything: not just biodiversity, not just climate change, not just sustainability or regeneration. It's everything: how you enter the site, what you see, how you get to your destination, and how you get out.

These concepts were just beginning to reach the public and, through demand, they reached the development community...

What were some of the landscaping trends in the late 90s and early 2000s?
George: I first heard about regenerative landscaping was from the president of the Arizona ASLA Chapter. We were on an awards jury together, and she started talking about regenerative landscapes. [...] Not only were we asking if landscapes were sustainable - at that time, it meant low water use - but can it regenerate on its own? How can we do that? And that's where science and technology were really kicking in. That includes plant research - real green science - and it's done at places like Texas A&M, Riverside, here in California, and up at UC Davis at the agriculture schools. It's that kind of green stuff where now you can have a lush landscape in a dry area because we know which plants are lush-ish and survive in a dry landscape. And they're growing to be better, to have deeper roots that use way less water. [...] In the early days, they were just developing the irrigation technology you're using now, like subterranean irrigation and drip irrigation where a few drops of water make some plants live forever - almost. Irrigation has advanced crazily far forward with all that kind of stuff. Now, everything's satellite based.

Watch, AI is going to take over irrigation. It's going to say, "Hey, hook up the irrigation here." And there's going to be water where it needs to be. But back just a couple decades or so, irrigation controllers using satellites - the kind that gave real time moisture data, where the irrigation turns off when sensors tell it the soil is too moist - were still being built in people's garages. Irrigation is this whole other area, technologically, where the original green history is making a huge, monstrous impact. It's not so much about carbon and some of the new climate things that are going on; it's all about getting resources to the things that need them. You want the least amount of resources for the most amount of gain, and that's the kind of technology that we have today, but just a few years ago we didn't. We're only a few years into this awesome era of growth and potential, and the future is wide open . . .

Now regenerative has evolved into biodiversity, so not only does the landscape regenerate, but it attracts new life, which is almost full circle for LASN and the Kayapó (See page 64). Butterfly gardens, canopy dwellers, and native plants are allowed to return on their own. Any form of canopy creates a micro-environment. Even one blade of grass is a place for microbes and bugs that wouldn't be there before. Just one fallen branch causes a microenvironment. Buildings are brick, landscape is life.

While the environmental growth is very impactful, the growth of the profession has been with licensure, digital design, and a growing presence in the room. The hardscape industry has gone from brushed concrete to wild designs through stamped and colored concrete, and from basic concrete pavers to interlocking permeable paver designs and porcelain pavers designed for rooftops and decks, with support systems and drainage elements that have made virtually every rooftop a place for people and landscape.

Playgrounds have gone from monkey bars over sand to elaborate systems with rubberized safety surfaces and inclusive access. Science has taught us to put learning play in public spaces and keep random play in schools, because passive learning in free play is good for kids, but that same learning element in a school is detrimental to kids who are playing during recess to free their minds from their studies. Area lighting has gone from glowing globes to dark skies, with solar-powered, color-changing LEDs controlled through smart technology.

Landscape Architects have gone from Posy Planting and land repair to making the landscape the focus of a project. Simple parks are nice, but PLAs like Don Brinkerhoff, FASLA, and his daughter Julie of Lifescapes International, Inc., and pioneers like Frank Manwarren, Bob Morris, and the whole Rock & Waterscape industry have captivated, entertained, and involved patrons with landscape in high-profile projects that add to the allure of the profession, even as it adds controversy amongst its practitioners. A Landscape Architect's greatest client is not the earth, but the people who live on it.