Making a Difference
Profile: Angela Dye, FASLA, A Dye Design

Interview by Leslie McGuire

Angela Dye, FASLA, A Dye Design

Angela Dye is a LEED-accredited, licensed landscape architect (Arizona, Colorado, Utah) with a Masters of Landscape Architecture, and a Masters in Community Development and Planning from the University of Colorado/Denver. She founded A Dye Design in 1998, an urban design/landscape architecture firm specializing in context-sensitive transportation and transit, site design, and public art-oriented projects. She is the Immediate Past President of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

A Dye Design, as part of the design team, established the basic design premise for this multi-award-winning, LEED-certified transit plaza as the intersection of the desert and the city. Explains Dye, “The design (Artist collaboration: Lorna Jordan) interprets the desert geology of Tempe Butte onto the plaza hardscape along with the desert plant materials.”

A Dye Design’s body of work focuses on how populations move through their environments and interact with all modes of transportation. “Our project types include downtown redevelopment, transit centers, campus design, streetscapes, plazas, neighborhood traffic calming, parks, trail systems, urban living, living/green rooftop gardens and public open space,” says Dye. “We also develop public involvement programs, workshops and charrettes that encourage citizens to participate in defining their communities.”

“I am particularly proud of the Light Rail Starter Line in Phoenix because we, as part of a dynamic team of consultants, were there to define a brand new system in a desert city known for a sprawling urban form. Hopefully, it will become transformative in years to come. It will show how much design and innovation matter. We thought way ahead of just the immediate and essential function to how it would actually make a difference to the community.”

The Process of Discovery
“For me, coming to landscape architecture was a bit of a circuitous route. I discovered landscape architecture along the way after getting a degree in a second language—French,” explains Dye. “I’d had a double major at Montana State University in modern languages and earth science (meteorology, paleontology and geomorphology). Basically, I discovered the environmental movement and shifted my focus. However, it took eight years to discover landscape architecture. I got two masters degrees at the University of Colorado, Denver—one in Community Development and one in Landscape Architecture. I wanted to be part of the solution and, back in the 1970s, the environment was a hot topic. Unfortunately, it got away from us for a while, but now it’s back.”

As part of a design collaboration, A Dye Design with the structural engineer T Y Lin and the artist Buster Simpson, focused on the form, materials and intent of the light rail bridge.

“The philosophical base for my designs is to essentially make the blend between natural and social systems in order to achieve a good fit and balance. My focus has always been on public work. I was a public employee when I first started out, as a trails coordinator and working on environmental impact statements in Summit County, Colorado. I got a bike trail built from Breckenridge to Frisco, and ended up doing long range planning for the county. I also processed development permits during a stage of huge expansion for that county.”

I think we are in a position to show that there is no one way—that there are alternative futures and people have choices. Landscape architects are in a position to convey what things will look like and how the changes will embody people’s aspirations of where and how they live. It is part of the calling. You are called to be a part of that change.”

The Serendipity of Drawing
“This was before I started to draw. At the time, I was exposed to a lot of different architects, landscape architects and designers. Watching them over the years, I thought, ‘I can do this!’ I’m not sure working through a machine gives you the same exposure. I still think the whimsy and the serendipitous happens through the mind-body, eye-hand connection you get through drawing.”

“Landscape architects are problem solvers and we, I think, are in a position to convey what the change will look like. I think we end up being the ones who can listen best to what people want and because we are concerned, we can make the translation between what is already there and what a place is capable of being.”

“I love the outdoors and I love wanting to make a difference. The best way to express that is through showing people first how it was done before and then how it could be done. It’s simply that graphics and the power of a drawing are part of how we transport people to the future. That’s how creating a drawing works. It is transformative.”

“However, it is also the duty of landscape architects to convey why these things are each important in their own individual way. I’ve always been an advocate, for better or worse and I think we need to be at the table. Often, people just wait to be given what other people define for them.

“We need to show people there’s a better way to do business. One of the things that makes a difference is that we can be a part of offering people choices and options. That is why I feel good about having some small part in bringing another form of transportation—public transportation—to this region. We have almost doubled riders. There was obviously a pent up demand for choice.”

Challenges in Artistic Terms
“In some cases the projects that are the most challenging are also the most memorable. I think of the Loloma Station project in Scottsdale which was kind of a triangle of architects, artists and the landscape architect. The architects wanted control and the artists wanted control. It worked out, but the process of getting to something that could actually be built was very instructive.”

“I have worked a lot with artists and often end up being the go-between for the public and the artists. Artists are studio based and aren’t necessarily thinking in a public realm. The scale is different. They try to apply their medium in a small context but it needs to be thought of from a much greater distance. I try to help artists translate scale so their art will bring the most meaning to the place.”

“Since landscape architects take care of everything but the buildings, that means they are dealing with a lot of space. I am constantly amazed at how much the general public doesn’t know about how plants grow, how a system works—cities being a system—as well as how natural systems work.”

Translation and Transformation
“My focus has recently transitioned to helping people envision what they want and then translating that into something important. I end up facilitating a lot of groups. But it’s not just translating what people say, it’s transforming that into a solution they can use. That’s what landscape architects do—and what designers do in general—but we do that transformation with particular success.”

“Certainly having a planning background and a base in reading the landscape—which is what geomorphology does—and learning how to teach someone in a foreign language has a certain congruence. We’re trying to reach people with our ideas who don’t get design in school. Every time we take on a project, we’re trying to teach them what design is but also what design can do for them. We just need to listen to their own ideas and bring that to
the forefront.”

“The challenge for us is to be at the forefront of environmental change, to bring our expertise to bear and that’s why the Sustainable Sites Initiative has such promise. We have the ability to add metrics to what must be done to effect change. For the Phoenix Convention Center, my firm, as the associate landscape architects working with Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, was responsible for the hardscape, landscape, and furnishings for plazas and streetscapes. The project included incorporating artist elements, living walls, over-structure planting as well as completing the construction observation.”

“The biggest challenge these days is to be relevant. A lot of people were part of the building boom, and they didn’t really think a whole lot about the implications of what they were doing. I advocate for a better way to live on the planet. Lots of people think Phoenix, Arizona is a poster child for sprawl, and they don’t want to come here. But there is innovation and techniques being applied for more compatible living. From a public stand point, we landscape architects can do better.”

“The firm designed the green roof and adjacent light rail station near the ASU campus with otak and Architekton, architectural firms. Says Dye, “Even though the green roof at the transportation center is small, having it as a part of the project demonstrates the potential for future use of green roofs in urban desert environments.”

Public Choices
“Of course, it’s certainly not all the responsibility of the landscape architects. There’s one thing I’ve learned about being in the public arena and that is, if you have an enlightened client, you’ll have an enlightened project.”

“In the West we haven’t had the need to worry about the intense use of land. A lot of the land out here is publicly owned. But this is where I think choice comes in. You can choose the kind of community you want to live in and then shape it by being smart about using resources and how you spend your money. It makes financial sense and it makes good sense for the planet. Therefore it becomes public policy and inherent in the way we do things.”

“When planning the road redesign between Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek, the community said, ‘This is not going to be your ordinary road. We want it to be designated an ‘All American Road’ for National Scenic Byways. They basically ended up with a context-sensitive, needs-based implementation plan. Instead of a five-lane highway, they wanted narrower lanes with bike lanes, and they got that.”

The Power of Influencers
“All the great western writers have influenced me immensely. Rachel Carson and Paul Ehrlich impressed on me the need to look to the future and make it different from the past. And, of course, there is Terry Tempest Williams, an author, naturalist, conservationist and winner of the Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society, their highest honor given to an American citizen. Also Barbara Kingsolver whose work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments. And, of course, Edward Abbey author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. Today’s students might also seek out Jeremy Rifkin, founder of the Foundation on Economic Trends who is also talking about their future. It might inspire young people and motivate them to choose a profession that will help them make a difference.”

And making a difference is Angela Dye’s forté.

“Landscape architects are trained to deal with all the connective tissue of habitations as well as habitations with edges. Our realm does not have definition the way buildings do. We listen to the clients, the end users and the community. We have to be good listeners, which is very important to get the buy in. Ultimately, if you get it right, it becomes a seamless solution.”