DC Needs to Stop Damaging the Credibility of the Profession in the Eyes of the Development Industry! Landscape Architects are Alpha Designers . . . And as we finish up the 4th decade of LASN, the Next Gen is beginning to take over the editor's and associate publisher's efforts, leaving me with the tasks of keeping an eye on the profession and making sure the future for Landscape Architects is bright and successful!

Hopefully the Next Gen won't have as much trouble figuring out what Landscape Architects do, as the ASLA's DC staff, who recently had to pay consultants to help them figure out how the public's perception of landscape architects meshes with the realities of the profession, and then recommend how to tell people about it, in a 17-page report.

The report predictably talked about the environment, carbon and climate change, things reinforced by a DC mentality, but it sells Landscape Architects terribly short. It's the same mentality as the ASLA approach to the Melissa McCarthy TV ad, which I just saw for the 100th+ time yesterday!?! It's not a joke. It's not a social experiment and you are Not Glorified Gardeners!

Forget All Your Schooling, All Your Experience and Your License . . .

The report, and ASLA's #1 recommendation, is to say this when describing the profession:

"Landscapes designed by Landscape Architects support people's physical and mental health and well being because they have been intentionally created to foster social connections and encourage movement"

 
Seriously?!? . . . That's your #1 lead?!?

ASLA could have saved a ton of time and money, had they simply reached out to me. Because for me, the role of an LA is simple to describe . . . And the Association should be screaming this to all and everyone . . .

"Landscape Architects are Alpha Designers. In any development, there's the building(s) and there's the landscape. If it's not the Building Architect, then it's the Landscape Architect. Everything except the structure is the Landscape Architect's domain" - George Schmok, Publisher, Landscape Architect & Specifier News


Oh . . . I know some architects, engineers, erosion specialists and landscape contractors who would protest, but it's really that simple. Sidewalks, driveways, traffic sequestration, all forms of street, parking, security and safety lighting, amenities, water, play, shade, canopy, fencing, plants, habitat, stormwater preservation, sustainability, fire lanes, interaction, monuments, statues . . . If it's not a part of the building, it's the realm of the Landscape Architect . . .

Would anyone ever lead with this when describing a structural Architect; "Structures designed by Architects support people's physical and mental health and wellbeing because they have been intentionally created to foster social connections and encourage movement" ?

No . . . You'd say an Architect is person who designs the structure to meet all the needs of the people developing it, and all the needs of the people using it. Architecture is a primary function of development, not a social experiment or feel-good exercise.

Well, Landscape Architecture is also a primary function of every development! A Landscape Architect designs a landscape to meet all the needs of the people developing it, and all the needs of the people using it. It's that simple, and everyone you say it to will get it.


If ASLA really wants to make an impression on the public, they need to reach out to McCarthy today and get her to
STOP SLANDERING Landscape Architects immediately! Sue, if necessary, but get that Commercial to stop! Now!!!

ASLA shouldn't be justifying the existence of Landscape Architects with touchy, feely, grade-school blather . . . They should be promoting you as an Alpha Leader of the team! As the primary designer of everything outside the structure. It's a Health, Safety and Public Welfare issue and you are the best equipped to get the job done.

So . . . As we enter LASN's 40th year of publication, it's time to start looking at the Next Gen and begin taking this profession to the level it, and the Public, deserves . . . And that's the position of Alpha Designer on every development!

Come on ASLA, Do Your Job and Stop Playing with the Profession!

God Bless . . .

George Schmok, Publisher gschmok@landscapearchitect.com