The American Society of Landscape Architects has elevated 28 members to the ASLA Council of Fellows for 2016 with 4 of them being from the Northern California Chapter. Fellowship is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and recognizes the contributions of these individuals to their profession and society at large as demonstrated by their works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service. The new class of Fellows will be recognized at the 2016 ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo, October 21-24 in New Orleans.
The designation of Fellow is conferred on individuals in recognition of exceptional accomplishments over a sustained period of time. Individuals considered for this distinction must be members of ASLA in good standing for at least 10 years and must be recommended to the Council of Fellows by the Executive Committee of their local chapter, the Executive Committee of ASLA, or the Executive Committee of the Council of Fellows. Congratulations to the four 2016 Fellows from the Northern CA Chapter: Cathy Blake, Tom Leader, David Meyer and Gary Strang.
Cathrine Deino Blake, ASLA
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
Cathrine Deino Blake, of Stanford University, received her nomination, for Leadership/Management, from the Northern California Chapter. For the past 20 years she has been the University Landscape Architect for Stanford's 500-acre campus, widely recognized for its spectacular beauty and landscape integrity. The Landscape White Paper she developed is the guiding philosophy for all current work done on the campus. During the university's $5 billion building program, which has involved the nation's most prestigious design firms, she has been the client representative solely responsible for bridging the heritage of Olmsted and Church with modern environmental concerns. Her leadership has raised awareness of the value of the campus landscape and raised the bar for all landscape architects. She initiates and manages the landscape infrastructure project budget of $3.5 million per year as she ensures thoughtful, appropriate, student friendly, and forward thinking planning and design.
Tom Leader, ASLA
Principal, Tom Leader Studio
Berkeley, CA
Tom Leader, of Tom Leader Studio, received his nomination, in Works, from the Northern California chapter. His career is distinguished by his ability to design and build artful parks, campuses, and urban projects and apply those talents to communities that have the most to gain from them. Among his artistically original projects based on concepts of local culture are Shanghai Carpet, exhibited at the 2005 MoMA Groundswell Exhibit, and Pool Pavilion Forest, which received a 2009 ASLA Honor Award. He is a respected advocate for the role of landscape architecture in the transformation of cities, such as with Birmingham's Railroad Park, which changed the city's entire civic dynamic; RiverFirst, along five miles of the Minneapolis riverfront; and Richmond Bayway, his firm's current pro-bono initiative in San Francisco.
David Meyer, ASLA
Meyer + Silberberg
Berkeley, CA
David Meyer, of Meyer + Silberberg, received his nomination, in Works, from the Northern California chapter. Winner of the Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture, David has distinguished himself through his rigorous approach to both design and execution. His goal has always been to create and build landscapes that transcend , that honor the inherent qualities of a site , and anchor themselves in the hearts and minds of the people who experience them. To David's mind, the most evocative, powerful spaces are characterized by purity, simplicity and restraint. They have visual order and make sense to the eye and the intellect. He credits his Iowa origins for this appreciation of strong, simple, sensual designs that employ nature's palette judiciously. He has brought his signature integrity and rigor to projects ranging from a temporary installation at the American Academy in Rome to a 9,000-acre national park in China.
Gary Strang, ASLA
GLS Landscape/Architecture
San Francisco, CA
Gary Strang, of GLS Landscape/Architecture, received his nomination, in Works, from the Northern California chapter. He is one of the first of the new generation of landscape architects to focus on urban landscape commissions in the era of urban revitalization and densification. Licensed in both landscape architecture and architecture, his work brilliantly creates a seamless synthesis of architecture, infrastructure, and beautifully conceived and executed places to live, work, play, and worship. He embodies the true complexity of the practice of landscape architecture with a razor-sharp intellect that fuels his award-winning design, practice, and publications. He has responded to the need to connect people with nature by demonstrating the potential for rewarding new landscape types on piers, rooftops, garages and in densely impacted urban conditions. Through study, teaching, writing and professional practice, his work has contributed to expanding the traditional definition of landscape architecture.
