Riverlife Kicks Off West End Bridge Access Structures Project

Next week we’re kicking off public meetings for the West End Bridge access structures! Join Riverlife and the full West End Bridge design team, led by El Dorado, for a virtual session Monday, December 4th or for the in-person session Tuesday, December 5th.

The West End Bridge is ranked as one of the most challenging and extraordinary opportunities for transformation along Pittsburgh’s riverfronts. The project includes the design of new pedestrian and cyclist circulation routes through park spaces to the ends of the West End Bridge. The new structures and integrated public spaces will create accessible, safe, and artful paths that connect the historic bridge to its adjacent neighborhoods and regional trail networks.

We have been working with Riverlife, El Dorado Architects, Thorton Tomasetti, Sans Facon, Burro Happold and others.

Chris Merritt Leads TCLF What's Out There Weekend Tour in Cleveland

As part of The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s What’s Out There Weekend in Cleveland, Chris Merritt led attendees on a tour of the Dunham Tavern Museum and Gardens with museum Director Lauren Murray. The Cultural Landscape Foundation What’s Out There Weekend program brings together thousands of attendees in cities across the country offering two days of free, expert-led tours, encouraging participants to discover the little-known history of a region’s parks, gardens, plazas, cemeteries, memorials, and neighborhoods.

The tour of the Dunham Tavern Museum and Gardens focused on the recently completed master plan with LAND Studio and ongoing implementation with the museum. The themes of the master plan and discussion with tour attendees centered on historic landscape preservation and adaptation with the evolving mission of the museum’s interpretation and programming, inclusive community engagement during master planning and implementation and equitable outcomes for public accessibility on the museum campus, and translating cultural heritage and neighborhood identity into landscape design and programming.

Danica Liongson Selected as a 2023 WxLA Scholar

Danica Liongson has been selected as a 2023 WxLA Scholar among ten other designers from across the country. The WxLA scholarship aids in the professional development and success of emerging and mid-career leaders in the landscape architecture profession. WxLA is an advocacy initiative created in 2018 to encourage and lead efforts toward equality in landscape architecture. WxLA raises awareness for the challenges that prevent womxn from reaching their highest potential, provides information about the barriers to womxn and strategies for change and celebrate new models of working. The scholarship provides resources to attend the national ASLA conference and future engagement with the WxLA cohort.

With every design project and initiative that Danica is involved in, she brings an unmatched energy and inspiration for making an impact through landscape architecture and improving public spaces around her. Danica is a landscape designer with Merritt Chase in Indianapolis. Her design work and research examine the interconnected ecological and social systems in the public realm. She is a graduate of Harvard GSD and UC Davis, where her work received multiple honors, including an ASLA Certificate of Honor and Harvard GSD’s Peter Walker and Partners Fellowship for Landscape Architecture. Danica’s approach to landscape architecture is shaped by the synergy between practice, teaching and service. She is a former adjunct faculty member at Boston Architectural College and will serve as Co-Vice President on the incoming executive committee of INASLA.

Exhibit Columbus Public by Design Opening Weekend in Columbus, Indiana

Join our team, the Columbus community, and national leaders from the planning, design, and architecture community at the Opening Weekend of Public by Design on August 25 - 26 in Columbus, Indiana. The 2022 - 2023 cycle of Exhibit Columbus is the fourth cycle and aims to create meaningful connections between people and the public spaces they share. For Public by Design, Chris Merritt was one of six Curatorial Partners who shaped the theme and advanced the vision for the symposium and exhibition with Paola Aguirre, Lauren M. Pacheco, Bryony Roberts, Raymund Ryan, and Holly Warren. On Saturday, August 26 the Curatorial Partners will host a public conversation to discuss the theme, curation of the exhibit, public process, and aspirations for its impact on the Columbus community.

Monument Circle Park Opening

The temporary Monument Circle Park has opened in Indianapolis and is already attracting thousands of visitors with public feedback calling for a permanent intervention. The park provides a fun, comfortable, green space on the Circle in the heart of downtown. The project implements the values and recommendations of the South Downtown Connectivity Vision Plan and the Mayor’s downtown resiliency strategy. It has been a joy to watch visitors happily enjoy this new place and renew their appreciation for the Monument and the Circle. Congratulations to the many partners involved for their vision, leadership, and hard work to make this a reality including: the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, Downtown Indy, Big Car Collaborative, the Capital Improvement Board, and the Indiana War Memorials Commission.

Penn State Alumni Association's Professional Development Award

Congratulations to Terrie Brightman and the Landscape Architecture Affiliate Program Group for receiving the Penn State Alumni Association’s Professional Development Award. Thank you Terrie and the LA APG for your leadership, mentorship, and professional development of current alumni and future landscape architects. Terrie currently serves as the President of the APG and accepted the award at an awards ceremony in July. Terrie is a 2004 alumna of the Stuckeman School.

South Downtown Indianapolis Connectivity Plan Debuts!

We’re excited to announce the debut of the South Downtown Connectivity Vision Plan for the City of Indianapolis! Following a year-long effort working with the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD), HR&A Advisors, GANGGANG and many Downtown stakeholders and residents, the plan shares the future of Downtown’s public realm.

South Downtown Indianapolis’s Connectivity Vision Plan is a comprehensive vision for Downtown Indianapolis’s public realm. The plan introduces six values and four strategies to guide future planning, design, and development throughout Downtown.

Project recommendations prioritize investments in streetscape improvements, district identity, gateways, and public space activation. The engagement process for the plan honored past planning work and prioritized the representation of current voices. The process was a bold, multi-pronged approach that included large, eye-catching billboards, a virtual mood board, and a social media campaign to collect ideas. The plan includes a road map to implementation for all recommended projects. We are excited to get started this year on testing the temporary closure and activation of Monument Circle and the redesign of Georgia Street.

Congratulations to all our partners, stakeholders, and residents, on an exciting vision for the future of Indianapolis!

Appalachia Rising wins PA/DE ASLA Award

We’re excited to announce that Appalachia Rising has been awarded an Honor Award in Communications from the PA/DE ASLA Chapter.

“Appalachia Rising: West Virginia” is a multi-media report featured as part of the Architectural League of New York’s American Roundtable project. Through photography, video, audio clips, mappings, and renderings, the report asks the question “How can we build momentum for alternative landscape futures in West Virginia?”

Thank you to the PA/DE ASLA Chapter and the awards jury. More information on all the 2023 Award Winners can be found here.