LAF Medal and Founders' Award

"Throughout his career, Fritz Steiner has been an advocate for how landscape architects need to integrate sound environmental science and principles of ecology into their practice. He has encouraged upstream practice through planning and advisory roles, allowing the profession to see our potential beyond downstream physical design."

– LAF Medal and Founders' Award Committee

Frederick "Fritz" Steiner is a renowned ecological planner, author, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and Co-Executive Director of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology. Previously, he served as dean of the School of Architecture and Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin for 15 years. He has written, edited, and co-edited 18 books, including Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning; Urban Ecological Design; Nature and Cities; and Design with Nature Now. These influential texts continue to reshape the profession.

Fritz has also taught at Washington State University and the University of Colorado at Denver. He was a visiting professor of landscape architecture at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, a Fulbright-Hays scholar at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and a Rome Prize Fellow in Historic Preservation at the American Academy in Rome. During 2013-2014, he was the William A. Bernoudy Architect in Residence at the American Academy in Rome. He is a Fellow of both the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, and a Scholar at the Penn Institute for Urban Research.

He helped establish the Sustainable SITES Initiative, the first program of its kind to offer a systematic, comprehensive rating system designed to define sustainable land development and management.

“Randy has employed landscape solutions to save endangered species and cultures, and to redistribute resources and power.”

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

A pioneer in the landscape architecture community, Randy Hester’s long and accomplished career focused on democratic design with an emphasis on engaging communities. His research produced two dozen books, including Design for Ecological Democracy, and more than 200 articles and reports. A Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, Randy has contributed to the nurturing of healthy communities through pro-bono work, teaching, and professional practice. His influence and impact on landscape architecture, communities across the U.S. and overseas, and the built environment, will be felt for years to come. 

In the 1980s, Randy began incorporating large-scale ecological principles with grassroots community approaches, as in the case of the Los Angeles greenbelt which provides accessible nature for 7 million people and interconnected habitat for native wildlife, including the mountain lion. In Taiwan, he is credited with saving the spoonbill from extinction. Now retired, Randy spends his time tending to the Tom Bowes Farm with his wife, Marcia, in Hesters Store, North Carolina. Over the past five years, he also has stayed busy creating the Shorty Lawson Museum of the Black Tenant Farmer.

“In addition to great, sustainable landscapes that embody place and culture, Elizabeth has provided pro-bono and in-kind support to critical works, mentored dozens of students and young professionals, and advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout her career.”

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

Elizabeth Kennedy’s work intersects cultural heritage and ecological sustainability. An exceptional leader, visionary, and entrepreneur, she has been an advocate for social change, a teacher, and a mentor for young professionals, women, and BIPOC designers throughout her career. Her collaborative design approach and built works demonstrate the power of landscape architecture to celebrate the narratives of underrepresented voices.

After working in landscape design, teaching, site construction, and affordable housing development, Elizabeth established Elizabeth Kennedy Landscape Architect, PLLC, (EKLA) in 1994 — today the longest-operating Black woman-owned landscape architecture firm in the country. With an approach that leverages sustainable design for cultural preservation, EKLA serves public and non-profit clients throughout the country. Notable award-winning projects include the Weeksville Heritage Center, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Roof Farm, Harlem Stage Gatehouse, and the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan.

At the heart of EKLA’s culture and ability to use design to empower and reveal is a commitment to training emerging professionals through client service. In this way, Elizabeth has helped prepare and shape dozens of landscape architects—particularly designers of color, and she has been lauded equally for her contributions to landscape architecture and emerging professionals’ development.

"Through a hands-on approach, Karen translated lessons learned from Harlem to numerous redevelopment projects. She has been a champion for disadvantaged communities, bringing a landscape architecture perspective to influential positions that incorporated equity and sustainability, and contributed to the production of jobs through many different forums."

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

Credited as a leading figure of the second Harlem Renaissance, Karen is known to her friends and colleagues as someone with a steadfast commitment to equitable and sustainable urban development. Her career spanned real estate, urban planning and revitalization, environmental design, community development, and public service.

As CEO of Harlem’s Abyssinian Development Corporation, she used historic preservation and architectural rehabilitation to uphold the neighborhood’s physical fabric, revitalize landmarks, and created affordable housing in tandem with economic development, civic engagement, and social services. Karen later established and served as Director of the Office of Sustainability at New York State Homes and Community Renewal, which resulted in policies, programs, and coordination with other public and private partners to promote energy efficiency and resiliency in economically challenged communities. Prior to that position she was the New York City Regional Director for New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, following nearly 10 years as an appointed member of the New York City Planning Commission.

Karen earned a BLA from the University of Georgia, where she was recently selected as one of the “Owens 50” for trailblazing and visionary alumni, and an MLA from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. From 1994 to 1998 she served on the LAF Board of Directors, and over the years served on numerous committees of ASLA. She contributed to the formation of the Black Landscape Architects Network (BlackLAN), which works to increase the visibility, support the interests, and foster the impact of Black practitioners and students in landscape architecture and continues to serve on the BlackLAN fundraising committee. Recently retired, Karen is engaged in documenting her experiences in rebuilding communities sustainably, shares her expertise through her consulting firm, and serves on the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum Board of Trustees.

“Bill is a groundbreaking giant in the profession, pioneering the integration of planning, analysis and landscape architecture.  By sharing his knowledge and approach, he had a profound influence on a generation of students.”

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

Across practice and academia, Johnson maintained a relentless commitment to environmental consciousness and innovative planning. His work focused on campus, urban design, and parks and recreation. Many know Johnson for his analytical thinking and his ability to express complex ideas through insightful drawings. Shortly after co-founding JJR, Johnson was commissioned to draft the University of Michigan’s master plan, which helped establish the firm and led to work throughout the Midwest and East Coast.

In addition to his professional practice with JJR, as William J. Johnson Associates, and in partnership with Peter Walker, Johnson was a professor of landscape architecture for 30 years and Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources for 8 years.

While earning his MLA at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he learned from and worked for Hideo Sasaki, to whom Johnson credits his philosophy that “there are no limits of scale.” Johnson’s projects and professional leadership reflect his sense of expansive problem-solving and serve as a testament to his legacy.

"Joe Brown's influence on the profession goes way beyond EDAW and AECOM."

— Awards Committee Chair Len Hopper, FASLA

Professionally, Joe Brown had a significant influence on the discipline of landscape architecture. As CEO of EDAW, he guided the firm to international prominence and brought landscape architecture to global audiences and scales. When the firm was acquired by AECOM in 2005, his continued leadership brought a landscape architecture perspective to the international multidisciplinary firm thereby providing virtually limitless opportunities to shape the world’s landscapes. Joe’s influence on land stewardship and sustainability has had a profoundly positive impact throughout the world.

Even before commencing his influential career, Joe advocated for landscapes as infrastructure. At the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he chose urban planning as the focus of his MLA. It was his belief in the power and beauty of such massive scales that guided his career.

As a writer and thought leader, Brown has encouraged landscape architects to think big and pushed the profession to take a leadership role in tying all aspects of built environment projects into a cohesive design, no matter how large or complex. Through his numerous articles and presentations, Brown inspires landscape architects to step beyond their comfort zones to effect positive change by taking on non-traditional roles.

“Carol Franklin exemplifies career-long passion and leadership in promoting ecological awareness and sustainability. In addition to her award-winning work as a founding member of Andropogon, she taught at PennDesign for over 30 years, seeding the next generation with those values.”

— Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA

Carol Franklin, FASLA, PLA is a pioneering landscape architect, who has been at the forefront of ecological and sustainable landscape design since 1975. A founding principal of Andropogon Associates, Ltd., she is a nationally recognized expert in ecological design. Carol’s work exemplifies her lifelong interest in restoring both natural and cultural landscapes and in re-establishing the essential connection between the two.

For more than three decades, she has worked to develop sustainable institutions, parks, and communities, generating solutions that integrate historical, cultural, economic, and environmental concerns. Her notable works include the Stapleton Airport Redevelopment Master Plan in Denver, restoration plans for Central Park’s North Meadow and Woods in New York City, the landscape master plan for the Fallingwater National Historic Landmark in Pennsylvania, the master plan for Louisville’s Olmsted Parks and Pathways in Kentucky, and the master plan and restorations at the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum.

Since the beginning of her career, Carol has dedicated significant time and energy to education and public service. From 1972 to 2002, Carol was an adjunct professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. From 2002 to 2005, she taught cultural landscapes in the Department of Historic Preservation and served as a guest studio master in the Department of Landscape Architecture. She has served on the boards of various local and nonprofit organizations dedicated to conservation.

Carol has written and lectured widely on ecological design and planning. Her essays have been featured in Nature and Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Design and Planning (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2016), Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, (Island Press, 2013), and Ecological Design and Planning (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1997).

“Cornelia Hahn Oberlander once said, ‘I dream of green cities and green buildings where rural and urban activities live in harmony.’ With a career spanning a stunning seventy years, she has created just that.”

— Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA
 

A native of Germany, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, O.C., O.B.C., FCSLA, FASLA, BCSLA fled with her family from the terror of the Nazi regime in 1939 and settled in the United States, where she attended Smith College. She was a pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture as one of the first female students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, graduating in 1947. Her early career included collaborations with James Rose and Dan Kiley in the emerging field of modernism in landscape architecture. In 1953, she and her husband, urban planner H. Peter Oberlander, moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she set up her own practice.

Her work included a variety of projects, and was characterized by a concern for social and environmental responsibility. Her Children’s Creative Center at Expo 67 led to the creation of national guidelines for children’s playgrounds. Among her most noteworthy projects was Robson Square, a  collaboration with architect Arthur Erickson, in which it can be said, she realized her dream of green cities and green buildings. The sprawling cultural and civic center in downtown Vancouver is a perfect fusion of landscape and architecture in which the roofs of buildings become the floors of the city. One of the first and grandest green roof projects, it transformed the city and opened up a new way of seeing urban landscapes. The design also proved that barrier- free design could be beautiful and not merely functional, providing a model for universal access.

Cornelia has earned national and international acclaim for her work, including the Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the ASLA Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Margolese National Design for Living Prize from the University of British Columbia, the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award from the International Federation of Landscape Architects, appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada, and honorary degrees from a number of Canadian and U.S. universities.

“Grant Jones has a depth and breadth of work focusing on natural systems. He was a real innovator of the 1980s and 1990s in many areas, from how site analysis informs planning to completely reinventing what it means to be a zoo. His work, writings, poetry, and advocacy created the transformative change LAF seeks to make in the profession.”

— Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA
 

Grant Jones — landscape architect, poet, and co-founder of Jones & Jones — has practiced and preached ecological design for more than 30 years. He and his Jones & Jones colleagues’ pioneering methodologies in landscape aesthetics, river planning, habitat design, scenic highway design and conservation planning, including the development of new methodologies in GIS modeling, have set the standard for environmentally responsive design and have brought the firm a stream of awards.

Over the years Grant has brought his passion, expertise, and eloquence to many signature Jones & Jones projects. These include the Paris Pike Historic Highway in Kentucky, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tuscon, Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway in Washington, the Commons Park in Denver and America’s first wildlife highway, U.S. Highway 93 through the Flathead Reservation in western Montana. Grant’s landscape poetry is recognized as a fundamental to his design approach and integral to his research and scholarship in ecological design and landscape conservation planning.

Grant received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Washington, followed by a post-graduate stint as a poet in Theodore Roethke’s verse writing class during Roethke’s tenure as Poet in Residence at the University of Washington. He received his MLA from Harvard’s School of Design, where he won the Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship to research environmental design adaptations in South America and Western Europe.

Grant is an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington. From 1999-2007, he served on the Landscape Architecture Foundation Board of Directors, serving as Vice President of Education . He has held academic positions at the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard, University of Oregon, the University of Virginia, Texas A&M, and Ohio State and has lectured at thirty departments of landscape architecture.

"ILFI has pushed the limits of what is considered sustainable. Its Living Building Challenge established the most rigorous performance standards for the built environment. IFLI’s JUST label program also pushes organizations to be more equitable and socially sustainable."

–  LAF Medal and Founders' Award Committee

The International Living Future Institute is a nonprofit working to build an ecologically-minded, restorative world for all people. Using principles of social and environmental justice, ILFI seeks to counter climate change by pushing for an urban environment free of fossil fuels. ILFI runs the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most rigorous green building standard, not to mention several other programs: the Living Community Challenge, and the Reveal, Declare and Just labels. These programs develop a green framework for living in the 21st-century. 

"The International Living Future Institute provides not only important leadership but also practical strategies for achieving the goal of a more just and resilient future," said Awards Committee Chair Susannah Drake. "From a very competitive pool of candidates, the organization rose to the top for the breadth of its reach, effectiveness of programming, and its embrace of principals at the core of sustainable landscape architectural practice."  

“SPUR tackles challenging topics that have regional impacts and that are difficult for an individual municipality to resolve on its own.”

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

The San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) is  a regional non-profit that uses research, education, and advocacy to help create an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future.

SPUR focuses on planning, housing, transportation, sustainability and resilience, economic justice, good government, and food and agriculture issues. The organization recommends action items for local government, regional agencies, and the private sector, and their initiatives empower communities to test scalable models and policies for sustainable concepts such as expanding the use of public land for urban agriculture and designing for rising sea levels. 

With a history that dates back to housing advocacy in 1910, SPUR’s focus broadened over the years to include planning and fiscal policy. Today, SPUR is supported by more than 6,000 members and provides guidance and thought leadership on  subjects from transit and renewable energy to food security and guaranteed income programs. SPUR also provides annual analysis and voting recommendations on local and state-level ballot measures in California. They have helped drive legislation and action on a variety of issues that intersect with landscape architecture and provide tangible benefits for people and communities.

“SPUR has long recognized the critical role that landscape architecture plays in the vitality and vibrancy of our cities, and how important it is to human wellbeing to design for health,” said SPUR President and CEO Alicia John-Baptiste. “Indeed, the role of landscape architects has never been more central, as we reimagine cities in the face of major social change. We are so honored to receive this prestigious award and remain committed to a shared focus on people and place.”

"Along with its extensive conservation and restoration activities, The Nature Conservancy is spearheading efforts to promote nature-based solutions to address climate change and inequity."

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental nonprofit with a mission to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. It is the world’s largest conservation organization, working in 76 countries and territories and in every state across the US. TNC has over one million members and has protected more than 125 million acres of ecologically important land worldwide.

Since its founding in 1951, TNC's functions have expanded beyond land acquisition to include scientific research, technical assistance, policy and finance innovation, education, and advocacy. TNC's current work focuses on addressing the biodiversity and climate crises over the next decade. This involves saving special places, restoring lands and waters, conserving large landscapes, driving policy and funding, investing in alliances in urban and rural communities, and finding ways to dismantle environmental racism to ensure a future where people and nature thrive.

Through various partnerships and programs, TNC has collaborated with landscape architects over the years on initiatives to preserve and restore land, promote nature-based solutions in urban areas, develop innovative stormwater policies, and support workforce development through green infrastructure, to name just a few.

“We are living in the urban century, when the greatest migration in human history is happening, from rural to urban areas. More than 2 billion additional people are expected in cities by 2050. Getting those urban areas right is crucial both for human well-being and biodiversity,” said Rob McDonald, lead scientist for TNC's nature-based solutions department. The Nature Conservancy believes cities need urban nature-based solutions to thrive, and nature needs sustainable, well-designed cities to survive. More and more, we are working directly with landscape architects and urban planners as they try to incorporate nature-based solutions into their designs. We are honored to receive the LAF Founder’s Award, and we hope it leads to deeper and more transformative collaborations in the future between conservationists and landscape architects.”

"MICD has had a longstanding and consistent impact through the tangible improvements that have materialized through its workshops. The initiative reveals overlooked possibilities of public space to city officials while demonstrating the value of landscape architecture."

— LAF Medal & Founders' Awards Committee

The Mayors' Institute on City Design (MICD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. MICD organizes technical assistance workshops where mayors engage leading design and development experts to find solutions to the most critical planning and design challenges facing their cities. Sessions are organized around case study projects, where each mayor presents a project from his or her city for feedback from other mayors and design professionals.

Since its inception in 1986, MICD has enlisted landscape architects in its efforts to transform cities, including the likes of Laurie Olin, Mia Lehrer, Walter Hood, and many more. MICD has a significant track record of advocating for the role of design in tackling important environmental, social, and economic issues and effectively conveying the value of landscape solutions to local elected officials. Their work has touched over 640 diverse cities and towns across the US, addressing the unique challenges and considerations of each.

“There are few things that can have a more positive impact on the urban environment than trees. SUFC’s work to increase support and educate policymakers and the public about the multiple benefits of urban trees is critical to the health of our urban environments and the people that live and work there.”

— LAF Medal & Fonders' Awards Committee

Founded in 2004, SUFC advocates that the trees, vegetation, and green spaces that make up America's urban forests are essential contributors to virtually every measure of public well-being. It is the only national network of nonprofits, businesses, associations, foundations, and others working together to advance sound, effective urban forest policy and practices. In convening allied disciplines around a shared mission, SUFC elevates landscape architects and the unique skillset they can contribute to the public realm.

Over 220 million Americans live in urban or metro areas, yet streetscapes and urban settings often go overlooked as landscapes. SUFC generates awareness through educational initiatives and shapes policy through active legislative engagement. Their efforts shine a light on the ways that landscape affects our lives and amplify the voices of critical actors who can preserve and expand our nation's urban forests.

"There would be no Sustainable SITES rating system without the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. They carried the ball through some challenging times."

— Awards Committee member Frederick Steiner, FASLA

Founded in 1982 by Lady Bird Johnson, former First Lady of the United States, The University of Texas at Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is the official state botanic garden and arboretum of Texas. The Center has carried out its mission to “inspire the conservation of native plants through its internationally recognized sustainable gardens, education and outreach programs, research projects, and consulting work” to the benefit of Texans and the broader public.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has demonstrated a long-standing commitment not only to sustainable landscape design, conservation, landscape restoration, and healthy ecosystems, but to sharing its accumulated knowledge with everyone from visitors to the center to design professionals. The Center took a driving role in developing the Sustainable SITES Guidelines, Rating System, and Certification. Thanks in large part to the Center’s efforts, Sustainable SITES is recognized as the most comprehensive system for developing sustainable landscapes.

For over 45 years, the Trust for Public Land has worked to protect land for people, emphasizing the value of designed and natural spaces for our increasingly urban population. TPL’s mission and values align closely with those of landscape architects, and their efforts have had positive impacts for tens of millions of Americans.

— Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA
 

Since its founding in 1972, The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has focused on conserving land for human use and public benefits. Distinct from other environmental organizations and land trusts, a founding goal of TPL was to extend the conservation movement to urban areas, where 80% of Americans live. Over the years, the organization has been involved with more than 5,400 park and conservation projects in 47 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Today, TPL helps communities raise funds, conduct research and planning, acquire and protect land, and design and renovate parks, playgrounds, trails, and gardens. The organization has become an indispensable advocate for public lands and the legal protections and funding structures that support them.

Through its work, TPL has helped to transform the conversation about urban parks and open space so that they are seen not just as an amenity but as a community investment. TPL’s Center for City Park Excellence, founded in 2001, conducts research on what makes urban parks successful and how these parks provide economic, environmental, and social value. The center gathers and maintains the most extensive data set on city parks and park systems in the U.S., publishing numerous articles and reports, including the ParkScore annual ranking of the 100 largest urban park systems.

Newer strategies and initiatives like TPL’s Climate-Smart Cities, 10-Minute Walk campaign, and Our Public Lands advocacy efforts keep The Trust for Public Land at the forefront of the urban parks and conservation movement. The Trust for Public Land’s values align closely with those of LAF and landscape architects, who are trained to design for natural processes, natural resources, and people.

“In no small way are landscape architects and their organizations, including the Landscape Architecture Foundation,  indebted  to the National Park Service for its leadership, ethics, and works of landscape architecture. It is only fitting for LAF to honor the National Park Service with its highest honor, the 2017 LAF Founders’ Award.”

— Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA
 

The U.S. National Park Service had its origins in 1872 when President  Ulysses S. Grant signed into legislation a bill that established Yellowstone National Park as the first such park in the world to be preserved for the recreation, inspiration, and education of future generations. The system grew to 14 National Parks and 21 National Monuments until 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that established the National Park Service (NPS) as the steward of this vast array of unique natural and cultural resources. The mission and philosophy of the NPS was codified at that time, and landscape architects helped shape the agenda to preserve, protect, and enhance these parks in perpetuity.

In 2016, the NPS had its centennial celebration, and over 300 million people visited the more than 400 NPS sites across America. Since the beginning, landscape architects have played an essential role within the NPS to preserve our iconic landscapes by leading design, conservation, and recreation projects throughout the  park system. In 1993, the NPS published  Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design, illuminating  the core values of sustainable design in a way that was  both understandable and refreshing. This tome became a benchmark for a renewed focus upon ecological effectiveness and conservation of resources and materials for design professionals.

“Founded in 1899, the American Society of Landscape Architects is the first organization in the world to promote the practice and ethics of landscape architecture as a profession. ASLA serves as the premier advocacy and educational forum for landscape architects, with its core vision to lead design and stewardship of land and communities.”

— Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA
 

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 15,000 members in 49 professional chapters and 72 student chapters. The Society’s mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship.

Through its programs, ASLA:

- Raises the visibility of the landscape architecture profession through activities like World Landscape Architecture Month
- Conducts legislative and regulatory outreach to educate policymakers
- Supports licensure of the practice of landscape architecture in the U.S.
- Sponsors continuing education
- Hosts the world’s largest gathering of landscape architects at its Annual Meeting and EXPO
- Enable networking, exchanges on professional opportunities, and sharing of best practices and research
- Serves as an authoritative resource for information and best practices in sustainable landscape design