2012 AzASLA Mesquite Journal

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Mesquite Journal THE AWARDS ISSUE SPRING 2012

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An annual publication of the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, features winning projects from the 2012 Awards Gala.

Transcript of 2012 AzASLA Mesquite Journal

Page 1: 2012 AzASLA Mesquite Journal

MesquiteJournal

THE AWARDS ISSUE

SPRING 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PresidentIrene Ogata

President-ElectJoy Lyndes

TreasurerJason Kuklinski

SecretaryLaura Paty

TrusteeDean Chambers

Central SectionVice President Boyd Coleman

Central SectionVice President ElectValerie Ahyong

Southern SectionVice PresidentRebeca Field

Director-at-LargeWendy Lotz

University RelationsJoseph Ewan - ASU

University RelationsLauri Johnson - U of A

MEMBER AT LARGEEX-OFFICIO

Community AllianceJim Coffman

Communications ChairKaylee Colter

Government AffairsSteven Rogers

ASU Student Chapter President Angelique King

U of A StudentChapter PresidentDeryn Davidson

MESQUITE JOURNAL

EditorTodd J. Michaelson

C O v E R : S O U T H M O U N T A I N C O M M U N I T y C O L L E G E L I B R A R y . C O U R T E S y : K I M L E y -H O R N E & A S S O C I A T E S

F E L L O W S M E M B E R S H I P A N N I V E R S A R I E STheodore WalkerE. Lynn MillerWilliam HavensKatherine EmerySteve MartinoKenneth BrooksJames WheatHeather KinkadeJanice CervelliKristina Floor

45 YEARSRichard Mayer

30 YEARSKenneth BrooksGordon StoneLee MacDonald

25 YEARSGreg FlanaganMichael BymeDean Chambers

20 YEARSSteven Lohide

10 YEARSChristine JeffreyKurt MonteiRod StangerElizabeth ScottMary SheedyGary KayeMatthew BoisseauJoseph YoungPamela Symond

FIVE YEARS

Darbi Lynne DavisMychal GordonPaula KornegayGreg HagenDavid FlynnCraig RuhlandMichael Del GiorgioMark HallJason KuklinskiEarl SwetlandBrian MillerJenny Leijonhufvud

Tim LeR. Brooks JefferyChelsea ElwoodRoger SochaChristopher Brown

it is spring. This is a time of year when Arizona is at its best and we yearn to be outdoors and experience the awakening of dormant plants and the burst of wildflower colors. AzASLA has been bursting with activity since the end of last year. Members have been volunteering and actively engaging in a plethora of programs and upcoming events. The Chapter has evolved, matured, and becomes better every year. This could not have happened if not for the conversations, discussions, and challenges put forth by you, our members; and the leadership of past Executive officers.

The Chapter continues to be more involved with national issues through programs such as the Advocacy Network and the Public Awareness campaign. National staff has also been actively working with each state’s membership chair to increase and retain membership. I challenge each of you to recruit one new member (with the potential for new members to win an i-Pad 2). And locally, we continue to reach out and grow with our allied professionals.

As Landscape Architects, we have actively lead and implemented the shaping of Arizona’s natural and built environment. This has included preserving and restoring large tracks of public lands to small private spaces; advocating for and shaping communities to provide public open spaces to master planning private developments; and redefining complete streets and green infrastructure. We have been leading, educating, and participating in the careful stewardship, wise planning, and artful design of our cultural and natural environment.

As a society of professionals, we continue to be engaged in open discussion, listening to seasoned professionals and new emerging professionals, evaluating the traditional with the juxtaposition of new technologies. How we communicate today is very different from even a short decade ago; but the fundamental concept of participation is based in communication. We have access to abundant information, and discussions can be more immediate despite physical distance. AzASLA is a Linkedin group (log into Linkedin.com, search AzASLA group and join the group).

I hope you all had time to attend the annual Awards and Gala, along with the Educational Symposium. This Mesquite Journal issue is devoted to recognizing the works of Arizona landscape architects. Keep in touch, informed, and engaged as we continue into April with National Landscape Architecture Month. If you have not signed onto the National Advocacy Network, do so today (http://asla.org/GovernmentAffairs.aspx ); funding for Transportation Enhancement is being decreased, have your voice heard. There’s still time to be involved with the national conference in September (http://www.azasla.org/2012-national-meeting.php ).

This is a great time of year to be in Arizona; and it is an exciting time to be a Landscape Architect.

I R E N E O G A T A , R L A , A S L APRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Irene OgataAzASLA President (2010-2012)

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FEATURE: AzASLA AWARDS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEBy Irene Ogata, RLA, ASLA

IN THE NEWSAzASLA Events

ON THE ECONOMY:Urban Agriculture — By Lora Martens

STUDENTS CORNERA Message from U of A and ASU

ON THE ECONOMY: Community Gardens — By Gina Chorover

FACETS OF THE PROFESSION:Health Environments — By Todd Michaelson

FACETS OF THE PROFESSION:Red Fields to Green Field — By Chris Ewell, RLA

16TRENDS:Rainwater Harvesting — By Nate Hines

MEMBER PROFILEFeature: Joy Lyndes, RLA, ASLA

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Join AzASLA today!

2012 will be an exciting year for Arizona ASLA. The National Meeting and EXPO will be held in Phoenix September 28 to October 1, an event that has not occurred since 1984. The National event is one of the best ways for Arizona to present our state’s rich cultural landscape legacy.

If you are a member but have not been active lately, now is the time to help support the chapter! If you’re not a member, consider joining now. We need everyone’s help to make the 2012 National Meeting a success. But inviting you to join ASLA isn’t just about the annual meeting,—though being a member will reduce your registration fee up to $405!—raising the visibility of the profession and advocating for vital legislative and regulatory issues are ASLA’s top priorities.

Join NowIt’s easy to sign up. You can go to www.asla.org/JoinRenew.aspx and download the forms and mail them in or you can fill out and submit the forms online. For questions related to your membership contact the ASLA Member Services team at [email protected] or call 888-999-ASLA. You may also contact the Arizona Chapter at 602-258-8668.

Join ASLA

today

Every new member who joins ASLA, the Arizona Chapter, between January and July 2012 will be entered in a

drawing to win an Apple iPad. The drawing will occur at the August Executive Board meeting.

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This year the 2012 Gala Committee selected an out-of-state panel to critique and vote on this year’s AzASLA submissions. Deadline for submissions was January 19, 2012. The Chapter received more than 40 submissions, including both an increase in professional and student projects across the board. Winning entries were announced at the 2012 gala at the A.E. Building in

Downtown Phoenix, and are featured in this issue of the Mesquite Journal. The State Chapter highly encourages entrants to resubmit projects next year for another opportunity for their projects to receive recognition.

Thank you to those who submitted projects and congratulations to all our winners.

Jim Coffman and Dean Chambers stepped up as the Chapter’s co-chairs for the National ASLA conference and expo in September. Committees have been formed, and planning and coordination has already begun. If you would like to be involved, visit the chapter website,

or contact the committee co-chairs with your interests. Current committees include Field Sessions, Host Booth, Public Relations, Women in Landscape Architecture, and the Legacy Project Committees.

The Chapter would like to thank Margaret Joplin for all her work as the former Southern Section Vice-President. Due to other obligations, Joplin has resigned from her

role, and Rebeca Field has stepped up as the current Southern Section Vice President. Field will carry on the Southern Section’s activities and involvement.

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Arizona ASLA met on the first Saturday of December at the Reference Library in Downtown Phoenix to discuss upcoming 2012 events and to complete the annual budget. Current President, Irene Ogata, welcomed newly inducted members, and explained the roles and responsibilities for each executive committee. At the meeting, various local topics and issues were discussed, as members expressed their thoughts on

upcoming events and strategies to making this year another success for the state chapter. Additionally, Jim Coffman, Community Alliance and Chapter Co-Chair for the National Conference, presented the local chapter’s responsibilities for the upcoming conference in September, as well as the planning progress for the March Gala.

April is full of special days and events, but more importantly, in our profession, it’s landscape Architecture Month. So what will you do this month? Plant a tree? Advocate for our profession? Volunteer with local organizations? The State and local Student Chapters will be organizing and promoting many events throughout the month. So get outside, and get involved, its a wonderful time to be a landscape architect. We hope to see you at our upcoming events, and if you’d like to share what your doing to celebrate, let the chapter know and we’ll help get the word out. HAPPY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MONTH!

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The Chapter’s Annual Gala and expo was once again held at the A. E. Building in Downtown Phoenix, AZ. This year’s educational session will focus on economic development and community sustainability. Speakers include: Diane Brossart, President and CEO of Valley Forward; Chris Ewell, RLA, Project Manager and Landscape Architect II for the City of Phoenix; and Warren Gorowitz, VP, Sustainability and Conservation, of Ewing Irrigation Products.

The keynote speaker for the event was Shane Coen, FASLA, of Coen + Partners, a Minneapolis-based cross-disciplinary landscape architecture firm.

This year the Chapter also recognized 13 awards at the event, in addition to several special awards and recognitions. Awards can be found in this issue of the Mesquite Journal.

The chapter successfully participated in the first national public awareness campaign under the leadership of Joel Thomas last year. His enthusiasm and coordination

with ASLA national staff made the event in Phoenix and Tucson a success. If you are interested in volunteering please e-mail Irene Ogata ([email protected]).

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A z A S L A S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G M E E T I N G

R E B E C A F I E L D S T E P S I N A S S O U T H E R N S E C T I O N C U R R E N T V I C E - P R E S I D E N T

S U B M I S S I O N D E A D L I N E F O R A z A S L A A W A R D S

A z A S L A C O M M I T T E E S F O R N A T I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E

S TAT E C H A P T E R G A L A & E X P O

The City of Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Environmental Design Awards (SEDA) committee has issued a call for entries for its biennial awards program. The goal of SEDA is to encourage and recognize aesthetically expressive, sustainable projects. The awards program serves to educate the public and acknowledge design quality that engages in the challenges of our environmental climate.

Eligible projects must have been completed prior to January 1, 2012, and they must be in Scottsdale. Project types include residential and non-residential

structures, major renovations or additions, landscape and site design, urban design, and other environmentally sustainable projects. Projects will be judged on their merits of environmentally sensitive solutions and their response to the Scottsdale Sensitive Design Principles found at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/planning/general/sensitivedesign/designprin.

Submittal deadline is May 18, 2012. For more info, visit: http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/departments/planning/OEI/SEDA.

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L A N D S C A P E A R C H I T E C T U R E M O N T H !

IN THE NEWS...AzASLA

P U B L I C R E L AT I O N S C H A I R VA C A N C Y

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JOy LyNDES, RLA, ASLAAzASLA PRESIDENT ELECT

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT?

My car broke down while driving through Tucson on a cross-country road trip in 1977. I landed a waitressing job to pay for car repairs, and two years later applied part-time to the University of Arizona. I picked three classes from the catalogue – urban planning, resource conservation, and landscape architecture. The introductory landscape architecture design class, taught by Adjunct Lecturer Walt Rogers, was my introduction to the field. Now 33 years, two children, a design firm, and a Master’s degree later, I’m still in awe of the potential this profession has to improve the quality of life for our communities.

2. WHAT ARE SOME PROJECTS/FIRMS THAT INSPIRE YOU?

Alta/Greenways Principal Chuck Flink, FASLA, for many years has impressed me with his business model, his expertise and his professional generosity. He has specialized in the promotion and development of greenways throughout the world. He’s an advocate of and articulate speaker on the benefits to the public and communities of greenways. He’s lead projects in 35 states, Argentina, Canada, Japan, and the Island of St. Croix. Not only do I admire his work and firm but the North Carolina Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects also honored his expertise and recognized his firm’s accomplishments with the 2008 Landscape Architectural Firm Award.

3. WHICH BOOK AND/OR INDIVIDUAL HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOU IN TERMS OF HOW YOU SAW THE PROFESSION?

Aldo Leopold

“Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation’s character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us.”

- A Plea for Wilderness Hunting Grounds, Outdoor Life, November 1925. Reproduced in Aldo Leopold’s Southwest, edited by David E. Brown & Neil B. Carmony, University of New Mexico Press, 1990.

“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.” - A Sand County Almanac

3. WHAT PART OF THE PROFESSION DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST?

I think to be a great landscape architect you should love teaching, because everything we do helps to teach and expand the knowledge of our clients, our team members, our communities, and our political leaders.

4. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE MEMBERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU, AND YOUR PLANS AS THE CHAPTER PRESIDENT ELECT?

Landscape architects, designers, students, and teachers all over Arizona are facing unprecedented challenges in areas of municipal budgets, private practice, and educational support. Challenges represent opportunities, and our training as landscape architects positions us to respond to these challenges through creative problem solving and partnership building. There is no better time than now to engage with our vibrant and politically effective national professional body — ASLA— to turn challenge into opportunity through governance, volunteerism, outreach, and education, and to define a future for landscape architecture which is central to improved public health, enhanced quality of life, sustained economic vitality, and the betterment of our planet. I’m looking forward to serving the state of Arizona in this leadership role for ASLA, and in turn ask you to engage with ASLA — together we can make a positive impact on our communities and profession.

ASLA MEMBER SINCE: March 1995

BIRTHDAY: August 8

HOMETOWN: Burlington, VT

YEARS IN ARIZONA: 35 Years

FIRST JOB: Vermont State Parks Youth Conservation Corps

MEMBER PROFILE

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proven to be catalysts of positive change in tough times. Detroit and Philadelphia have turned to urban agriculture to revitalize their communities, and Phoenix has many of the same urban issues as those two cities: abandoned houses, public- and privately-owned vacant land held in speculation, high unemployment, food deserts and food insecurity. Urban agriculture can be used temporarily on land until the market for development comes back. Food gardens could be added to our public parks.

Globally, urban produced food accounts for 15 percent of the world’s food production, according to the United Nation’s Development program. Some countries that have been cut off from the global food supply have higher urban food production; residents in Havana, Cuba get half of their veggies from the city’s 8,000 gardens and urban farms.

In the United States, we have had a series of programs that have increased food grown within our city boundaries. During World War II, victory gardens supplemented up to 35 percent of household vegetable and fruit supply. In 1977, the United States Department of Agriculture initiated an urban gardening program to assist low-income people in cities to grow and preserve vegetables. This program peaked in 1989 with 200,000 gardeners, of whom 64 percent were minorities, who were producing vegetables on 800 acres in 23 cities. These urban gardeners grew, preserved, and consumed an estimated $6 worth of produce for every $1 invested by the federal government.

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URBAN AGRICULTURE: REDEFINING GROWTH IN PHOENIX

Could a garden fix that?-- I heard this question during the ASLA National Conference education session “Food Cities: Designing Edible Landscapes for Urban Environments” co-hosted by April Philips from April Philips Design Works and Jacob Voit from the Bush Foundation. Mr. Voit said he started asking himself that question whenever he heard a problem on the radio or the TV. Whether the issue was local, global, simple, or complex he said he was surprised how often the answer to “Can a garden fix that” was “Yes!” (or at least, “Yes, it would be a step in the right direction!)

I thought about that question in February when I spent a Saturday with Professor Kim Steele and her graduate students of Arizona State University’s Landscape Architecture program. These students are spending the semester working with the City of Phoenix, Keep Phoenix Beautiful, Saint Luke’s Health Initiatives and Tiger Mountain Foundation to examine urban challenges in South Phoenix. These students facilitated several design charrettes with community members to hear about their challenges and solutions for their community. As community members and students gathered around tables covered with aerial maps, icons, and markers, I heard many concerns that COULD be addressed with a garden, an urban farm or more trees.

One woman at the design charrette told me she hoped that every new tree that was planted in her neighborhood could grow something to eat, in order to both teach children about where their food came from and help the homeless people that she saw in the parks. Another participant commented that on the square mile on the aerial image they were using, it was hard to spot any large trees. A lot of the challenges the charrette participants brought up were symptoms of a larger problem — we live in cities that place more value on the car than its own people. Consequently, cities have become unhealthy places which do not value our greatest commodity — its own residents. Can a garden fix that?

Gardens are powerful places and we need powerful solutions to the complex challenges that are facing Phoenix and our nation. Gardens that grow food have been

The benefits to urban farming are vast. Researchers in Philadelphia found that community gardeners ate more vegetables compared to non-gardeners. Many studies have shown that gardens reduce crime in neighborhoods. Another study in Los Angeles showed that non-English speaking community gardeners learned English faster than non-gardeners, and became more politically active. Gardening is excellent exercise, especially for the elderly.

Urban agriculture has benefits to the city and to the community as well. One study I read stated that developing and maintaining food garden space is less expensive than parkland area, in part because gardens require little land and 80 percent of the cost of open space is labor, which gardeners give for free.

Studies in New York and Milwaukee have shown that community garden have been shown to actually increase property values in the immediate vicinity where they are located. The New York study also said that these increased property values of homes near community gardens increase over time, as the community garden becomes more established in the neighborhood. The Milwaukee study said that the average garden was estimated to add approximately $9,000 a year to the city tax revenue.

Phoenix has some successful projects scattered around our vast metropolis. Darren Chapman’s Tiger Mountain Foundation has transformed acres of vacant land into urban farms in the neighborhoods of South Phoenix. The

UofA Spring semester is a busy one for U of A Student ASLA! We recently participated in “Beat Back Buffelgrass Day” which was a great success! March 24-25th we hosted a Be Loose Workshop with Mike Lin. In the following month we will be participating in Shadow Day, allowing students to join professionals in the workplace to see how it’s done. The second week of April we will be holding the annual Design Excellence Conference — a week long, student run competition and awards ceremony, as well as an opportunity for graduating 3rd years to present their thesis work. Finally, for LAM, the College of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Planning, along with the help from U of A Student ASLA, is hosting a screening of “Women in the Dirt” as a gift to the U of A and Tucson community.

Deryn Davidson is the current U of A ASLA Student Chapter President, and is a second year MLA student. Her unique love for pollinators, especially bees,

has her thesis interests in how to incorporate pollinator habitats into urban fabrics through patches and corridors that interface with human environments.

Valley of the Sunflower project has turned two acres of dirt lots in the downtown area into a farm of sunflowers, which the students of Bioscience High School will harvest and turn into bio-fuel. I see people growing food in pockets all over this city. Near my dentist, there are people who have turned a small vacant lot into a farm which supplies a food kitchen. On my way to work, the Boy Scouts of America changed another vacant lot into a community garden. But the amount of land held vacant in this town dwarfs the few urban agriculture projects — there is the potential for so many more urban agriculture projects in the vacant spaces

both in our urban core and in the suburbs.

This economic downturn has been a time of reflection for many, and a chance to reconnect to what is most important. Working with our hands in the garden, and eating food we have cooked with our family and friends feels good at a time when there is much uncertainty all around us. Urban agriculture benefits both the people who participate and the communities who support it. As the country improves, we can keep growing things in our open spaces and encourage our cities to do the same.

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Photo Courtesy Joel Carrasco

F R O M T H E V O I C E S O F A S U A N D U O F A . . .

studentCORNER

LEFT: University of Arizona ASLA Student Chapter at a “Beat Back Buffelgrass Day’ in Tucson, AZ. Photo courtesy U of A ASLA Student Chapter.

BELOW: ASLA ASU Students at the Design School during their beginning of the semester plant sale fund-raiser.

ASU Another packed-full semester for the ASLA Arizona State University Student Chapter. In recent months, the Student Chapter organized a plant sale that allowed everyone in the design school to buy a plant; and a way to show the chapter’s presence, and contribute to the aesthetics of the school. In February, the students took the Valley Metro light rail from the ASU Tempe Campus to downtown Phoenix to tour four local Landscape Architecture offices, where students learned about the rhythm of the workplace, saw how firms operated, and talked to local professionals about their experiences.

Additional events this semester include a sketching workshop, election day in April, portfolio review, scavenger hunt, hand graphics rendering workshop, and a movie night. The students plan to host an “Agave Hunt” to kick off LAM where students can search for agave pups hidden around the Design School.

Abigail Udom is a fourth year undergraduate student in the landscape

architecture program at ASU. She currently serves as the treasurer for the ASLA ASU Student Chapter, and is currently working on her final semester project on food deserts in south Phoenix.

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and elderly residents. After discussions with the City’s Housing Department, we were granted permission to proceed with project.

A second consideration for the project was to see if there was sufficient interest among Tucson House residents to support a large community garden. Ideas were presented to the Resident Council who gave approval to form a garden committee and conduct a survey of Tucson House residents. Participation in the committee grew over time, with currently more than 30 regular members. The gardeners started “a practice garden” in anticipation of construction, held potlucks with food from their garden, and organized educational events. With the enthusiasm of the gardeners, the City felt that sufficient interest existed to move the project forward.

Proficient garden management is essential to the success of a community garden and the City’s Housing Department did not want responsibility for garden management. Fortunately, the Community Gardens of Tucson (CGT) effectively manages many community gardens locally, and was grown from a network of four to 28 gardens in over two years. This partnership was a critical component of project.

To facilitate fundraising, conceptual garden designs were prepared to present in grant applications and meetings. The University of Arizona’s 2nd year MLA students prepared site analysis and conceptual master plans for the garden through a course taught by Professor Margaret Livingston, and presented designs at an open house event in Fall of 2010.

The initial project funding came from a grant to Pima County called Communities Putting Prevention to Work, which supports public health efforts that reduce obesity, increase physical activity, and improve nutrition to combat chronic diseases and promote health. The

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AN ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITy GARDEN IN A FOOD DESERT

A new community garden is taking shape in one of Tucson’s under served neighborhoods. The Blue Moon Community Garden, set to open in March, is designed to be the first fully-accessible community garden in Tucson. The garden project grew from a 3-year revitalization study and blossomed due to the efforts of multiple stakeholders. Ultimately, the garden will provide fresh produce for up to 36 families or individuals, and up to $700 worth of food to a typical gardener.

In 2006, the City of Tucson embarked on a revitalization study of a neighborhood that had been in decline since the 1980s. While the area has many historic assets and is adjacent to an important transportation corridor, crime, physical degradation, and transience became endemic. The Oracle Area Revitalization Project engaged locals in identifying both assets and community needs. Near the top of the list of neighborhood needs was access to fresh food and additional green space. The nearest grocery store was several miles away and a large percentage of people in the area did not have access to a vehicle. Bus service also stopped early on weekdays, preventing people from easily getting to the grocery store. The University of Arizona’s Drachman Institute, through a large grant to study health and obesity in Pima County, identified the Oracle Area as a “food desert.” A food desert is defined by the USDA as “a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or grocery store.”

The City’s Planning and Community Development Department chose several “catalyst” projects to contribute to neighborhood improvement. Building a community garden was one of the first such projects. Taking this project from conception to implementation required many steps and multiple hurdles, including finding an appropriate site, designing the garden, raising funds, and identifying an organization to manage the garden.

The first step was to find a suitable location for the garden. A 0.9-acre parcel adjacent to a public housing facility was identified as a possible site. The parcel served as an overflow parking lot for the Tucson House, a complex which houses over 600 low-income, disabled

community garden also received funding from Community Development Grants, HUD, and Tucson Water.

The garden design, construction drawings, and construction administration were completed by Norris Design’s Tucson office. Norris met with the community to test various garden bed heights and construction materials for functionality. The barrier-free design includes 36 garden beds, 24 of which are raised at either 16”, 30” or a table-top design; 12 beds are at grade. The garden includes walking paths, a shade ramada, tool shed and lockers, native vegetation, seating and game tables, an entry arbor, and a citrus grove. A 15,000 gallon rainwater harvesting tank captures rainwater and A/C condensate from a 17-story building, providing water for the landscape plants and fruit trees. A smaller cistern captures water from the ramada for nearby landscape plants. Tucson Water provided funding for the rainwater harvesting system and associated interpretive signage.

The garden is almost fully booked with a few garden beds remaining. CGT will charge $8 per month for the 4’ x 10’ beds to cover the costs of water, tools, and maintenance of the site. Subsidies will be provided to extremely low-income gardeners. The garden is set to open in early March, and a grand opening event and ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on March 24.

For additional info, contact Gina Chorover, City of Tucson, 520-837-6946 or [email protected].

Photo Courtesy Norris Design

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social interaction, developing outdoor rooms that offer privacy to individuals was another important feature commonly mentioned for medical gardens. Whether it’s family members grieving, staff members socializing, patients going for a stroll or praying alone, the landscape architect has to strategically implement design techniques that accommodate these types of gathering spaces in a sensitive and therapeutic way.

As more studies confirm the health benefits of nature, the more important the landscape architect becomes in offering these benefits for health environments. If you have ever visited hospitals or cancer centers, you know how heavy the responsibility can be for providing respite for what is otherwise a downtrodden atmosphere. Last month, the first ever wedding was held at the healing garden at Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital. While at first I questioned whether it was appropriate to have an event like that at a hospital, let alone a healing garden, the more I considered it the more value it gave to the garden.

While I don’t anticipate this to be the future of healing gardens, as Trevor Swanson with Scottsdale Healthcare pointed out, “if a garden can facilitate that type of joy and optimism, we will always welcome it.”

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sensitive to Nitrogen. Water features are also carefully engineered to include ultraviolet filters in order to effectively kill microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, molds, algae, and yeast. The recent attention about Legionnaires Disease makes the landscape architects role especially important when designing water features for medical environments.

Most hospital gardens not only serve patients but end up providing an escape for staff and family as well, and the designer has to creatively accommodate a host of user needs and wants. Gaining input from a wide spectrum of individuals is an important part of the process, and there are a multitude of meetings with donors, patients, staff, and steering committees. But it can also lead to an ever growing list that can become unrealistic and the landscape architect may be left with the complex task of prioritizing what the garden needs and what everyone else wants. The degree to which an outdoor environment can be customized for a particular patient group is extensive and the numerous categories of healing gardens are representative of this: sensory gardens, gardens for horticultural therapy, enabling gardens, mediation gardens, gardens for the visually impaired, hospice

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HEALTH ENvIRONMENTS — THE ART OF HEALING IN THE SONORAN DESERT

When an individual checks into a hospital or clinic, the first thing they are normally considering is how quickly they can check out. This anxiety among medical patients is precisely why a landscape architect’s role is so important for health environments, because often the next best thing besides checking out of a hospital is getting outside the hospital. The exterior environments for medical facilities are critically important not just for patients, but for family and staff as well. The art of being able to inspire, heal, and help provide an escape, strikes at the heart of what makes this facet of landscape architecture so rewarding — taking advantage of nature to help restore people’s health.

Whereas the profession of landscape architecture is generally charged with balancing the needs of people with the needs of the environment, designing for medical institutions is truly focused on people, their safety and health. But the irony with this approach, as is often the case, is that the more design attention that is given toward the welfare of people, the more of nature you need to integrate. Countless studies have validated the therapeutic effect of nature, especially with medical patients, but the process taken to arrive at an effective design solution can become technical and sclerotic.

A landscape architects primary role is the protection of public health, safety, and welfare; and those responsibilities come into acute focus when designing for medical institutions. Naturally, most patient’s health is already compromised upon entering and so the landscape architect’s role is two-fold; be especially sensitive to their health deficiencies, and establish environments that have a restorative effect on their health.

Safety standards are generally more stringent at health environments and so landscape architects have to be particularly mindful of avoiding elevation changes, prickly plant material, and sharp edges with concrete or steel. Because patients may be afflicted with respiratory complications, extra attention is paid to finding plant materials that are allergen free and native, requiring less fertilization and spray since some patients are

gardens, Alzheimer’s gardens, nursing home gardens, children’s gardens, and psychiatric hospital gardens.

Most medical institutions don’t stipulate such specificity with their outdoor environments and so the challenge for landscape architects isn’t necessarily how to design these specialized gardens, but instead how to create more generalized exterior spaces that try and serve a broad range of patients and staff. More and more, architects are carving out centralized courtyards and atrium gardens that interface with a multitude of interior uses, and so the designer’s effort at developing relationships between the interior and the exterior can become complicated with such limited space. Joel Thomas, an associate with Norris Design in Phoenix, explained how because certain gardens are enclosed on all sides by tall multi-storey structures, the landscape architect is compelled to become familiar with the interior rooms, consider numerous vantage points, and be considerate of the relationship that the interior users have with the garden.

Beyond the program constraints and user needs, there are fundamental truths about the healing effects of nature for patients, and the landscape architect is

ultimately responsible for helping the users experience that form of therapy. Arizona’s dry, sun-soaked climate has long been recognized for its health benefits, but many who visit the area also identify a spiritual element to the desert as well. The irony is that trying to capture these local characteristics into outdoor medical environments has proven difficult for several reasons. While many architects are making a concerned effort to breathe sunlight into medical facilities, especially patient rooms, most gardens receive very little sunlight. Furthermore, the spirituality associated with an authentic Sonoran planting palette is impractical for most gardens because of the dangerous thorns, thistles, and spikes.

The biggest asset a hospital or clinic can provide is space. Not only can more specialized gardens be provided for particular patient groups, but larger gardens offer designers more opportunities to integrate native elements because they can be placed in areas that aren’t in contact with the users. The Mayo Clinic not only embraces the desert vernacular as part of the patient experience, but they own a lot of property adjacent to their facilities that allows for larger gardens and provides sweeping vistas of undeveloped desert for the users. Not all institutions have this benefit though, and gardens with more limited room require a creative and thoughtful approach for how to maximize the healing effects with so many constraints.

While opinions vary on what makes for an effective outdoor healing environment, there were several elements consistently mentioned by the landscape architects I spoke with: color, sound, simplicity, and privacy.

Color: Hospitals and clinics tend to feel drab and institutional if you are stuck in your room for several days at a time. A colorful outdoor environment can offer an important contrast and it was a common request from patient groups according to the individuals I interviewed. The most obvious source of this color comes from plant material but most of the prolific desert bloomers rely on sun and a lot of hospital gardens experience very little sun. Mr. Thomas spoke about having to implement color through other means, such as hardscaping, sculptures, and structures. 3 Forms paneling has been effectively incorporated into gardens because of its unique colors and soft material.

Sound: While there are countless types of water features that make a thousand

different sounds, the tranquility and escapism that is offered by the sound of water continues to make it the most popular design element for medical gardens. It represents a refreshing contrast to the desert and also offers white noise, helping provide privacy for more intimate pockets of an outdoor environment. Outdoor speakers are another common feature that help offer a peaceful ambience.

Simplicity: Between the medical equipment, testing, and doctor explanations, hospitals and clinics can be intimidating to patients, and certain diagnoses are even more overwhelming. The garden therefore shouldn’t be too complex and visually cluttered. A courtyard with an extensive palette of texture and detail may be too much stimulus for some patients and the expression, ‘less is more’ effectively applies to more generalized healing gardens. Todd Briggs, with Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, believes the simplicity of the award winning H.N. and Frances C. Berger, Thomas and Joan Kalimanis Healing Garden at Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital is what makes it such a successful space, noting that “for some patients who are sick, all it takes is being able to see a hummingbird” to improve their mood and outlook.

Privacy: Because health environments serve a myriad of users and forms of

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Ample space allows for outdoor rooms and a more native plant palette at Arizona Cancer Center at UMC North in Tucson, AZ. Courtesy: Bill Timmerman

Resin panels offer color to this healing garden at Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital. Courtesy Nick Merrick.

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redeveloped later to help pay off the project’s debt and create jobs. To launch the projects, private investment ($20 - $30 million) could be used as seed money to be leveraged against other public and private investment (2:1 or 3:1) and together those funds can be leveraged against federal funds. The project benefits are multi-fold:

• Banks and developers could remove “toxic assets” from their books, preventing bank failures as some $2 trillion in commercial real estate mortgages mature.

B Y : C H R I S E W E L L , R L A - C I T Y O F P H O E N I X

RED FIELDS TO GREEN FIELDS — CITy OF PHOENIX IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PARKS ALLIANCE & SPEEDWELL FOUNDATION

Red Fields to Green Fields (R2G) initiative seeks to acquire vacant and financially distressed commercial property and convert these spaces into urban parks and “bank” adjacent land for future sustainable development. The initiative recognizes that the over-supply of vacant commercial space in U.S. cities threatens to pull down cash-strapped banks and stall the nation’s economic recovery. At the same time, the effort acknowledges the catalytic effect that urban parks can have in improving the economy, environment and health of a city. The initiative hopes to capitalize on a historic opportunity to revitalize America’s urban core and create livable, walkable communities.

The R2G strategy is to make low cost loans available to public-private partnerships to buy distressed properties and, in many cases, demolish buildings. Part of the land would be turned into an urban park, open space or greenway, while the remainder could be densely

• Creating parks and open space —and in many cases demolishing buildings—would produce jobs in planning, design, and construction. Deconstruction jobs take an estimated 18 months, and as much as 80 percent of the material can be salvaged or resold.

• The finished parks could become economic drivers, increasing property values in revitalized urban cores.

• Unproductive real estate would become productive community assets.

(Continued on page 17)

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Images - Red field site above converted to a park in Discovery Triangle project area.

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simple, effective systems which are more easily maintained for the long term. To this end, Hines Engineers begin each project developing a site water balance which incorporates accurate historic weather data, proposed plant and soil types, and anticipated plant water use requirements. The Site Water Balance examines seasonal water use from establishment through plant maturation, and charts the changing water use requirements throughout, thus allowing the project owner to more closely manage their system.

Paired closely with the Water Balance will be an analysis of all incoming site water resources which may include: storm water, rainwater, or water harvested from various building systems such as grey water, or water collected from cooling systems. Of primary importance is developing an accurate understanding of the quantity of available water from these sources and when it will be available. The ‘when’ is essential for planning project storage efficiently.

Determining when harvested rainwater or storm water will be collectable, and at what rate, is one of the most significant engineering challenges in system design. Almost by definition, wherever the project is located natural precipitation will be infrequent during peak irrigation months, making the storage sizing process an even more integral part of attaining project conservation and budgetary goals. Water harvested from building condensate systems is based on anticipated mechanical system operations and is relatively predictable, providing a consistent flow rate during peak irrigation months.

Once the water sources and storage requirements have been outlined, determines water quality requirements is important. A well-planned water quality system will include both passive and

B Y : N A T E H I N E S - P R I N C I P A L A T H I N E S I R R I G A T I O N

R E D F I E L D S T O G R E E N F I E L D S (Continued from page 14)

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SITE SUSTAINABLE WATER HARvESTING— THE BENEFITS OF THE ENGINEERED IRRIGATION SySTEM

Potable water resources for landscape irrigation are increasingly competing with other water needs. It is essential that our profession develop innovative approaches to providing irrigation to support vibrant, healthy landscapes. The primary avenue for achieving this goal is to treat site irrigation systems in much the same way we treat other water and energy based systems, such as industrial cooling towers, domestic water use, recreational, thermoelectric, and mining. What I am suggesting is that we treat exterior landscape water use as an integrated engineered system, thereby realizing a substantial depth of water conservation, energy efficiency, and capital infrastructure savings.

I make this case because across the United States, and specifically in the Western States, the irrigation water requirement for a given project may be as high as 75 percent of the project’s total water use (this assumes a multi-use development type project). Parks will utilize a higher percentage, urban streetscapes will utilize less. Cost and infrastructure demands are immense for treating, storing, transferring, and distributing water for irrigation purposes.

A strategic development in the world of site-based water conservation is utilizing non-potable water sources, such as captured rainwater, storm water, and building-generated water sources such as grey water; and blow down or condensate water drawn from cooling systems. Each of these alternative sources may provide a large portion of the total site irrigation water demand. The introduction of increasingly complex, high-liability systems into the landscape, while having great potential on the environmental side, also makes more obvious the need for a greater degree of technical design and planning. Managing water capture and storage, analyzing and maintaining adequate water storage, and efficiently designing a host of infrastructure items are all tasks associated with developing a viable alternative water source.

An additional benefit of water conservation is that by reducing the overall site water demand to achieve our conservation goals, we are also able to lower infrastructure costs and create

active elements to ensure captured water is appropriate for use in the landscape. Passive approaches to water quality may include incorporating water directed through various settling structures, or other media (bioswales) to filter out contaminants prior to storage. Active methods include a variety of approaches which include in-line filters, UV treatment, chemical injection, and continuous recirculation of stored water to prevent contamination when water is stored for extended periods of time.

Because we are always seeking to minimize long-term water storage, and a requirement for extensive water treatment, a primary goal in planning and design is to adjust storage and incoming sources to accommodate water use within 3-5 days. When this is not possible, Hines engineers work with industry partners to develop a treatment program, using organic fertilizers and non-chemical based processes, to maintain a viable water source for later use. Additionally, this meets a corporate goal to minimize or eliminate the introduction of synthetic chemicals into our groundwaters.

A final consideration is the design and engineering of all downstream infrastructure. When a well-designed water source has been fine tuned to eliminate excessive storage, all downstream equipment, pumps, piping, and controls decrease in size, complexity, and cost. In the last four years, Hines Engineers has charted a cost comparison for 3 large non-potable irrigation systems between a design-build project approach and a competitive bid process based on development of engineered construction documents. Each project was bid as a design-build project by the Owner with a set of conceptual project documents. Hines then took each project through the CD process. We found that the projects were actually built for 25-40 percent less than the design-build costs, including design and permitting fees. Smart design ensures good stewardship of our environmental resources and project budgets! (See images on page 17)

For additional info, contact Nate Hines, Principal at Hines Irrigation, 602.240.9800, [email protected]

“It is essential that our profession develop innovative

approaches to providing irrigation to support vibrant,

healthy landscapes.” -- Hines Irrigation

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Red Fields to Green Fields partners will utilize the 11 studies to make a case to federal policy makers for creating a $200 billion, zero percent interest Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) or Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF)-like land bank and parkland acquisition fund for small and mid-sized banks, facilitated by the banking system and backed by the Federal Reserve. The fund would help finance the acquisition of under utilized developed urban real estate to be held as green space. An additional $20 - $30 billion could be available for property demolition, construction, and ongoing park maintenance, raised from a combination of public, private, and non-profit sources.

The Phoenix R2G research study team is comprised of the following City of Phoenix Departments: Parks and Recreation (lead), Neighborhood Services, Community and Economic Development, Planning and Development Services, Office of Environmental Programs, and

Government Relations Office. The local research partner is Arizona State University College of Public Programs School of Community Resources and Development and the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory. The Phoenix Parks and Conservation Foundation, the Phoenix Community Alliance, the Discovery Triangle Development Corporation, and a representative from the development community have also participated on the team. Our national partners include the City Parks Alliance and Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Focus areas for research on Red Fields to Green Fields in the City of Phoenix include Maryvale, the Palomino Neighborhood and the Discovery Triangle project area.

For further info, visit: http://rftgf.org/joomla and http://www.discoverytriangle.org.

Images - Top to Bottom: Cistern storage tanks in Texas. Underground gore storage tanks in installation phase and underground. Rainwater system diagram courtesy Ten Eyck Landscape Architects.

Jessica Lind, Phoenix800.430.6206 x1324 | 602.321.1500 [email protected]

LEOInnovative LED Lighting for Creating a Sense of Place

Designed by John Rizzi/Clanton & Associates, Inc.

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The landscape architect successfully collaborated with the architect to create a new South Mountain Library project located on the South Mountain Community College campus in Phoenix. The 45,000 sq. ft. library is a joint venture with the City of Phoenix Library Dept. and the Maricopa County Community College District. The library landscape architectural design features historic and culturally inspired contextual design, drawn from the agricultural context. The project scope included site analysis for the new library as well as schematic design, construction documents, and construction phase services for the library, the Learning Resource Center remodel, and parking lot expansion. The design and material selection focused on sustainable design solutions such as low-water-use plants, water harvesting, and local material selection.

This year the Arizona ASLA Chapter acknowledges thirteen outstanding projects that represents the talented work of our local professionals and students. In addition to the design awards, the chapter also awarded five awards of recognition

to recognize outstanding local professionals, educator, community service projects, and firms that contribute to the local profession.

KIMLEY-HORN & ASSOCIATESAWARD OF EXCELLENCE & PRESIDENT’S AWARDGENERAL DESIGN

SOUTH MOUNTAIN COMMUNITy COLLEGE LIBRARy AND CAMPUS EXPANSION - PHOENIX, AZ

“This project creates a beautiful and elegant dialogue between landscape architecture and architecture. It embraces its context through the selection of appropriate plant materials and water consumption. The simplicity and massing of the plants and site materials uses principles of rhythm, texture, and form in a progressive and thoughtful manner that will most certainly mature into a beautifully performing landscape.” -- Jury Comment

2012 AzASLA AWARDS

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GBtwo LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE HONOR AWARD GENERAL DESIGN

HABITAT AT THE PHOENIX CONvENTION CENTER PHOENIX, AZTEN EYCK LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTSHONOR AWARD GENERAL DESIGN‘Habitat’ at the Phoenix Convention Center is located at the northwest corner of 5th Street and Washington within an entry/exit plaza for the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix. The plaza consists of both a living wall and water harvesting garden, each of which shape a shady and comfortable welcoming plaza for visitors to the convention center. In a quest to make this desert city more comfortable, sustainable, and of-this-place, the habitat garden thrives from the urban structure that embraces it.

“The green wall, use of gabions, beautiful gardens, and strong geometry created a stunning, contextual, and sustainable landscape that will be influential and pass the test of time.” -- Jury Comment

CHANDLER CITy HALL —CHANDLER, AZ

The $47M, multi-building Chandler City Hall campus covers 4.3 acres at the heart of an expanding civic district, bringing a new urban energy to the historic downtown area. Constructed in 2010, the complex comprises the City Hall building itself, the City Council Chambers, a Vision Gallery, administrative office spaces, and a public parking garage. Sustainable landscape design principles are applied throughout and include the use of reclaimed gray water generated by building mechanical systems to provide ample water supply for irrigation and water features.

“The Landscape Architects created a visually stunning entrance for the City of Chandler and all who drive by or visit this City Hall. The simple grid of palm trees, rectilinear planting beds, and central space work well with the form and scale of the architecture.” -- Jury Comment

CITY OF TUCSONHONOR AWARDANALYSIS AND PLANNING

TEN EYCK LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE - GENERAL DESIGN

TAyLOR MALL, ARIZONA STATE UNIvERSITy DOWNTOWN CAMPUS PHOENIX, AZ

The Taylor Mall project at the ASU Downtown Campus redesigns a three-block section of Taylor Street in downtown Phoenix from Central Ave to 3rd Street and creates a pedestrian-oriented mall for the new ASU downtown campus. Taylor Street at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication was transformed from a former asphalt parking lot into a pedestrian-oriented space by eliminating vehicle access while still maintaining emergency access. A planted ‘canal’ recalls the historic canals of Phoenix and traverses the street with harvested storm water and A/C condensate. New tree-shaded walkways are accompanied by illuminated seating elements, artist mosaics, and new pedestrian lighting.

“The Landscape Architect’s solution for this downtown campus space was elegantly detailed. The performing bio swales were integrated into the overall design in a seamless manner exposing this system for all to experience as a vital part of the overall design.” -- Jury Comment

CITy OF TUCSON COMMERCIAL RAINWATER HARvESTING ORDINANCE -TUCSON, AZ

In 2009, the City of Tucson adopted a Commercial Rainwater Harvesting Ordinance. As of July 2010, all commercial projects are required to meet 50 percent of landscape irrigation needs by harvested rainwater, either through passive or active methods. Irrigation plans must include locations of the water harvesting infiltration areas (WHIA) and a water budget table indicating the amount of water needs that will be met through rainwater harvesting in each of the WHIA.

“The jury felt strongly that the City of Tucson should be recognized for passing such an important ordinance for commercial properties. The jury recognized the difficult political process that is required to bring this thoughtful idea into public policy. Its enforcement will result in significant and lasting benefits to residents of the City of Tucson.” -- Jury Comment

SPECIAL AWARDS

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR

EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR

SAGE OF THE YEAR

Jim Coffman, RLA,ASLA Coffman Studios

Gabriel Montemayor,ASLA Arizona State University Tempe, AZ

Duane Blossom, RLA, FASLA

OFFICE OF THE YEARWheat Scharf Associates Tucson, AZ

FRIEND OF THE YEAR

MAINTENANCE AWARD

COMMUNITY SERVICE RECOGNITION

Ed Mulrean and Arid Zone Trees Queen Creek, AZ

Asset Landscaping University of Phoenix Cardinal’s Stadium Glendale, AZ

Aviva Children’s Services Play Space, Tucson, AZ University of Arizona

Beth Johannessen, Lee Streitz, Travis Mueller, Laura Jensen, Scot Pipkin, Julia Roberts.

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LORA MARTENS - ASUSTUDENT HONOR AWARDANALYSIS AND PLANNING

VALERIE AHYONG - ASUSTUDENT HONOR AWARDANALYSIS AND PLANNING

TRAVIS MUELLER - U OF A GENERAL DESIGN - STUDENT HONOR AWARD

STEVE MARTINOHONOR AWARD - RESIDENTIALUP TO $75,000

COLWELL SHELOR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUREAWARD OF EXCELLENCE - RESIDENTIALCONSTRUCTION BUDGET $75K-$200K

BEFORE

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ARCADIA RESIDENCE PHOENIX, AZ

This 1-acre site features a home and landscape renovation that ventured to honor the historic essence of Arcadia that has made the neighborhood so distinctive and livable for several decades. The preservation of lawn and a 50-year old grapefruit grove maintained through existing flood irrigation bespoke of its relevance and appropriateness to Arcadia and served to stimulate the children’s healthy play out-of-doors and among the neighborhood community.

CITy GROCERy PHOENIX, AZ

SONORAN DESERTBIOREGION

CAMPBELL PARK BRIDGE

URBAN AGRICULTURE

The City Grocery Project is an adaptive re-use of a small, dilapidated neighborhood grocery store and adjacent bungalow, built in 1928. These two buildings, and the lot they share, were remodeled into a joined work-live compound with a desert inspired courtyard.

“The transformation of this residence within such a limited budget was invigorating to the jury. The simplicity of the materials proves that you do not need a large budget to create both privacy and thoughtful spaces that are contextual to the region and architecture.” -- Jury Comment

The Sonoran Desert Bioregion serves as a case study focused on the importance of identifying natural and built systems at a regional scale to plan and design sustainably in a desert city. A bioregional approach serves as an opportunity for arid Southwest cities and regions to become more sustainable in the way they design and plan, while contributing to alleviating global issues such as peak oil/energy, global warming, drought, and climate change for a sustainable future.

Campbell Bridge Park is a melding of art and urban habitat. The goal was to create a space that maintains Campbell Bridge’s availability as urban bat habitat while becoming a space where Tucsonans can enjoy the outdoors in one of today’s contemporary parks.

“The entire document is organized extremely clearly and with outstanding graphics. The plan, birds-eye view, section, and perspectives, with accompanying text made this project easy for the jury to understand and award.” -- Jury Comment.

This project examined dozens of successful urban agriculture projects around the country to create typologies for application on the ground. The matrix created is intended to be a tool that could empower communities to explore and apply different types of urban agriculture in order to achieve their community development goals.

“The jury’s favorite graphic explains what a thriving community needs to meet its residents’ needs.” -- Jury Comment.

“The student’s collaborative process and work celebrates the time in which we live by promoting modernism through architecture, site design and use.” -- Jury Comment

“This submittal was overall a beautiful and informative document that addresses global issues at site-specific scales that would not only benefit Scottsdale but also serve as a reference tool for other Sonoran Desert cities.” -- Jury Comment

“The unexpected textures created within the concrete and the separation of pedestrian and automobile movement was handled in a delicate and thoughtful manner.” -- Jury Comment

JOEL ALDRIDGE, JOEL CARRASCO, BRANDON COLVIN, KRISTI JOHNSON, VALERIE JOHNSON, ZANE JONES, MICHAEL GEHART, JOANNA LEE, AARON LEGENDRE, PETER PANG, JOSE QUINTANA, BISSAN SALLOUM, BRANDON WENZEL, YING XLONG. - ASU STUDENT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE STUDENT COLLABORATIVE

(EN)HANCE PARKMASTER PLANPHOENIX, AZ

The formal design grid reveals the flow and geometry of the freeway below, while a “thickened edge” creates a signature threshold into the park, maximizing shade and climate comfort in America’s hottest city. (En)Hance Park is about creating a new vision of the potential of urban infrastructure, showing that infrastructure can function as more than stand-alone elements — and proving that energy and infrastructure can become a rich multi-layered celebration of the complexity of our urban environments.

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GOLD & STUDENT SPONSOR COPPER SPONSORS

GALA SPEAKER SPONSORS

AMIGO SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSOR

A SPECIAL THANK yOU TO ALL OF OUR 2012 SPONSORS

Contact a Ewing Water Management Specialistat [email protected].

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