Washington, D.C., June 26, 2012 – The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) announced the recipients of the Society’s 2012 Honors. Selected by ASLA’s Board of Trustees, the Honors represent the highest awards ASLA presents each year. The awards ceremony will take place at the 2012 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO, September 28–October 1 in Phoenix.

ASLA Medal: Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, FASLA 

Cornelia Oberlander, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Medal, the Society’s highest award for a landscape architect. Oberlander has been and continues to be among the most important practitioners emphasizing sustainable design in all her built work, frequent lectures, influential publications, and numerous awards, such as the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe award from the International Federation of Landscape Architects in 2011. She was one of the first women in the post-World War II era to establish her own practice. Her more than 35-year collaboration with Arthur Erickson, Canada’s leading architect, included several noteworthy projects in Canada and the United States: the Robson Square Provincial Government complex and Courthouse in Vancouver, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and the Canadian Chancery in Washington, D.C, as well as the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the Vancouver Public Library with Moshe Safdie Architects. 

ASLA Design Medal: Peter Walker, FASLA 

Peter Walker, FASLA, will receive the ASLA Design Medal in recognition of exceptional design work over a sustained period of at least ten years. Walker’s fascination with materials and experimental use of water, landform, and plant materials have produced some of the most provocative projects in the profession. His portfolio includes Foothills College in Los Altos Hills, California to the IBM Solana Campus in Southlake, Texas to the National September 11 Memorial in New York City. Walker co-founded the firm Sasaki, Walker and Associates in 1956 and opened its West Coast office, which became the SWA Group in 1976. In 1983, he formed Peter Walker and Partners in 1983, now known as PWP Landscape Architecture. Walker received the ASLA Medal in 2004, and the International Federation of Landscape Architects’s Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Gold Medal in 2005 for lifetime achievement.

Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal: Herrick Smith, FASLA 

Herrick Smith, FASLA, will receive the Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal. The award recognizes significant and sustained excellence in landscape architecture education. Smith taught in the University of Florida’s Department of Landscape Architecture from 1966 until his retirement in 1995 as professor emeritus. Known as a tough but insightful teacher, Smith served as a catalyst for thousands of students to explore ideas and opportunities in the field. ASLA awarded special recognition to Herrick in 1982 for helping to establish six landscape architecture programs at Auburn University, the University of Arkansas, Mississippi State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Toronto, and North Carolina A&T University.

LaGasse Medal - Landscape Architect: Mary Hughes, FASLA 

Mary Hughes, FASLA, will receive the LaGasse Medal for contributions to the management and conservation of natural resources and public landscapes. Since 1996, Hughes, a noted landscape preservationist, has been the university landscape architect at the University of Virginia. She has guided the campus both in its preservation as a historic place and in its evolution as home to one of the nation’s most vital 21st century universities. She also successfully advocated for, and implemented, an innovative stormwater master plan on the campus.

LaGasse Medal - Non-Landscape Architect: Chesapeake Bay Foundation 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) will receive the LaGasse Medal for contributions to the management and conservation of natural resources and public landscapes. CBF has a decades-long track record for protecting the Chesapeake Bay. Its goal has been to improve water quality by reducing pollution. CBF is using the principles of landscape architecture to restore natural filters on both the land and in the water, thereby providing resilience to the entire Chesapeake Bay system. CBF provides a broad range of activities to inform the public about what they can do to save the Bay, including introducing young people to the Bay through its environmental education program.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Hon ASLA, will receive the Olmsted Medal. The award recognizes individuals, organizations, agencies, or programs outside the profession of landscape architecture for environmental leadership, vision, and stewardship. First elected to the U.S. Congress in 1996, Congressman Blumenauer represents Oregon’s 3rd Congressional district and is a leading environmental advocate. Among his many accomplishments, Congressman Blumenauer has authored and co‐sponsored legislation to preserve and protect public lands, shift the nation’s energy policy towards renewable energy and energy efficiency, curb global warming, and clean our nation’s water bodies.

Medal of Excellence: Design Workshop's Design Week 

Design Workshop's Design Week will receive the Landscape Architecture Medal of Excellence. The award recognizes significant contributions to landscape architecture policy, research, education, project planning and design, or a combination of these items. Design Week, a pro bono effort launched in 2004 by the Design Workshop, is aimed at creating a link between education and practice. It is a national program that joins landscape architecture students with students from other disciplines, faculty, and a real client in a collaborative learning environment to pursue a real project. Design Workshop has taken teams of design professionals to more than 10 universities across the United States engaging more than 1,600 students.

The Firm Award: PWP Landscape Architecture 

PWP Landscape Architecture will receive the Landscape Architecture Firm Award, the highest award ASLA may bestow upon a landscape architecture firm in recognition of distinguished work that influences the profession. Founded in 1983 by Peter Walker, PWP works globally on a variety of projects in urban design, planning, and landscape design. Based in Berkeley, California, the firm has seven partners and 35 employees. It has received more than 90 regional, national, and international design awards including 35 national awards from ASLA. Notable firm projects include the Tanner Fountain at Harvard University, Toyota Municipal Museum at Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and the National 9/11 Memorial in New York City.

Community ServiceAward: ASLA Potomac Chapter/ACE Mentor Program Legacy Project 

The ASLA Potomac Chapter/ACE Mentor Program Legacy Project will receive the Community Service Award. The award recognizes an individual landscape architect, group of landscape architects, landscape architecture firms, landscape architecture education programs, or ASLA Chapters who have provided sustained, pro bono service to the community demonstrating sound principles or values of landscape architecture. The ASLA Potomac Chapter partnered with the ACE Mentoring Program of the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area Inc. (ACE DC) in the fall of 2009 to undertake the 2010 ASLA Legacy Project in conjunction with the ASLA National Convention in Washington, D.C. Over the course of 15 months, the volunteers worked with Coolidge High School of Washington, D.C., the Calvin Coolidge High School Alumni Association, and the community to prepare a campus beautification master plan and to design and build a greenhouse garden and outdoor classroom.