Architects in Schools

Bringing design to students across Oregon

Introduce elementary school students to the power and possibilities of design through the Architecture Foundation of Oregon Architects in Schools program. Your participation creates lifelong learners and critical thinkers who have a greater understanding of their environment and its impact on people’s lives.

Volunteer professionals such as architects, engineers, contractors and other designers are paired with an elementary school teacher to deliver creative, design-based lessons. Sign up to share your passion and expertise on design, while increasing student engagement and success.

Learn more and apply to participate today: bit.ly/ais_programinfo

 

A Virtual Lunch & Learn is scheduled for Monday, October 16, 12-1pm on Zoom for those interested in learning more. Register here.

 

2023-24 Program Information: bit.ly/ais_programinfo

Volunteer Application: bit.ly/ais23-24_volunteerapp

Application Deadline: Sunday, October 22, 2023

Trust for Public Land - Oregon Rural Community Schoolyards Program

The Trust for Public Land’s Oregon Rural Schoolyard Program is a statewide pilot project to renovate three outdated playgrounds throughout the state, into vibrant nature-rich Community Schoolyards. Community Schoolyards are for the students during the day and open to the public outside of school hours. The first two schoolyards are in Madras and Ontario, which are some of the most diverse rural communities in Oregon. Through a community-led iterative design process, both the Madras and Ontario Schoolyard Projects have final design concepts and TPL is in a fundraising phase for capital costs. Both of these areas of Oregon are primarily low-income, Title I schools, at great risk for wildfires and climate change, and counties with poor health outcomes. Creating safe engaging green spaces will ideally provide mental and physical health resources for the youth and greater community.

TPL is reaching out to communities throughout Oregon to help jumpstart fundraising efforts. Below are the go-fund-me links to both schoolyards. Please consider contributing to these fundraising efforts!

 

Madras Elementary Community Schoolyard Project: https://www.gofundme.com/f/madras-elementary-schoolyard-community-fundraiser

 

Alameda Elementary Community Schoolyard Project: https://www.gofundme.com/f/alameda-schoolyard-community-fundraiser

 

Please visit Oregon Rural Schoolyard Program for more information.

INSTANT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY

Kenneth Helphand is looking for a home for his collection of Landscape Architecture periodicals. Rare opportunity for a personal or office library or landscape historian.

In return, he asks for a donation to the Kenneth Helphand Lecture Fund, Department of Landscape Architecture, UO in any amount.

Contact Kenny Helphand, helphand@uoregon.edu or 541 206-8959

 

Landscape Architecture Magazine

Eleven linear feet of shelf space.

1937-2019 (almost complete with only a few omissions)

LANDSCAPE JOURNAL

VOLS:  1-42 (complete run)

LANDFORUM  (complete run. 1997-2002)

Issues !-14

TOPOS

Numbers 3, 6, 7, 21-107

Congratulations to the 2023 Class of the Council of Fellows!

The American Society of Landscape Architects has elevated 48 members as ASLA Fellows for their exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large. Two of this year's awardees are Oregon practitioners: Laurie Matthews, ASLA, MIG; and Mauricio Villarreal, ASLA, PLACE.

ASLA Fellows will be elevated during a special investiture ceremony at the 2023 Conference on Landscape Architecture, which will be held in Minneapolis, October 27-30, 2023.

Congratulations and thank you for your good work!

ASLA Fellow Laurie Matthews

ASLA Fellow Mauricio Villarreal

Call for Volunteers - Burns-Paiute NPS Old Camp Park

Final Production Wrap-up Team 

ASLA members and affiliates interested in continuing the work with the Burns-Pauite Tribe and National Park Service, this is your chance. The University of Oregon student group successfully presented to Tribal Council and our draft was adopted, but now the students are on summer break after giving six months of their time and efforts.  

We foresee needing assistance in the following areas. First, changes to graphics and maps created for the plan and second, a final InDesign document for the smaller outreach edition. All of this allows the Tribe to begin fundraising. The Planning Committee's review process is moving along and we expect to have their review comments in early-mid August. Some work could begin after that. We anticipate the edit and review process for the outreach document, led by NPS staff, will be ready for final production in early September.  

If you can volunteer or if you have questions, including time commitments, skills required, and/or what has been presented so far please reach out to Arica Duhrkoop-Galas at aricad@uoregon.edu

Call for Volunteers - OSLAB

Help shape state requirements for landscape architects!

OSLAB is seeking Registered Landscape Architects to help with assessment of standards for registration (licensure) and continuing education requirements. Volunteers who can bring diverse voices and experiences to the conversation and represent practitioners in varying career stages are a key part of this effort. Emerging professional? Mid-career? Seasoned practitioner? OSLAB wants to hear from you. 

Contact the Oregon State Landscape Architect Board (OSLAB) at oslab.info@bgelab.oregon.govor 503-589-0093. Visit our website to learn more.

Oregon ASLA Chapter Services Survey

Tell us what you want! 



Take the Oregon ASLA Chapter Services Survey

In 2020, the ExCom had to cancel in-person activities and make other significant changes to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we look ahead into 2023 and 2024, the ExCom recognizes the opportunity to refresh or refine the activities and services we provide in Oregon. This survey is focused on our state's activities and services. Please share your feedback, whether you are an ASLA member or not, to help us prioritize the services and activities that will best serve the Oregon landscape architecture community. 

NPS Burns Paiute Project

Project Process 

Following the Burns Paiute Tribe’s successful request for assistance from the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (NPS-RTCA) program, the Planning Committee met in June 2022 to share visions for the site, establish scope, and identify possible community engagement activities to reach the tribe and broader Burns community. This meeting included NPS-RTCA staff led by Alex Stone, tribal members and representatives, and the RV Park Manager. 

A longstanding partnership that the National Park Service has with the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) collaboratively supports community assistance and brings design expertise to mutually selected RTCA projects. The Old Camp project excited the ASLA-Oregon Chapter and with the Chapter’s invitation and travel stipend the University of Oregon’s Landscape Architecture Department offered a special two quarter independent study class to work with NPS-RTCA and the Burns Paiute Tribe. 

The University of Oregon team, a class of 6 students including Cameron Coronado, Tressa Cummings, Grace Graham, Candi Rosario, Sarah Phillips, and Jenna Witzleben, and instructor Arica Duhrkoop-Galas, began the research and site analysis phase of the Old Camp Historic Park project in January of 2023 which culminated in a research report, site visit, and community engagement workshop in April 2023. From January to April, the UO team worked to gather information on the history, traditional way of life, current strategic goals and community programs, climate and site inventory, and cultural and ecologically important plants of the Northern Paiute People to ground the project in the historical and cultural context. This research drew upon resources shared by the tribe in addition to independent research done by the UO team. Throughout this process, UO, NPS-RTCA, and BPT members met every other week to check in on progress and gather feedback on research progress.  

 The site visit and community engagement workshop were organized to be a listening session for tribal members to share memories and thoughts about Old Camp’s future. During the site visit, the UO and NPS-RTCA team was joined by the RV Park Manager, two tribal members and a tribal elder who shared memories of the site. The workshop used a small group format to create space for undirected conversation. While each group had a facilitator with some pre-written questions approved by the Tribe, the structure was loose and intended to respond to the stories and themes that were brought up throughout the workshop. Each participant was provided a placemat with a site map and some guiding questions, encouraging those who did not feel comfortable sharing verbally to share ideas in writing.  

Following the site visit and workshop, the UO student team began creating a site plan for the Old Camp Historic Park and drafting the final research report, integrating the ideas and feedback generated at the workshop into a visual and written product. UO, NPS-RTCA, and BPT check-ins once every other week continued to ensure UO’s work aligned with the tribe’s vision for Old Camp. After completing the draft report and site plan, the UO and NPS-RTCA team is travelling to Burns in June to co-present the final draft conceptual plan to the Burns Paiute Tribal Council. 

In Memoriam: Kevin Robert Perry, FASLA

With heavy hearts, we share news that our colleague, Kevin Robert Perry, FASLA, passed away on April 2nd, 2023. Kevin was diagnosed with ALS in October 2022 and his illness progressed quickly. 

Kevin was a past member of the Oregon Chapter and many in our community worked with Kevin during his time at the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services or later in private practice. More recently, Kevin was a longtime lecturer at the University of California Davis and the founder of Urban Rain Studio.

Kevin’s passion for green infrastructure and his innovative green street designs were the hallmarks of his career. In 2017, Kevin was elevated to Fellow in the ASLA, with a nomination from the California Sierra Chapter that stated, “He’s made people see their streets differently.”

Our deepest condolences go out to his wife, Andrea Carlassare, his family, and loved ones. 

A GoFundMe has been established to ease the financial burdens on Kevin’s family for those that wish to contribute. https://www.gofundme.com/f/kevin-robert-perry

European Product Design Award

The European Product Design Award (ePDA)—a cutting-edge global event dedicated to elevating and promoting the art of Product Design—is waiting for you in 2023 too.

 

The European Product Design Award honours and acknowledges the skills of international product and industrial designers who work to make our daily lives better through their useful and well-considered inventions. By presenting outstanding designers to a global audience, ePDA fosters the expansion of product design on a global scale.

Submit your artwork to one of our numerous categories before May 1, 2023, and get 10% off with Early Bird Deadline! 

Portland Parks Foundation Funding Opportunities

Spring is here! Time for two exciting funding opportunities! 

Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership

Do you know an amazing new leader in the world of Portland parks, gardens, natural areas? 

PPF is inviting nominations for emerging leaders, connectors, and innovators who are bringing creative new approaches to advancing accessibility and innovation in Portland’s parks system.  

Got someone in mind? (Psst: you can nominate yourself!) This is a unique opportunity for an emerging individual, organization or initiative to receive $10,000 to advance their efforts, plus technical assistance in partnership with PPF.  All nominees will be celebrated at our Spring Summit on May 18!
 

Submit your nomination by April 9th.

Nominate Today

This is only the second year that PPF has offered this special new opportunity, named after founding PPF Board Chair, Josephine (Joey) Pope, whose decades of advocacy and activism made our parks system more accessible and beautiful for all. We know that many Portlanders are carrying this torch, and it's time to uplift their efforts.

Learn more about last year's awardee, Pamela Slaughter, founder of People of Color Outdoors, and all of the amazing 2022 nominees.

*Photo: Josephine (Joey) Pope has devoted over four decades of her life to activism, philanthropy, and leadership in making Portland’s parks system more accessible to all.

Spring Small Grants

We are excited to extend another invitation to community groups to apply to our Small Grants Program. These $2,000 grants support community-based organizations within the city of Portland who foster equitable access to our urban parks, natural areas, community gardens and recreation centers. This program is supported by a fund from the estate of Nancy Hebb Freeman + the Portland Parks & Recreation's Community Partnership Program. 

Applications are due April 15th. Click here to learn more.

Apply Today

For questions related to either program or grant-writing assistance, contact Jessica Green: jgreen@portlandpf.org or 503-446-3790

OSLAB Administrative Rules Committee Volunteers

Help shape state requirements for landscape architects!

OSLAB is seeking Registered Landscape Architects to join its Administrative Rules

Committee (ARC). The ARC is a long-standing committee that includes Board members and

Board registrants. The ARC assists with review of existing rules and development of ideas for

rule changes. OSLAB uses the ARC to help review rulemaking proposals for clarity as well as

for input on opportunities to simplify, modernize, or eliminate rules. Rules might sound like a dull

topic, but rules are of great importance as this is where key decisions about regulation of the

profession are established. Once rules are adopted, OSLAB and its registrants must follow

these rules.

The next assignments for the ARC will be helping the Board evaluate standards for

registration (including education and work experience requirements) and continuing

education requirements. There is not a set term for ARC membership, but OSLAB hopes to

find individuals who can volunteer for 18 to 24 months, allowing time for the upcoming efforts to

be completed. The anticipated workload is attendance at several virtual meetings per year, with

limited review of materials in between meetings.

Volunteers who can bring diverse voices and experiences to the conversation and

represent practitioners in varying career stages are a key part of this effort. Emerging

professional? Mid-career? Seasoned practitioner? OSLAB wants to hear from you. Contact the

Oregon State Landscape Architect Board (OSLAB) at oslab.info@bgelab.oregon.gov or 503-

589-0093.

Continuing education credit available! A Registered Landscape Architect is eligible for up to

4 hours of health, safety, and welfare credit after completion of 1 year of service as an

appointed committee member. Credit is then available for ongoing service.

UO Studio Reviews - Volunteers Needed

Dear Landscape Architect Friends and Colleagues,

The University of Oregon's landscape architecture department is once again scheduling final reviews and your professional knowledge is valuable. If you have time the week of 11/28 for either a half session of two hours or a full session of four, please reach out to aricad@uoregon.edu to get paired up with a studio instructor. Most reviews are in the afternoon Tues through Friday - 2:00-6:00, with one additional review Friday morning 8:30-12:30.

Thank you!

Climate Action Committee

ASLA Oregon is establishing a committee to focus on Climate Action for our local chapter. In 2022 we partnered with the Washington and Alaska Chapters for a webinar ‘Restitching Communities with Landscapes: Climate Justice Strategies in the Pacific Northwest’. We are building on this work and provide a platform for our local landscape architecture community to learn and lead on climate with a specific focus on Oregon-specific issues.

We are looking for practitioners, educators, and students from across Oregon to join this group. The committee will reflect the key issues and opportunities and set the agenda for on-going activities around climate action including educational events and resources.

We will also select from the group a Climate Action Committee Chair, which will be a new member of ExCom that will regularly report on the group to the larger leadership of the chapter.

We will be connecting these state-wide activities to other regional collaborations in the North Pacific Region, and the larger ASLA National Climate Action Committee, and the soon to be released Climate Action Plan which will be unveiled at the Annual meeting in San Francisco on November 12 th . The overall goals of the committee are to:

 Inspire action toward the adoption of climate positive design

 Coordinate with ASLA national and regional chairs on climate action

 Connection point for regional networking around climate issues

 Provide education and outreach about landscape architecture and the climate

crisis

Please contact Jason King presidentelect@aslaoregon.org if you are interested in joining the committee, and we will convene regular committee meetings starting in December 2022.

Series of panels on the Future of PSU as an Urban University

The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the City of Portland's 1972 Downtown Plan, one of the most consequential plans in the city's history. It put in place a vision for a public, pedestrian-scaled, multipurpose, and vital downtown. Through the requirements adopted in the Downtown Plan and subsequent public and private investments stemming from it, Portland's core area became an international icon for central city recovery. That plan also formally identified Portland State University as the city's "urban university."

In February of this year, PhD candidate, Kimberly Nightingale, and Professor Emeritus, Ethan Seltzer, wrote a paper entitled Portland, Portland State, and the Urban University Idea that examines the history of the urban university idea in the U.S. and presents a working definition of what an urban university is today. It then examines the way that being an urban university has been baked into Portland State's identity from its very beginning, and concludes with some thoughts about where we might go from here.

The following panel discussions pick up where the paper leaves off. These hybrid events are free and open to the public, with a limited number of in-person seats available for each discussion. Events will take place in the Dirce Moroni Toulan Library of Urban and Public Affairs on the 7th floor of the PSU Urban Center. Feel free to contact the CUPA Dean's Office if you have any questions and visit the website here: https://www.pdx.edu/urban-public-affairs/panel-discussions

Call for Volunteers - Rivers to Ridges Parks and Open Space Vision

20-Year Vision “Refresh” Process Underway – A Call for Volunteers

The Rivers to Ridges Partnership is a voluntary association of 19 organizations working collaboratively to advance the protection, restoration, and management of open space resources in the southern Willamette Valley. The name Rivers to Ridges emanates from a regional open space vision which was endorsed by numerous stakeholder groups and unanimously by local elected officials from the Eugene-Springfield area in 2003.

Through the combined efforts of our partners, a significant amount of what was envisioned in the 2003 Rivers to Ridges vision has been implemented! This includes the conservation of nearly 9,000 acres of land, construction of 57 miles of trails and paths, and restoration and enhancement of 8,800 acres of habitat. 

To build on this success and look toward what might be possible over the next 20 years, the Rivers to Ridges Partnership has now engaged in a vision “Refresh” process and plan to have an updated vision developed by early 2023. For more about Rivers to Ridges, go to www.rivers2ridges.org

Charrette Facilitators Wanted

The Rivers to Ridges partnership will be conducting a half-day work-session in Eugene on December 9 using a design charrette process. In order for Partnership staff to be able to participate, we are seeking 2-3 volunteers to facilitate small groups. If you may be interested in volunteering at this important event, please contact Jeff Krueger at jkenvironments@gmail.com for more information.

Photo by Paul Gordon

Wildfire Adapted Communities Recommendations Report

The DLCD has released the Wildfire Adapted Communities Recommendations Report for public review. Written comments will be accepted through September 16, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. DLCD encourages written comments on the recommendations which may be submitted using the online comment form.

 

The Department of Land Conservation and Development’s (DLCD) charge under Senate Bill 762 (2021) is to recommend potential changes to the statewide land use planning program. Legislators asked DLCD to develop recommendations regarding comprehensive plan sand zoning codes that minimize wildfire risk and create more wildfire adapted communities.

 

In addition to accepting written comments, DLCD is hosting two Community Listening Sessions. All are welcome to attend.

 

September 8, 2022 | 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Register

September 8, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Register

The Land Conservation and Development Commission will receive a staff presentation and offer guidance on a final version of the recommendations report at their September 22-23, 2022 meeting. While public comment will be received at this meeting, the Legislature is asking for department recommendations. This is not a formal action by the commission. 

DLCD encourages community members and other interested parties to review the summary level document outlining DLCD's recommendations, or to review the document in full.

If you are interested in reviewing previous meeting materials, meeting summaries and recordings, and other resources, they are available on DLCD’s Wildfire Adapted Communities webpage.

A note regarding related agency work:

Several other agencies are responsible for implementing work related to SB 762. View a summary of each organization's role related to the Wildland Urban Interface and risk map here. For more information, or to provide comment on other important aspects of Oregon's wildfire adaptation program, see these websites or contact DLCD staff for more information:

2022 AIA/ASLA Eugene People's Choice Awards

Dates have now been released for this annual popular vote event! ASLA Oregon encourages our Willamette Valley members to enter projects and increase public exposure to good design.

Each year, the American Institute of Architects, Southwestern Oregon Chapter (AIA-SWO) in collaboration with the Willamette Valley Section of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) sponsored the People’s Choice Awards for Architecture.

These awards aim to educate and inspire our fellow citizens by showcasing architecture, interiors and landscape architecture projects created within the AIA Eugene Section area by AIA or ASLA members. The program is intended to demonstrate to the public the role of the architectural profession in enhancing the built environment. 

2020 saw the inclusion of AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence: Within the word limit identified above, for built projects, entrants are asked to describe how their project address the categories “Design for Integration” and “Design for Discovery”, and two other categories as determined by the selecting firm. For unbuilt projects, they needed to address “Design for Integration” and three other categories.

Important Dates

  • Aug 1 - Sep 16 Submittal Period (Early Bird Pricing through Aug 26)

  • Oct 3-17 Voting Period

  • TBD Announcement of Winners/Award Event

See More on the AIA Website