World Landscape Architecture Month

Demonstrating landscape architecture’s presence in the community

By Rindi White and Sue Gillespie

Landscape architect Stephanie Cloud speaks to fifth-graders at Winterberry Charter School.

World Landscape Architecture Month

Demonstrating landscape architecture’s presence in the community

By Rindi White and Sue Gillespie

I

n celebration of World Landscape Architecture Month, held each year in April, the landscape architects at Bettisworth North Architects set out to increase awareness of and educate others about the breadth and depth of their profession.

“Look out your window when driving through any area—a neighborhood, an urban center, a remote hospital campus, a public park—and a landscape architect almost certainly helped design what you see,” Principal Landscape Architect Mark Kimerer says.

The Bettisworth landscape team embarked on several community outreach efforts in the month of April:

Winterberry Charter School fifth-graders work on their playground planting designs.

Talking with Fifth-Graders at Winterberry Charter School

Landscape architect Stephanie Cloud engaged with fifth-graders at Winterberry Charter School over a two-week period, sharing with students what exactly a landscape architect does. During her second visit, Cloud guided students through creating their own planting designs for the school’s playground, which will be renovated this summer.

Landscape architect Stephanie Cloud helps Winterberry Charter School fifth-graders get started on their playground planting designs.

Being Hosted on Outdoor Alaska

Kimerer and Leah Boltz, co-founder of Parks for All and principal of Bettisworth North, along with Donnie Hayes, Fairbanks North Star Borough director of parks and recreation, and Steve Cleary, executive director of Alaska Trails, joined KSKA’s Outdoor Alaska host Lisa Keller for a lively discussion panel about the role of landscape architects in creating parks and trails across the state.

Click here to listen to the show

Landscape architect Stephanie Cloud, at bottom left, reviews design options for summer projects with Lacy Higham, top left, and Katie DiCristina, at right, both of UAF’s Georgeson Botanical Garden.

Volunteering at UAF Georgeson Botanical Garden

In recognition of Earth Day, April 22, the landscape team offered pro bono services in support of several summer projects planned for Georgeson Botanical Garden at UAF. Landscape architects Lauri Minski and Stephanie Cloud toured the garden and met with executive director Katie DiCristina to brainstorm design options for enhancing the visitor experience.

Landscape architects Jonny Hayes, Anchorage Museum, and Mark Kimerer, Bettisworth North, discuss the breadth of landscape architecture during the recent podcast “Landscape Architecture: Empowering Communities.”

Producing the Podcast “Landscape Architecture: Empowering Communities”

Kimerer welcomed Jonny Hayes, a landscape architect who now serves as chief design officer at the Anchorage Museum, on the podcast. Also accompanied by Boltz, the three explored landscape architecture’s far-reaching and sometimes surprising impact on northern communities and how to harvest diverse perspectives for design that nurture growth and vibrancy.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Rindi White is the editor of The Alaska Contractor magazine. Sue Gillespie is the marketing and proposal manager for Bettisworth North. Photos provided by Bettisworth North.

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