Webinar: Landscape Architect Q&A
In view of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and times of uncertainty and isolation, it’s more important than ever to continue connecting students to leaders in the landscape architect community, especially when networking in person is not possible. Understanding that these opportunities are key components in developing as an emerging professional, this event provides the ability to discuss these topics in a more intimate format. During this virtual Q&A session, the presenters will engage in dialogue on leadership, examine the profession at a deeper level, explore working on meaningful projects, and endeavor to make landscape architecture the focal point of design projects.
Learning Objectives: Understand as a landscape professional how to step into leadership roles | How do we diversify our skill set to make us stronger advocates for our projects that align with our values? | Understand how to navigate the new environment of COVID and what the future of the profession will look like. | Discuss what will change permanently in the LA profession about how we learn and work together as a community.
Michelle Delk, Partner and Discipline Director, Snøhetta, New York
A passionate champion and designer of the urban public realm. Based in New York City, Michelle is a Partner and Landscape Architect with Snøhetta. Her work is transdisciplinary, evocative, and representative of a simple foundational premise shared with Snøhetta: to create places that enhance the positive relationships between people and their environments. Both aspirational and pragmatic, her work reveals and complements the sublime qualities of embedded beauty and rational functionality within the constructed environment. Michelle’s enthusiasm is reflected in her commitment to design and leadership within her firm and community. She is an active board member for the Urban Design Forum in New York City, is a member of the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Stewardship Council, and lectures at conferences, universities, and communities throughout the world. Since 2001, her range of work around North America has spanned from small urban plazas to public parks and large-scale master plans. Currently, she leads several efforts with Snøhetta, including the design of the Willamette Falls Riverwalk in Oregon, a transformation of a 22-acre post-industrial site; a re-imagining of the 20-acre Blaisdell Center in central Honolulu; and the re-imagined design of a significant public plaza in midtown Manhattan.
Adele Isyanamanova, University of Illinois and Student ASLA
Adele is a second-year master’s student in landscape architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in cultural studies at St. Petersburg University in St. Petersburg, Russia. During her undergraduate education, Adele conducted research on urban history and art in the city of St. Petersburg, which led her to develop an interest in urbanism and landscape architecture. During the same time, she was actively involved in volunteer work that was focused on providing care for elderly residents of nursing homes, where she first noticed the connection between quality outdoor environment and health. After observing how green spaces promote well-being, she became committed to studying ways to create healthier landscapes. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Adele is hoping to combine landscape architecture practice and research to design beautiful, dynamic, and diverse urban environments. She believes in the power of landscape architecture to bring together multiple disciplines in order to create a more sustainable, just, and healthy world.