SWA

Located in Guangzhou’s emerging central business district, a new plaza at the base of Haihao International Tower brings nature back into the heart of Pazhou West. Designed by SWA in collaboration with Huafa Group, the landscape for Haida Group's new headquarters incorporates both terrestrial and aquatic imagery throughout the site and hardscape design, embodying the company's leadership in high-tech, ocean-based agriculture. Its centerpiece, a crescent-shaped public art and water feature, captures this theme in solid form, surrounded by a series of seven curvilinear green islands. Weaving dynamic hydrological forms through the plaza, the design contrasts static and dynamic features, with water rippling out over a textured stone basin and concentric rings that merge into the surrounding paving. As night falls, subtle lighting highlights the feature, casting a soft glow over the plaza as nightlife gears into motion. Capturing Haida's ethos and the ecological history of the region at large, the plaza brings a tranquil piece of arcadia to the center of Guangzhou. _______ Architect: Aedas Shanghai Photography: DO Studio

"We need to be much more future oriented—proactive, not reactive," SWA Director of Research Anya Domlesky writes in the article "Practice-Based Research Now: Purpose, Approach, and Proposition." "And although I believe climate change mitigation and adaptation constitute design’s central, most challenging issue, being future‐focused helps us design for other drivers of change, like technological innovations that are deeply affecting the built environment and rapid urbanization and deurbanization." Read the article, co-authored by Anya alongside industry leaders, in the November issue of Landscape Journal.

Landscape architecture can create or enhance destination places that are a neighborhood, regional, or international draw. And these designed landscapes offer many co-benefits for people and planet. In this free webinar, three research teams from LAF's 2024 Case Study Investigation (CSI) program will present these exemplary projects and the findings from their work to quantify their environmental, social, and economic benefits: - Muscota Marsh, New York, NY - Bud and Susie Rogers Garden at the Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH - California Academy of Sciences Green Roof, San Francisco, CA Register to join us Nov 5, 1-2pm EST. 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW) may be earned upon completion of a short quiz following the webinar. https://lnkd.in/eWwFFewF Want to see more of the 2024 CSI research? Look for the final case studies to start rolling out on LandscapePerformance.org later this month. And plan to join us for the final webinar in the series: Inclusive Spaces on Nov 20.

SWA wishes you a joyful Diwali and a prosperous New Year! #Diwali

Next Tuesday, November 5, tune into the Landscape Architecture Foundation's 2024 Case Study Investigation Program from 1-2 pm EST. In "Designed Destinations," the second webinar in the series, SWA Senior Research Associate Jonah Susskind will discuss the California Academy of Sciences Green Roof in San Francisco. He will be joined by CSI Research fellow Nate Kauffman, University of California, Berkeley, and Research Assistant Gustavo Coronilla. Register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/eS-AgC72

As Halloween approaches, take inspiration from the spooky and fantastical costumes at Atherton's community celebration, held at their new Civic Center. The project updates the previous structure's aging facilities, which failed to reflect the town's environment ethos and community-focused spirit. SWA's landscape design integrates the architecture into the wider neighborhood through a strolling garden approach that increases circulation. The team prioritized drought-tolerant landscaping, selecting site-specific micro-climates and hydrozones, and added a storm management approach with bioswales and permeable paving. An extensive tree preservation and enhancement plan was created to help improve the health of the existing canopy of Valley Oaks and Cedar heritage trees. Younger specimens were planted to create a mixed-age stand to maintain the long-term site character as the canopy matures and ages. Quiet seating opportunities, informal play areas, and reading nooks are integrated into the design, helping to realize the vision for the Atherton Civic Center landscape as a community space set in a peaceful garden, designed to enhance the local ecology and mitigate the urban impacts of the new development.

SWA Principal Steven T. Lee led a tour of Hunter's Point South Park as part of the Vision Zero Cities 2024 Conference field sessions. Read more below:

To celebrate Cleve Jones' 70th birthday, SWA's San Francisco studio hosted a party for the renowned activist, a friend and colleague of Harvey Milk's who conceived the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Among the decorations were colorful "VOTE YES ON B" signs, a reminder to attendees to vote in the upcoming election. If passed, the bond measure would close a $25 million gap for The Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza, fully funding its construction. Learn more about the memorial—an homage to decades of LGBTQ+ advocacy at the heart of the Castro—here: https://lnkd.in/edN_z8Rm

In the Fall 2024 issue of Landscapes | Paysages Magazine, themed "Decarbonize Design," SWA Climate and Sustainability Lead Sarah Fitzgerald emphasized the importance of measuring embodied carbon in her article "Measuring Up? Fixing the Carbon Accounting Gap." She notes the free and readily available tools that empower landscape architects to systematically evaluate the potential carbon impacts of design choices and the importance of integrating these measures into our firm's ethos. "Simply conducting carbon accounting will not, in itself, drive down emissions," Sarah writes. "Instead, landscape architects need a holistic approach: strategize, measure, and refine." Sarah encourages landscape architects to keep striving toward lowering project emissions by 50-65% by 2023, "but it’ll take all of us rolling up our sleeves together, and fast." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dfUVTERK

Next week on October 22, the Aliso Creek Estuary Restoration Program will go to the Laguna Beach City Council for authorization ahead of a thorough environmental analysis completed through an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). SWA worked with the Laguna Ocean Foundation on the public-use design component to conserve and restore Laguna’s unique coastal resources.   The report will evaluate the proposed restoration's environmental impacts. The community, Planning Commission, City Council, and stakeholders can engage in informed discussion of the restoration project and its long-term benefits and potential adverse effects.   Located at Aliso Beach in South Laguna, Aliso Creek Estuary is the only estuary system in Laguna. The site requires a community-based effort to restore it to the healthy ecosystem it once was. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/e-8N8WNb