Kudos to Seattle’s ASLA winners!
Two Seattle firms just won awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects!
ASLA announced its 2008 professional awards today.
Seattle’s Gustafson Guthrie Nichol won the General Design Award of Excellence, the category’s “best in show,” for its work on the Lurie Garden at Chicago’s Millennium Park.
Seattle’s Paul Broadhurst & Associates was also honored for design of a private garden for a homeowner on San Juan Island.
Jurors commented that Gustafson Guthrie Nichol created an “oasis in the city” with the 3-acre public botanical garden.
“The plant palette is very rich and engaging,” read the juror comments posted on ASLA’s Web site. “It has raised the bar and is far and away the most outstanding example of work submitted to the awards program this year.”
The garden is built on top of an underground parking garage, next to the bandshell designed by Frank O. Gehry & Associates. Locally grown native plants and stones are arranged to capture the Midwestern prairie, with striking views all around to the Chicago skyline.
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol was lead designer and collaborated with Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, Northwind Perennial Farms and set designer Robert Israel. Local landscape architect was Terry Guen Design Associates. Our own KPFF Consulting Engineers also worked on the project.
Paul Broadhurst & Associates won an honor award in the residential category for the gardens of a house on San Juan Island close to a cliff overlooking a small horseshoe-shaped bay. Designers created a deeply forested view that remains hidden until visitors get to the house.
Jurors said the meandering path to the house was memorable and beautiful.
The landscape architect has created a romantic space with color,” read the juror comments. “The design is not obvious, which is very difficult to achieve.”
The jury considered more than 500 entries and selected 29 projects to receive awards. The awards will be presented Oct. 6 at the ASLA annual meeting in Philadelphia.
Tags: ASLA, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Landscape Architecture, Millennium Park, San Juan











