This month we are highlighting alumni Yuqing Zhang! Yuqing graduated from the MLA program in 2021. With an interest in historical preservation and community engagement, she loves to combine holistic understandings of the past and present to project landscapes into the future. She grew up in the historic core of Suzhou, China. Frequent visits with her family to the city’s traditional Chinese gardens inspired her to earn a BELA from Suzhou University of Science and Technology. While there she returned to the gardens each week to sketch, observing change over the course of the day and the year. Driven by her curiosity about the Western landscape, Yuqing earned her MLA, with an Urban Design Certificate, from the University of Washington. Her capstone study “Bridging the Blue and Green” received the WASLA Student Merit Award. After graduating, she gained experience at GGLO bringing a range of urban development and streetscape work from design to construction. Since joining Reed Hilderbrand in 2022, Yuqing has worked on the Franklin Park Action Plan and on several institutional projects across the country. She spends her free time getting to know Boston’s history and the many famous and unique green spaces in the area. Read more about Yuqing’s career in landscape architecture…
Category: Landscape Architecture
Announcing our 2024 WASLA Award Winners
At long last, we would like to thank everyone who submitted their work to the WASLA Awards this year. We appreciate your participation during such a busy year and spring quarter!
UW Earthlab Announces 2024-25 Innovation Grants Projects: JC3 and Collaborators Chosen for Feasibility Report in South Park for Biodigester
EarthLab has announced that five community-centered teams have been selected for the 2024-25 Innovation Grants program. The UW // LA department’s own Catherine De Almeida (Associate Professor) will be the Principal Investigator on one of the chosen teams, along with Graduate Student Assistant Sarah Chu (MLA ’25). Each team will receive $80,000 to research and develop new and actionable knowledge on community-driven projects at the intersection of climate change and social justice. To date, EarthLab has awarded nearly two million dollars in Innovation Grant funding to 29 transdisciplinary teams across five cohorts.
Spring End-of-Quarter Reviews
All are welcome to check out our end-of-quarter reviews beginning Wednesday, May 29th!
UWLA Students and Faculty Attend CELA 2024 in St. Louis
Students Nat Gregorius and Natalie Weiss (both MLA ‘24) had a great time attending the Conference of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) 2024 in St. Louis over Spring Break! They both presented our ongoing research with Associate Professor Catherine De Almeida, and listened to other sessions, panels, and speeches by professors of landscape architecture…
Professor Jeff Hou Retires from the Department of Landscape Architecture
Professor Jeff Hou, former Chair and long-time Professor of Landscape Architecture, is retiring from the University of Washington after more than 23 years of teaching, research and service in support of our community. We are excited to see him step into the next phase of his work and life as the Head of Architecture at…
Drawing in Design Lecture: Chip Sullivan + Elizabeth Boults – Friday 4/5
Join us for our Spring Drawing in Design Lecture with Chip Sullivan and Elizabeth Boults entitled “Wisdom of Place: Recovering the Sacred Origins of Landscape”. See you on Friday April 5 at 5pm in Gould 322.
Furniture For Keeps: A New Approach to Sustainable Furniture Fabrication
Rather than the traditional approach of having students purchase virgin lumber, our department chose to source lumber from the UW Salvage Wood Program for this year’s Furniture Studio cohort. To learn more about our furniture studio course and this unprecedented practice of utilizing salvaged wood, check out our StoryMap created by MLA student Joanna Chen!
Alumni Spotlight: Carol Whipple (BLA ’83, FASLA)
This month we are highlighting alumni Carol Whipple! Carol (FASLA) graduated from the BLA program in 1983 and has worked on a number of projects that encompass historic preservation, restorations, new visitor facilities, and memorials. She worked for the National Park Service for 31 years and received the Presidential Design Award for successfully managing the design and construction of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. She was the project landscape architect for the White House under several Presidential administrations where she completed over 50 planning, design, and construction projects. She was elected as a Fellow of the ASLA in 2002 and has always strongly advocated for the landscape architecture profession and has served on numerous national committees of the ASLA and allied organizations. Now retired, Carol advocates for landscape architecture through involvement on local park advisory boards and as a lecturer to civic groups. Read more about Carol’s award-winning career in landscape architecture…
Just Circular Communities
Just Circular Communities (JCC) is an interdisciplinary collaborative that seeks to envision and implement localized, regenerative, and community-driven circular systems for a Just Transition – by, with, and for Frontline communities. At the University of Washington, College of Built Environments, students have engaged with JCC topics through Participatory Action Research and Service-Learning design studios. Led by Associate Professor Catherine De Almeida, landscape architecture, architecture, and urban planning students have participated in community-engaged design activities to explore the development of the…