continued

PepsiCo's Landmark Campus

The PepsiCo World Headquarters in Purchase, New York, remains an outstanding example of corporate campus landscape architecture. Designed by EDSA and opened in 1970, the project received the 2009 Landmark Award, given jointly by ASLA and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in recognition of design excellence, longevity, and contribution to the public realm.

The jury called the PepsiCo campus "one of the most extraordinary gardens anywhere in the world and one of the greatest post-war efforts of that period."

Landscape architect Edward Durell Stone, Jr., designed the grounds with his firm, EDSA; his father, architect Edward Durell Stone, designed the complex of seven three-story buildings on the former polo grounds. The 144-acre- (58-hectare-) campus, which is open to the public, includes sweeping lawns, courtyards, massive sculptures, sunken gardens, woods, and water features, including a lake created for onsite stormwater management.

The parking was sited on the opposite side of the woods from the structures, so the cars are screened from view. "The concept of separating the parking lots from the building and forcing everyone to walk through this beautiful area to get to work is an extraordinary move on the part of the owner," remarked the awards jury. "How the landscape is integrated with parking has really stood the test of time."

Donald M. Kendall, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo at the time, was heavily involved in the creation of the new headquarters, including choosing 45 sculptures for display, by such masters as Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, and Alexander Calder.

"It gets more beautiful every year and is the perfect place to learn about where art should be placed in the landscape," lauded the jury.

Visual Journal

The award of excellence for communications went to JoLA — Journal of Landscape Architecture, published for ECLAS, the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools, by Georg D.W. Callwey GmbH & Co. KG of Munich, Germany. Through the journal, ECLAS seeks to stimulate scholarship in landscape architecture and improve the connection between academic research and professional practice.

The awards jury called the peer-reviewed academic journal, founded in 2006, "a must-read for today's practitioner. Such an inspiring publication. A real contribution to the profession."

Five editors from five different European countries oversee the internationally oriented content, which includes four to six research papers in each issue, plus a "visual essay" and a critical analysis. Graphic design and visual communication are valued, as demonstrated in the full-color journal, currently published twice per year in English, with quarterly publication planned for 2010. The print run is 800 copies per issue. An electronic journal has also been launched.

Researching Restoration

The ASLA jury named one award in its research category, for Steven N. Handel, Honorary ASLA, a professor at Rutgers University, for his research on "Restoration ecology processes to advance natural landscape design."

In several experiments over the course of 15 years, Handel sought to inform pragmatic solutions to make ecological restoration a functioning, cost-effective, and compatible element in urban designed landscapes.

For example, in exploring the question of whether landfills could be safely restored to woodlands, his lab found that the roots of the woody species tested did not pierce landfill caps. They also found that traditional soil compaction and hydroseeding of perennial grasses at landfills are barriers to establishment of native plants, and the urban habitat matrix surrounding restoration sites is suffused with alien species that can overwhelm native habitats if not managed rapidly.

These findings have been applied in the master planning of new urban parks, such as the Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City and the completed designs for the Orange County Great Park, planned for a former military base in Irvine, California.

Other Awards

The 2009 ASLA Professional Awards recognized 49 projects in general design, residential design, analysis and planning, communications, and research. The projects range from a canal project in Seoul to a home landscape in Minnesota and a greenway plan in Kentucky. Among the winners are the landscapes of the California Academy of Sciences and Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, buildings previously featured in ArchitectureWeek.

A full list of award recipients is available on the ASLA web site. The awards will be presented on September 21 at the ASLA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

Founded in 1899, ASLA is the U.S. professional association for landscape architects, representing 17,000 members in 48 professional chapters and 68 student chapters.

The jury for the 2009 ASLA Awards was chaired by Mark Rios, FASLA, FAIA, Rios Clementi Hale Studios, and also included Vladimir Djurovic, International ASLA, Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture; Sam Grawe, Dwell Magazine; Linda Jewell, FASLA, University of California, Berkeley; Mario Nievera, ASLA, Mario Nievera Design Inc.; Peter Lindsay Schaudt, FASLA, Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects; Sunny Scully, FASLA, Lewis Scully Gionet Landscape Architecture; Elizabeth "Boo" Thomas, Center for Planning Excellence, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Peter Walker, FASLA, Peter Walker and Partners Landscape Architecture; and William H. Tishler, FASLA, University of Wisconsin, Madison (Landmark Award).

Discuss this article in the Architecture Forum...

SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE A strategic plan for Scout Island in New Orleans City Park earned an award of excellence in the ASLA analysis and planning category. Image: Mossop + Michaels Extra Large Image Ecological site transect through the water walk and oak grove of the Scout Island plan. Image: Mossop + Michaels Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Detail section and plan drawings of various pathways in the Scout Island design. Image: Mossop + Michaels Extra Large Image Scout Island site plan drawing. Image: Mossop + Michaels Extra Large Image PepsiCo World Headquarters site plan drawing. Image: EDSA Extra Large Image The PepsiCo World Headquarters opened in Purchase, New York in 1970. The grounds, designed by EDSA, received the 2009 Landmark Award from ASLA and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Photo: EDSA Extra Large Image The entry fountain of the PepsiCo Headquarters welcomes guests and employees, while the sunken gardens offer more intimate uses of water. Photo: EDSA Extra Large Image The PepsiCo World Headquarters campus includes many sculptures of immense scale. Photo: EDSA Extra Large Image In the communications category, ASLA recognized JoLA — Journal of Landscape Architecture, the three-year-old journal of the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools. One regular feature is "Thinking Eye," a visual essay section. Image: JoLA/ Oliver Kleinschmidt, Albertina Wien, Jan Walter Schliep, and Lenné3D Extra Large Image In one part of his award-winning landscape research, Professor Steven N. Handel of Rutgers University seeded 27 native woody species in nearby landfills to test whether the plants could emerge through highly compacted soil previously hydroseeded with perennial grasses, a state typical of closed landfills. Photo: S.N. Handel Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.