August 17, 2011: The Understory - Landscape Architecture Public Awareness Event

ASLA is undertaking an unprecedented effort to raise public awareness for the profession of landscape architecture. Currently, all ASLA’s 48 chapters are actively recruiting members, non-members, and allies of the profession to begin taking action in a simple, unified way on 08.17.11.

The initial launch on 08.17.11 has the potential to communicate the importance of the profession in a way we’ve never been able to – but not without the recruitment and commitment of everyone that works around us.

To do this ASLA has adopted the mantra of The Understory - the section of a forest between the floor and canopy that teems with life. It’s the Understory that connects a forest’s ecosystem together. Despite its importance, we easily miss the Understory for the canopy, for the trees.

This is truly an exciting time for the profession with energy across the United States that we’ve never seen before. It’s time to finally team up as one voice earning us more jobs, leadership roles, and the tremendous respect for our vastly interdisciplinary expertise. 

Thank you in advance for your hard work in this pressing task. Please reach out and support the public awareness representatives diligently working in your area. The profession of landscape architecture needs your help.

For more information, please visit:

 

 

 

 

August 20, 2011: Chinatown Riverwalk Revitalization - Workshop 2

 

The American Society of Landscape Architects Hawaii Chapter (HASLA) is working closely with the Chinatown community and the City & County of Honolulu on a planning and design effort for the Chinatown Nuuanu Stream Corridor.  The purpose of the Chinatown Riverwalk Revitalization and Downtown Connectivity Study is to develop a comprehensive and collaborative strategy for enhancing the social, economic, and environmental qualities of the Nuuanu Stream Corridor.

On December 4, 2010, HASLA hosted the first workshop, invited the Chinatown community to participate in a brainstorming session talking about current issues and concerns, and future activities the community may want to see along the stream.  The attendees helped us identify several ideas during the first workshop.

Our second workshop on August 20, 2011, will provide another opportunity for community input.  We will discuss previous ideas and findings along with any new input to come up with proposed solutions for the corridor.  We sincerely invite you to join us as your opinion will help us identify the best way to improve the Honolulu Chinatown Community.

 

We would like to invite you to a Brainstorming session about the most important local sustainability issues for Hawaii to be held on Tuesday, August 23^rd from 5:30 – 7:30pm at the Sustainable Marketplace of the Pacific, located at 925 Bethel St, 1^st floor.

Your participation in this activity will affect the LEED green building certification system in a tangible manner.  As you may know, certain credits in LEED rating systems are prioritized for particular areas, reflecting their importance in addressing the priority environmental issues of each area.  These credits are called Regional Priority credits and debuted in the current rating systems, collectively called LEED 2009.

Currently our USGBC Hawaii Chapter is participating in the Regionalization process by identifying local priority issues and the credits that will be prioritized to address those issues in the next update to LEED (scheduled for 2012).

This August 23^rd brainstorming session will be a chance for professionals familiar with the LEED rating system and others involved with sustainable issues here in Hawaii to get together and discuss issues important for the future of sustainability in Hawaii and how future LEED regional credits can support these issues.

For more information on the process of LEED Regionalization, the upcoming timeline, and other details, please visit usgbc.org/regionalization and review the LEED Regionalization Executive Summary.

Please consider joining us after work on August 23^rd, 5:30-7:30pm, and RSVP to Dricka Brown Thobois at dthobois@group70int.com .

 

September 17, 2011: HALS Workshop - Historic American Landscapes Survey

Learn about Hawaii‘s landscape history by completing your first Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) during the Hawaii ASLA HALS workshop being held in two parts on September 17th and October 1st.

Over two Saturdays, 9 am to noon, participants will receive a background of historic landscapes, overview of HALS and hands-on instruction on how to prepare a HALS report. Participants will complete a HALS report during the workshop for submittal to the Library of Congress.

In October 2000 the National Park Service permanently established the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) program for the systematic documentation of historic American landscapes. The HALS program is overseen by the National Park Services with technical guidance from ASLA. Completed HALS are stored at the Library of Congress and available online at www.loc.gov.

Historic landscapes are special places. They are important landscapes in Hawaii of national, regional, and local significance. For the benefit of future generations, it is important to document Hawaii‘s historic landscapes. Participate in documenting Hawaii‘s landscapes.

HALS Workshop $25 ASLA Members $35 Non Members

Workshop will be held at Belt Collins Hawaii at 2153 N King Street Suite 200.

Reserve your spot today here: 

Registration is limited. http://halsworkshop.eventbrite.com/

For more information, contact Chris Dacus at 808-927-3503 or chris.dacus@gmail.com.

August 4, 2011: Green Event: Punahou School - Omidyar K-1 LEED Platinum

Designed to meet LEED Platinum specifications, the Omidyar K – 1 Neighborhood is a model of sustainability not only for facility design, but also for integration of that design into both learning and play.

A signature green design component, the "bioswale" allows for natural rain and storm water drainage, and acts as a teaching tool for kids to see the path of rainwater and its vital role in the ecosystem. A windmill pumps water up so students can release water back down into the bioswale.

Rooftop cisterns water gardens and water efficient landscaping reduces water used for irrigation by 50%. Water-saving fixtures also reduce consumption.

The Green Event will take place at lunch time on Thursday, August 4, 2011.  This will be an informal tour of the Punahou K-1 campus focused on the landscape design. 

 

We will end with a Q&A session and experience sharing

Click here to view the Journey to China Flyer and Register Here!

Join us for a morning filled with education and discussion of all things related to native plants. Click the link to the flyer for additional information.

Join us for this special event and celebrate the outstanding achievements by Hawaii's landscape architects. This year's awards also include Malama Aina Awards and for the first time Po'okela Awards. The Po'okela award recognizes Hawaii landscape architects who have made significant contributions over their career. This year will be very special as we recognize some legendary Hawaii landscape architects. Joining us for this momentous evening will be Angela Dye, FASLA, the current president of the ASLA.

Join the Hawaii Chapter of the ASLA, Saturday July 18th for a fun morning of drawing in the magnificent setting of the Cooke Estate in Manoa Valley preceded with a short tour of the three acre estate. Illustrator Steve Sue will lead the outing with how to formulate and communicate your ideas with quick sketch drawing. There's no ability prerequisites for this session except an open mind and desire to doodle your ideas into art. The Cooke Estate is a wonderful setting for sketching but space is limited to 25 people so make your reservations early.

The workshop will be held at Hui Ku Maoli Ola Nursery in Kaneohe. See attached flyer for details. Bring a brown bag lunch. Space is limited so please respond to Iwalani Sato at 780-8872 or isato@honolulu.gov as soon as possible. The workshop presenters are: Randall Wakumoto and Iwalani Sato - City's NPDES Permit, Common Urban Storm Water Quality Management Practices, Adopt-A-Stream/Adopt-A-Block Program and Rick Barboza - Rain Garden Basics and native plant selection.

Members of the Hawaii Chapter of ASLA have been invited to a guided tour of Washington Place, the former home of Queen Liliuokalani and Governor’s mansion. Corinne Chun Fujimoto, the Curator of Washington place will give the tour. She is working on establishing a cultural landscape plan for the site, which ties into a planned visit by noted Cultural Landscape consultant, Charles Birnbaum.

The ASLA Hawaii 2 Day Google SketchUp seminar will focus on step by step tutorials and demonstrations for landscape architects wishing to learn Google SketchUp, the fastest growing 3D modeling software. Learn from Daniel Tal, landscape architect and author of A Guide to Modeling Site Plans, Terrain and Architecture. Participants will learn to integrate SketchUp into their project workflow while learning a valuable skill at Honolulu Community College's AutoCAD facility.

First locally held L.A.R.E preparation course in many years, don't miss this opportunity to prepare for licensure exam being taught by UCLA's experienced L.A.R.E. instructors.

Join us for a fun and educational night at Gordon Biersch. Enjoy learning from one of the nation's leading LEED landscape architects, Deanna Weber, on sustainable development practices. Bring a poster board of your sustainable project to share and check out some local sustainable vendors.