ASLA Launches The Landscape Architect’s Guide to Boston

New Website Reveals Boston’s Role as an Urban Innovator

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--From the Emerald Necklace to the Freedom Trail Sites, Boston’s green spaces are revered by tourists and locals alike. The Landscape Architect’s Guide to Boston, launched today by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), offers insider information about these designed landscapes and others you may not have heard of. It is located at www.asla.org/boston.

Twelve million people visit Boston annually, but most of those visitors possess only a rudimentary knowledge of the city’s landscapes and restrict their travel to the well-established tourist routes. With a tap of their smartphones, people can deepen their knowledge through expert commentary and more than 1,100 photos provided by 28 landscape architects.

Thomas R. Tavella, FASLA, president of ASLA, says that the guide is the first-ever website that describes 100 historic, modern and contemporary landscapes in Boston, Cambridge and Brookline—and explains why they captivate. It highlights historic monuments and parks and examples of new sustainable works—including Raymond V. Mellone Park, a cutting-edge park that also manages stormwater, and Condor Street Urban Wild, which caps toxic soils to create a new wildlife habitat and urban respite.

“This guide will answer questions you didn’t know you had about your favorite neighborhood parks and other landscapes,” says Tavella. “Boston’s vibrant public realm didn’t just magically appear but was carefully designed over the years, and is continually evolving, through interactions among elected leaders, communities and landscape architects.”

Boston has long been a trendsetter when it comes to urban design and sustainability. Its landscape architects have played a crucial role in making the city a better place to live, starting in the late 19^th century, when Frederick Law Olmsted designed the Emerald Necklace, to today's generation of landscape architects who are creating waterfront parks and beloved green spaces. Boston ranks in the top 10 nationally for sustainability, park space and quality of life, in large part because its designed landscapes are integral to its urban fabric.

The guide is divided into 26 distinct tours in diverse neighborhoods in Boston, Cambridge and Brookline. Each tour covers multiple neighborhoods, and includes a printable walking or biking map for easy exploration.

The guide was created by ASLA in partnership with 28 nationally recognized landscape architects, all of whom are designers of the public realm and leaders in sustainable design. The guides were asked to explain the sites from a landscape architect’s point of view and show how the design of these sites influences how people interact with or even feel about these places.

The guides are:

• Cathy Baker-Eclipse, ASLA, Boston Parks and Recreation Department
• Maria Bellalta, ASLA, Boston Architectural College
• Deneen Crosby, ASLA, Crosby | Schlessinger | Smallridge
• Melissa Desjardins, ASLA, Dan Gordon Associates
• Joe Geller, FASLA, Stantec Consulting
• Lynne Giesecke, ASLA, Studio2112 Landscape Architecture
• John Haven, ASLA, Keith LeBlanc Landscape Architecture
• Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA, Reed Hilderbrand
• Carol Johnson, FASLA, Carol R. Johnson Associates
• Cortney Kirk, ASLA, Copley Wolff Design Group
• Mary Lydecker, ASLA, Hargreaves Associates
• Bill Madden, ASLA, Mikyoung Kim Design
• Jeremy Martin, ASLA, Hargreaves Associates
• Kaki Martin, ASLA, Klopfer Martin Design Group
• Grace Ng, Student ASLA, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, National Park Service
• Marion Pressley, FASLA, Pressley Associates Landscape Architects
• Robyn Reed, ASLA, Landworks Studio
• Susannah Ross, ASLA, Sasaki
• James Royce, ASLA, Studio2112 Landscape Architecture
• Michael Sadler, ASLA, Boston Architectural College
• JP Shadley, FASLA, Shadley Associates Landscape Architects
• Cynthia Smith, FASLA, Halvorson Design Partnership
• Laura Solano, ASLA, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
• Laura Tenny, ASLA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Kenya Thompson, ASLA, Boston Redevelopment Authority
• Jennifer Toole, ASLA, Toole Design Group
• Robert Uhlig, ASLA, Halvorson Design Partnership
• Gabrielle Weiss, Copley Wolff Design Group

Media wishing to interview the guides or learn more about the website should contact Karen Grajales, public relations manager, at [e-mail] or [phone]. Images are available here. Please refer to the image titles for credit information.

List of Sites Featured in the Guide
Back Bay	Financial District / Government Center
Copley Square	Granary Burying Ground
First Church	King’s Chapel Burying Ground
	City Hall Plaza
Boston / Cambridge Bike Network	The Garden of Peace
	Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Brookline	Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park
Fairsted, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic	Long Wharf
Site	Central Wharf Plaza
	Post Office Square Park
Cambridge
Cambridge Commons	Harbor Islands
John F. Kennedy Memorial Park	Georges Island
Longfellow House	Little Brewster Island and Boston Light
Mount Auburn Cemetery	Peddocks Island
	Spectacle Island
Cambridge: Harvard University
Harvard Yard	Jamaica Plain
The Plaza	South Street Mall
Tanner Fountain	Allandale Woods
LISE and Science Center Courtyards
Northwest Laboratory Courtyard	Lower Alston
Rockefeller Hall	Raymond V. Mellone Park
Cabot Courtyard and Frisbie Place
	Mission Hill
Cambridge: MIT	Levinson Plaza
Ray and Maria Stata Center Landscape	Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park
North Court and Main Street
MIT's Public Art Collection	North End
Killian Court	Paul Revere House Plaza and North Square
	The Prado
Charlestown	Copp's Hill Burying Ground and Terrace
Bunker Hill Monument
John Harvard Mall	Public Alleys Bicycle Tour
City Square Park
The Harborwalk	Rose F. Kennedy Greenway
Charlestown Navy Yard	Chinatown Park
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital	Dewey Square
	Fort Point Channel Parks and Urban Arboretum
Charles River	Wharf District Parks
Charles River Esplanade	Armenian Heritage Park
Nashua Street Park	North End Parks
Lechmere Canal Park
North Point Park	Roslindale
Paul Revere Park	Forest Hills Cemetery
Dorchester	Roxbury
JFK Presidential Library and Museum	Cedar Street Gardens
Pope John Paul II Park	Highland Park and Fort Hill
	Malcolm X Park
East Boston	Horatio Harris Park
East Boston Greenway	Puddingstone Garden
Piers Park
HarborArts	Southwest Corridor Park
Condor Street Urban Wild	Southwest Corridor Park
Emerald Necklace	South Boston
Boston Common	Fort Point Channel and Boston Children's Museum
Boston Public Garden	South Boston Waterfront
Commonwealth Avenue Mall	Pleasure Bay and Castle Island
Back Bay Fens	Broadway
The Riverway	William Day Boulevard and Carson Beach
Olmsted Park	Harborwalk
Jamaica Pond
Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University	South End
Franklin Park	Harriet Tubman Park
	Berkeley Community Garden
Fenway / Kenmore	LandWave
Fenway Park and Yawkey Way	Blackstone Square and Franklin Square
Fenway Victory Gardens
The Robert McBride House	West Roxbury
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Courtyard	Millennium Park
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston	Brook Farm
Christian Science Center Plaza

The Boston guide is the second produced by ASLA. The Landscape Architect’s Guide to Washington, D.C. was launched last year and so far has received more than 100,000 page views.

About the American Society of Landscape Architects

Founded in 1899, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 15,000 members in 49 professional chapters and 76 student chapters. The Society's mission is to lead, to educate and to participate in the careful stewardship, wise planning and artful design of our cultural and natural environments. Members of the Society use the “ASLA” suffix after their names to denote membership and their commitment to the highest ethical standards of the profession.