Towers and Trails...Bridges and Bats
University of Texas, Austin
This XtremeLA event, co-sponsored by the Landscape Architecture Foundation and site furniture manufacturer, Landscape Forms, provided an intense creative experience focused on a critical landscape planning and design challenge. Sixteen young landscape architects nominated by their firms as future leaders of the profession were joined by eleven third-year students in UT's landscape architecture master's program. Divided into two groups comprised of roughly equal numbers of professional and students, the teams were led by Susannah Drake, founding principal of DLANDstudio, Brooklyn, New York and Sarah Kuehl, principal of Peter Walker & Partners, Oakland, California. University of Texas hosts were Fritz Steiner, Dean of the School of Architecture and Dean Almy, Director of the Urban Design and Landscape Architecture programs at the school. Sponsor hosts were Barbara Deutsch, Executive Director of the Landscape Architecture Foundation, and Bill Main, President and CEO, Landscape Forms. Fritz Steiner introduced the event. "There are a lot of activities that recognize people who are well into their careers, but few or none that address emerging professionals," he said. "The leaders at Landscape Forms had the idea to bring together promising young professionals from around the country, connect them in teams made up of people from some of the country's great firms, and challenge them to create something that could be given back to the community. For this third XTREME LA, and the first outside Michigan, the sponsors partnered with UT to bring students into the mix."
More Xtreme LA Challenges
Propose ideas and solutions surrounding the Bison Bridge project – the prospective transformation of the I-80 bridge between LeClaire, Iowa and Rapids City, Illinois into a wildlife crossing, outdoor recreation destination, and potential new national park.
Xtreme LA: Bison Bridge
The sleeve rolling took place in Tucson. The occasion was Xtreme LA 2011, the fourth annual landscape architecture charrette sponsored by Landscape Forms and the Landscape Architecture Foundation.
Xtreme LA: Teamwork in Tucson
On October 7, 2014 a group of twenty young design professionals, identified by their firms as potential leaders of their professions, arrived in Manhattan, Kansas for two days of intense charrette focused on envisioning a new urban landscape for the fast-growing city.
Xtreme LA: A New Vision
On November 6 - 8 2017, Landscape Forms, North America's leading designer and manufacturer of high design site furniture and advanced LED lighting, sponsored its ninth Xtreme LA event at Washington University in St. Louis.
Xtreme LA: Water Water Everywhere
In October 2015, a two-day charrette sponsored by Landscape Forms and dubbed Xtreme LA (Extreme Landscape Architecture), brought sixteen young landscape architects and two award-winning leaders in the field to Saugatuck/Douglas in Western Michigan.
Xtreme LA: The Art Coast of Michigan
The focus of the fast-paced charrette was the design of resilient landscape solutions for a culturally, architecturally and economically significant part of Miami Beach. While a much smaller area of interest was considered in early planning, the project was expanded to encompass a site bounded by the intersection of Washington Avenue, a central north/south artery between the ocean and the city, and Lincoln Road, an east/west connector between beach and bay, and extending two full city blocks down Lincoln to the beachfront.
Xtreme LA: Envisioning Life on the Edge
On April 3, 2013, thirteen landscape architects selected by their firms as among the best and brightest gathered on the University of California Berkeley campus where they were joined by fifteen students from the UC Berkeley graduate program in landscape architecture for a two-day charrette calculated to engage, challenge and inspire future leaders of the profession.
Xtreme LA: Sea Level Rise in San Francisco Bay
Landscape Forms' eighth annual Xtreme LA (Extreme Landscape Architecture) event took place on October 4-6, 2016 in Blacksburg, VA.
Xtreme LA: A University. A Town. A Place to Call Home.