» 2023 Awards + Gala
» The Best in Minnesota Landscape Architecture
» Winter Design: A Rain Garden Revelation
» EcoRenew: Climate Change Mitigation Through Innovative Stormwater Management and Urban Regeneration
» Re-Imagine an Iconic Sculpture Garden for Future Generations by Embracing its Hydrological History
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ASLA-MN is the Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) which represents nearly 300 professionals in the landscape architecture profession through advocacy, education, communication, and fellowship. ASLA, the national organization, has more than 18,000 members and 48 chapters, representing all 50 states, U.S. territories, and 42 countries around the world.
As a licensed profession in the state of Minnesota, landscape architecture encompasses the analysis, planning, design, management, and stewardship of the natural and built environments. Landscape Architectural projects range from academic campuses, conservation and natural areas, historic landscapes, parks and recreation, transportation corridors, urban design, water resources, and commercial and residential properties. To learn more about landscape architecture, visit www.asla.org or www.asla-mn.org.
ASLA-MN offers a variety of service projects, social events, networking, and continuing education opportunities. An elected Executive Committee typically meets monthly on the first Thursday from 4-6pm at the Crown Roller Mill Building to discuss, organize, and facilitate chapter activities. All ASLA-MN members are invited to attend these meetings.
Aus Perez and Colin Thomasgard Co-Editors
JS Print Group, Duluth, MN Publisher
The iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture at sunset, reflected on the restored linden seed-shaped pond. An open pavilion converted from the deteriorated conservatory building, as well as a number of sculptures and pieces of art, rests in the background. (Project by O2 Design)
Rachel Blaseg President
Han Zhang President-Elect
Nicole Peterson Past President
Linda Spohr Secretary
Anna Springer Treasurer
Joni Giese Chapter Trustee
David Patten
Ryan Hermes Co-Directors of Awards & Banquet
Brit Erenler
Wanjing Ji Co-Directors of Education & Professional Development
Jordan van der Hagen Yanning ‘Ning’ Gao Co-Directors of Programs
Jess Vetrano Director of Public Relations + Communications
A. Graham Sones
Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) Chapter Liaison
Bruce Chamberlain Fellows Representative
Laura Kamin-Lyndgaard
Rachel Burand WxLA-MN
Nicole Delpizo Izabel Wilde Student Chapter
_SCAPE is published twice each year by the American Society of Landscape Architects - Minnesota Chapter (ASLA-MN).
_SCAPE is FREE (in limited quantity). To subscribe, please send a request to: scape.aslamn@gmail.com
Send general ASLA-MN inquiries, including sponsorships, to:
ASLA-MN
18 N 12th Street PO Box 3910 Minneapolis, MN 55403 PH: 651.447.7841 communications@asla-mn.org
Send general _SCAPE inquiries, letters to the Editor, and article queries to:
Aus Perez, Co-Editor 111 S Washington Ave Unit 650 Minneapolis, MN 55401 scape.aslamn@gmail.com
Colin Thomasgard, Co-Editor 111 S Washington Ave Unit 650 Minneapolis, MN 55401 scape.aslamn@gmail.com
ASLA-MN has been active both locally and nationally, with significant achievements to celebrate. In October of last year, Minneapolis played host to the highly successful 2023 National Conference on Landscape Architecture, a testament to the dedication of our community. A heartfelt acknowledgment goes out to the volunteers whose tireless efforts, particularly those involved in sub-committees and booth support, were instrumental in its success. Furthermore, Coen+Partners garnered notable recognition with two ASLA National Awards: an Award of Excellence in the Urban Design Category for their project “Heart of the City: Art and Equity in Process and Place,” and an Honor Award in General Design for “Peavey Plaza: Preserving History, Expanding Access.” Notably, ASLA elevated two ASLA-MN members to the prestigious Council of Fellows: Robert Gunderson of SGA Group, nominated in Service by the Minnesota Chapter, and Theodore Lee, nominated in Works by the Minnesota Chapter. Warm congratulations to Coen+Partners, Robert Gunderson, and Ted Lee on their well-deserved achievements!
But our work doesn’t stop there. We have plenty of events lined up, like the Annual Education Symposium and Awards Banquet, happening soon at Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis. It’s going to be a great day of learning followed by some welldeserved fun. Plus, we’ve got more events like the Bowling Brawl, Top Golf, and Trivia coming up, so there’s plenty to look forward to. These events not only provide opportunities for networking and professional development but also serve as platforms for showcasing the talent and innovation within our landscape architecture community.
In recent years, climate change’s impacts to water systems have become increasingly noticeable. Rising temperatures and unpredictable precipitation patterns are having significant effects on the quantity and quality of the 0.5% of freshwater on Earth that remains available for use. As a society, we must recognize that water is vital to our continued existence and find safe and sustainable ways to live with it, manage it, and protect it.
Fortunately, landscape architects and urban designers are finding innovative solutions for water challenges all over the world. As environmental stewards, we are tasked with protecting the natural environment and its resources by developing sustainable strategies to adapt to change. As the profession continues to deal with the impacts of climate change on water resources, landscape architects and urban designers must find new ways to address the unresolved water challenges the world is currently facing. This issue of _SCAPE highlights three innovative, unique, and adaptive approaches to water resiliency in the age of climate change.
Enjoy, Aus + Colin
As we move forward, I’m reminded of the importance of fostering connections within our community. Just as nature undergoes its changes, so too do the relationships we cultivate within ASLA-MN. These connections serve as the lifeblood of our organization, enabling us to collaborate, innovate, and flourish together.
Interested in getting involved? We’re always on the lookout for new faces to join us. Whether you want to volunteer at events or run for a position on the Executive Committee, we’d love to have you on board. Just shoot us an email at connect@aslamn.org to learn more. We have wonderful volunteers on the Executive Committee this year, and I would like to thank them for their dedication to ASLA-MN.
Keep an eye on our website, emails, and social media for updates on events and industry news. ASLA-MN is here to support you and the landscape architecture community. Here’s to a summer filled with opportunities, connections, and the beauty of Minnesota’s landscapes. Enjoy the issue!
Warm regards,
Rachel Blaseg
Rachel Baudler Blaseg, a landscape architect, blends artistic vision with a dedicated commitment to enriching public spaces. Since joining Damon Farber Landscape Architects in 2013, she has contributed to projects recognized on national, regional, and local levels. Rachel holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota, as well as degrees in Environmental Studies and Sociology from UC Santa Cruz. Passionate about collaborative design, she cultivates connections and dialogue to create meaningful spaces.
Aus Perez is a landscape designer at Bolton & Menk, Inc. They love to explore projects of all types and scales but have a special interest in park planning and social activism. They hold a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Colin Thomasgard is a landscape designer at Bolton & Menk, Inc. His interests lie in the overlap between art and design, with his favorite projects dealing with the urban landscape. He holds a Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Katherine Gould is a project landscape architect at Bolton & Menk who began her career in 2016. She has contributed to the design of parks, streetscapes, trails, and community gathering spaces across the Midwest. Through these professional experiences and as a grassroots activist, Katherine has come to believe that consideration for the health of natural systems is not just a feature, but a goal integral to every successfully designed landscape. Katherine is passionate about community engagement, culturally relevant design, and practicing landscape architecture as a means of promoting public health and environmental equity.
Kyra Oliver, is a water resources project engineer who started her career in 2016. She has gained experience in stormwater management in the forms of rain gardens, grading and vegetation, GIS mapping, site assessment, design, and construction documents. Through her experience, Kyra has built expertise in rain gardens, native plantings, and stormwater management design. She is passionate about improving the health of the environment in urban areas by bringing water resources, landscape architecture, and natural resources together to create quality solutions.
6 Rain gardens have been a central tool for how we can improve the quality of our water in a cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, and functional way since the early 2000s. They collect stormwater from our roofs, driveways, and streets and infiltrate the water back into the ground, recharging our groundwater. A variety of grasses and perennials are planted to increase the area’s aesthetic value and help treat water for many pollutants. But what happens to rain gardens when the weather turns cold, the plants go dormant, the ground freezes, and they are filled with snow? Do rain gardens cease functioning in winter?
Regardless of season, stormwater drains across our pavements year-round and impacts sites, even throughout the winter. When the snow melts due to the sun or warmer periods in winter, the meltwater follows its designed path and flows into our rain gardens. Rain gardens can still infiltrate meltwater runoff during winter unless it is well below freezing for long periods of time. Otherwise, they act as retention basins until the ground thaws.
What flows into our rain gardens impacts their effectiveness as much as their initial design. During the winter, our streets are at their dirtiest due to excess salt and sand used to create safer travel for pedestrians and vehicles. This is on top of the typical sediment and trash seen during the warmer seasons. The primary winter environmental impacts that negatively affect rain gardens are salt application, sediment and trash build up, and snow storage.
Salt is used to deice our roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and driveways —anywhere there is pedestrian or vehicular traffic, salt is spread. It is a readily available product that effectively reduces slipping hazards for which business owners and maintenance companies can be held liable. Therefore, salt is frequently used in excess. If you are ever walking down a street, sidewalk, or stairs and see small (or even large) piles of salt and no snow or ice, this signifies excess salt application.
Commonly used salt deicer is a type of chloride-based product. Chloride is a forever chemical that is harmful to our environment because it does not chemically bind with other molecules, so it does not naturally leave our waters once it is mixed in. Any salt application for deicing will eventually reach our natural water and increase its chloride levels. High amounts of chloride are toxic to a variety of fish, amphibians, and aquatic organisms, as well as certain types of plants. The native plants that we plant in our urban rain gardens, some of which double as pollinator gardens, do not all have a high tolerance for salt. When salt enters rain gardens and starts infiltrating soils, sodium reduces the vegetation’s ability to uptake water. Lack of water will lead to wilting and provide room for weeds to take over, destroying the rain garden’s ecosystem. Unfortunately, nothing is as effective as salt for winter maintenance. When we look at rain gardens and think of how to increase their longevity, we need to rely on more efficient salt usage and factor winter conditions into our designs.
A second, though less popular, option for winter road maintenance is sand. Sand provides an instant, but temporary measure of traction. Once the ice starts melting, the sand will sink into the melting ice and no longer be effective. Sand is used infrequently, except when temperatures drop too low for salt
to be effective. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) standards are to use sand when road temperatures fall below 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Additional sand on the roads increases the amount sediment that is entering rain gardens. Excess sediment settles over plants and reduces their growth and germination in the spring. Larger pieces of trash, like plastic grocery bags, have the same effect.
Rain gardens may seem like the perfect opportunity to store the plowed snow from our streets and sidewalks. They are depressed areas that will infiltrate the snow - no need to worry about meltwater hazards! However, with the snow comes all the salt, debris, and chemicals from the roads that will sit on top and infiltrate or bind with the soils. The more street chemicals like salts, oils, and various metals that enter rain gardens, the more contaminated soil will become and lead to an unhealthy environment for the plants. Snow is also heavy! In piles, it compacts the soil which reduces the amount of void space for water uptake by plants. This is especially true in rain gardens that are planted with a shallow-rooted plant, like a turf grass species. Plants also may be trampled or uprooted due to snow removal equipment. To annually replace a rain garden’s soil and plants, it costs up to, on average, $20/sq-ft, according to a preCOVID cost estimate from the City of Madison, Wisconsin.
Rain gardens are built in various environments, which means winter conditions and related maintenance practices will vary. In urban environments, high-use pedestrian areas will likely see a lot of salt use, but the snow storage will be spread out or hauled elsewhere. Rural areas tend to use more sand for winter maintenance, leading to higher levels of excess sediment than what is found in cities. Salt usage in a suburban environment will be irregular, targeting higher traffic areas and areas that
are shaded, with larger areas for snow storage. Whatever is applied to the landscape, intentionally or not, it will reach the low points of the site where rain gardens are located. Thus, your environment must influence your rain garden design.
First, look at where the snow storage will be located — this will be a large source of meltwater. Meltwater, like stormwater, will run off our streets to the low points, our rain gardens, but they may not share the same path nor volume. Depending on the size of the snow piles, the runoff volume could be much greater or smaller than its drainage area. Is there a location where the rain garden inlet can intercept the meltwater path before it reaches the storm sewer intake, but with enough storage volume to treat the runoff when it can infiltrate? The shorter the meltwater path, the better. Meltwater pathing is one of the biggest issues when it comes to salt, even more so than ponding, because where the meltwater goes, so goes the salt! If we shorten the meltwater path and reduce the salt used for maintenance, we can reduce the amount of salt that goes into our rain gardens.
Next for consideration is plant selection — what species can tolerate the environment our rain garden is in? Rain gardens that receive higher salt concentrations should utilize introduced plants or native cultivars that are more tolerant of salt. Native plants should be used in areas with low salt concentrations as they are typically more sensitive to salt.
Rain gardens sometimes double as pollinator gardens, which may unintentionally harm pollinators in high salt-use environments. Studies have shown excessive sodium alters pollinators’ reproduction, health, and their ability to migrate, which increases their mortality rate. Designs need to be intentional with rain gardens that double as pollinator gardens. The best way to help rain gardens flourish and last longer is to reduce the amount of salt used, intentionally place snow and storage locations, and make our maintenance more efficient. It
will take teamwork and communication between various groups at many levels who interact with the rain garden.
While rain gardens are a design solution familiar to many Minnesota-based landscape architects, best practices for maintenance, ecological function, and the evolving appearance of rain gardens are not well understood by many landowners or members of the public. Because of this, a designer’s job is not finished after the construction documents are drafted or the plants are installed.
Designing and caring for rain gardens across four seasons involves communication between three major stakeholder groups: the project owner, maintenance professionals, and the larger community. As designers and technical experts, it is our responsibility to facilitate communication between stakeholder groups about relevant aspects of the rain garden project to give it the best possible conditions for long-term success. In the winter, this includes levels of salt used, snow removal and storage needs, ice clogging the inlet structure, sediment filling the inlet structure, and more.
One obvious communication tool that can be in place for the life of the rain garden is signage. This can be anything from a simple sign that says “rain garden” or “no snow dumping” to a graphic explaining the installation’s features and ecological benefits to inform both the community and maintenance crews of its purpose. No matter the level of detail presented, the identification of a rain garden via signage can avoid confusion, especially before a rain garden has reached a healthy state or when it is less visible after snowfall. Signage can aid in preventing snow storage in rain gardens and in identifying the ideal spot for snow storage: on the downhill side of surfaces
likely to be salted with the smallest possible meltwater sprawl footprint.
Because rain gardens are not an instantly recognizable infrastructure investment to much of the public, providing information on the purpose and design of rain gardens to residents and maintenance crews helps set expectations. Just as a collection of mixed native plants may look ‘weedy’ to those unfamiliar with the plants, annual cover crops that stabilize soil through their first winter after construction may appear incongruous with the surrounding landscape if it is not understood that this is a temporary measure for plant establishment. Cover crops that grow too tall for community preferences or nearby sightlines can be mowed to a height of 6 inches.
An alternative to seed or pots with cover crop stabilization, native prairie sod is an up-and-coming vegetation substitute. Native plants are grown in sod mats and established before being installed on site. This can be used to make a project look more finished on day one. Native prairie sods have an added advantage in polluted soils because their roots have already had a year to grow before installation on site.
Even though they may work for the same organization, the client’s representatives and the site maintenance professionals are usually not the same people, nor do they have the same areas of expertise. In fact, while both groups will make important decisions affecting the rain garden over its lifespan, they may not see the relationship between their roles. It is important for the designer and client to understand the capabilities and needs of the maintenance team to ensure the rain garden design is compatible with how it is likely to be maintained during the rain garden’s establishment period (of usually three years) and beyond. If the design intent and maintenance practices don’t match, one or both will have to compromise for the project to
have longevity. A Seasonal Maintenance Manual, developed alongside the design plans, communicates the maintenance tasks and practices that should be used for the first three years of the rain garden’s life, after which the rain garden should be established. This should include everything from weeding and mowing, to sediment removal, efficient salt/sand use, and ice jam clearing.
Rain garden planting can be accomplished with the help of community volunteers, school or faith groups, or neighborhood organizations. These events not only have the potential to increase community buy-in for green stormwater infrastructure projects, but they also teach practical knowledge about which plants are and are not desirable in a rain garden, the impacts of applied salt to plant life, and a greater understanding of native plants in general.
Through education, vegetation that might look like ‘weeds’ to some, but they instead come to be recognized as an integral part of our region’s ecological systems and landscape vocabulary. As with the design of a rain garden, it is important to establish what parts of installation and upkeep will be performed by the maintenance team and what will be accomplished by community volunteers. For example, while a community group might be available for a one-day event of planting plugs and small plants or an annual ‘spring cleanup’ day, the maintenance staff will usually be the ones responsible for long-term rain garden establishment, care throughout the growing season, and utilizing best practices around the rain garden in the winter.
With strong communication across all stakeholder groups and design solutions that consider all four seasons, rain garden projects can be beautiful, functional, living systems to help treat stormwater. Connect with Katherine or Kyra for more information about rain gardens, our low-salt design initiatives, and stakeholder engagement.
John Hink, President and Co-founder of Solution Blue, is an innovative and passionate environmental engineer who has over 20 years of experience in sustainable site design, brownfield re-development, water resources, project management, and construction administration.
Jonathan Blaseg, founded PEBL with the belief that design impacts all elements of our daily life; it affects our ethos as a society and the health of our environment. His work merges an enthusiasm for ecology with the challenges of our built environment. He leads the firm’s creative direction and oversees the integration of PEBL’s construction practice with the design team
John Hink remembers getting a call in early 2021 about what sounded like a routine project. A member of the Board of Directors at Minneapolis Area REALTORS® (MAR) wanted to discuss their organization’s parking lot.
“I expected it to be a typical resurfacing project,” said Hink, president of Minnetonka-based Solution Blue, Inc., a civil and environmental engineering firm that specializes in sustainable site design, development and water management. “I had no idea it would snowball into one of the most interesting and rewarding projects in years. It became a transformative project with engineers and designers working together to create something functional, beautiful and sustainable.”
MAR’s initial goal was simply to expand their surface lot to create more space for parking. Founded in 1887, it is now the largest local realtor’s association in Minnesota with over 10,000 members. Their facility, located on Lincoln Drive just east of Highway 169 in Edina, is a hub for training, education and networking for realtors across the metropolitan and outlying areas.
“Our Realtor® leaders on the Building and Grounds Committee saw a need to add parking spaces, more patio space, and do a bit of sprucing up of the grounds,” said Troy Siegert, MAR’s Senior Manager of IT & Facilities. “Then our Environmental Initiatives committee got involved and realized a huge opportunity to see our values reflected in our property. It really took off from there.”
MAR has long valued sustainability and environmental stewardship. In 2018 the organization elevated its Green Task Force to an official standing committee. As a result, they had a direct line to the Board and their input on the project was influential. If they had opted to do the bare minimum, MAR would have needed to only modestly increase the capacity of their drainage system to accommodate slightly higher water volume and flow. Instead, they chose to do more — much more.
As the project’s vision expanded, the landscape architecture team of PEBL Design was engaged to help the client maximize the site’s potential. Unlike most design firms, PEBL has full construction capabilities and would eventually be responsible for the installation and maintenance of the new landscape. Having worked with SBI on several projects in the past, their collaborative history and real-world construction knowledge would prove valuable.
“Stormwater focused projects are always a challenge — especially retrofits,” explained PEBL founder Jonathan Blaseg, PLA. “Most BMPs are underground and yet clients want to see their benefits.”
John Hink shared that at the foundation of SBI design principles “is to take the outdated standard of capturing and disposing stormwater as quickly as possible and turn it on its head, by holding it back, storing it and beneficially reusing this precious natural resource — right where it fell from the sky.”
He added that most people don’t really understand the challenges and issues around stormwater.
Blaseg interjected, “I like to joke that most of our projects start with dogs, kids, or stormwater, and it’s our job to turn these problems into opportunities. This is where collaborating with forward-thinking civil engineers such as SBI is crucial.”
PEBL joined the team to create a landscape program that incorporated SBI’s sustainable solutions. In addition to the technical improvements, the team visualized a diverse and native landscape that improved the building’s curb appeal — an upgrade that resonated with the client’s mission.
MAR ultimately elected to implement a series of stormwater focused interventions, including:
1. An Underground Cistern: A state-of-the-art underground stormwater system that uses biofiltration to clean and store runoff for irrigation.
2. Porous Pavers: A series of new patios whose paving allows for natural drainage and migration of water into the earth by permitting water to drain through them and into a basin.
3. Native Landscape: A new design that replaced nearly 10,000 square feet of turf grass and asphalt with native prairie ecosystem.
4. Educational Features: Signage and integrated elements that help to tell the stormwater story
“A core value of ours at Solution Blue is to improve water quality, convey water more efficiently and increase water conservation,” said Benjamin Lucas, a Senior Civil Engineer and Director of Water Resources at SBI, who has particular expertise in commercial stormwater modeling, design, and construction support. “But we also think truly great design should achieve both form and function. It should look beautiful while protecting natural resources for future generations.”
Lucas explained how he designed a 3,000-gallon stormwater tank to collect the runoff from a 5,300-square-foot section of the roof along with the overflow from the rear patio BMPs. The
stormwater moves through a bio-filter to provide irrigation for new plantings. Lucas noted that in addition to lowering water bills, filtered stormwater is often better for irrigation than freshwater, which has been chlorinated. The underground cistern system allows Siegert to set an application rate of 0.5” per week over 4,600 square feet of irrigated area and seven years of daily precipitation.
The prairie and native gardens complement the underground system by highlighting nature’s best stormwater device: plants. The prairie ecosystem provides a myriad of benefits including improved soil health and water retention (through their deeper root systems), reduced need for chemical fertilizers, and beneficial habitat for local bee, butterfly, bird and other populations. At the entrance to the MAR building, the gardens help slow the flow of water from the parking lot, filtering sediment and contaminants before the overflow enters the storm sewers.
That’s particularly important given MAR’s location. Their facility sits just a few hundred feet from Nine Mile Creek and the recently completed Nine Mile Creek Trail, a popular walking, running, and cycling path connecting the cities of Hopkins, Edina, Minnetonka and Richfield. The storm sewer for their business complex connects to the Lincoln Drive sewer system and eventually discharges to Nine Mile Creek. When the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District learned about MAR’s project they were highly supportive, offering a partial grant.
“Generally speaking, we have three things we look for in a project we’re considering funding,” said Elizabeth Boor, a Watershed Specialist with Nine Mile Creek Watershed District. “Its impact on water quality, support of native habitat, and potential educational value. This project checked all three boxes. We were particularly excited by their plan to educate their members on the benefits of sustainable development.” With thousands of realtors visiting the site each year for training,
networking and social events, members of the MAR Board (particularly their Sustainability Committee) wanted to teach their members about the value of sustainable development. To achieve this objective, PEBL and SBI created a series of education signage for the site’s patios and lobby.
An initial sign provides an overview of the site’s stormwater BMPs, while a second group of signs focuses on the native landscape. A series of plant identification panels and integrated paving markers highlights the dramatic difference in root mass between a native prairie and turf grass. They illustrate why our topsoil was once several feet deep, built up over time by the rich biodiversity of our prairies, and how it served as a much more effective sponge for our natural water system. The final sign shows the steps to installing a native prairie, with the goal of inspiring others to consider such a system.
Shortly after the project was completed, Minneapolis Area REALTORS® hosted a member open house with guided tours. They also created a downloadable instructional flier for members and affiliated partners (including lenders, landscapers, builders, photographers, appraisers, and inspectors) and even worked with the watershed district to develop a continuing education course complete with certification for their members. Staff at the watershed district helped design the course, which is presented twice a year by the watershed district’s education and outreach coordinator. Siegert said that over 100 members have taken the course to date. But he thinks the signage has been the most effective educational component.
“I notice people reading the signs out on our patios all the time,” he said. “I can tell that our members are learning from them and taking pride in how the project reflects our values.”
The project has had impressive quantifiable benefits as well. Water collected by the stormwater harvesting system has reduced the need for freshwater irrigation by more than 85%, saving roughly 27,000 gallons of water annually. Siegert
explained that the storage tanks have float sensors and electronic valves that seamlessly switch the system over to city water once the collected water has been depleted. He said that has happened just a handful of times since the system was installed. In addition, the native prairie gardens have reduced the runoff rate and volume by 3 cubic feet per second (cfs) for the 100-year storm, while creating an additional 1,300 cubic feet of on-site storage in their rain gardens and pervious paver patios.
In addition to reducing freshwater use and increasing retention, the project is improving water quality. The new system has yielded an 88% reduction in Total Suspended Solids and a 75% decrease in phosphorus on an annual basis. This equates to roughly 1,400 pounds of sediment and 3.5 pounds of phosphorus being diverted from the watershed, which significantly alleviates pressure on municipal stormwater systems and contributes to improved water quality.
As a result of their efforts to go above and beyond standard code requirements and embrace sustainability, Minneapolis Area REALTORS® won a Silver Award for the project from the City of Edina’s Green Business Outreach Program, which recognizes environmentally sustainable actions taken by local businesses. The city’s Energy & Environment Commission manages the program, which rates businesses on their sustainable practices in the areas of solid waste, recycling, purchasing, energy use, landscaping and water conservation, transportation and more.
In the end, John Hink says the most gratifying aspect of projects like this one is that everyone benefits.
“MAR now has a beautiful set of multi-functional greenspaces, with patios and native prairie gardens fed sustainably by a sophisticated stormwater harvesting system. The community and wider environment benefit from reduced runoff, lower water and resource usage, and improved biodiversity. And more and more people see and learn about the methods and benefits of sustainable development. It was a deeply rewarding project for everyone involved.”
Han Zhang, Principal of O2 Design and President-elect of ASLA-MN, leads a culturally diverse team at O2 Design, managing a broad spectrum of projects, from intimate residential garden design to several-hundred-acre campus planning. Experienced in project management, Han applies holistic and systematic thinking to solving multifaceted challenges, collaborating closely with clients to stay on schedules and budgets. Shaped by her dual-cultural background, Han infuses her designs with personality, cultural insight, and boundless natural inspiration. Driven by a thirst for new knowledge and life’s adventures, committed to personal honesty and authenticity in design work, Han pursues innovative solutions, unwavering in her quest for excellence.
As the Executive Director of the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), Kevin Reich’s job duties include management, administration, policy, strategic planning, budget, and leadership. The environment has always been a focus of Kevin’s service. He started his professional life in northeast Minneapolis as an environmental activist, As a Council Member, he represented Minneapolis as chair of the board of MWMO for 10 years. He attended the 2023 ASLA annual conference and was excited to see how landscape architectural projects can activate the community.
The 12-acre Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is an iconic and influential urban sculpture park located on the western edge of Downtown Minneapolis. Since its inception in the 1980s, the Garden has brought precious contemporary art outside for the public. In 2016, contracted by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Walker Art Center, O2 Design
led the project to renovate its aging infrastructure, expand visual and physical access, and re-imagine art curation to elevate the visitor experience. The design’s commitment to environmental sustainability exemplifies urban resilience, serving as a model for integrating green infrastructure, managing stormwater, and enhancing biodiversity within a metropolitan context (see image 14).
Before gaining its reputation as a cherished sculpture garden, the site was a swampy land full of peat bogs and quicksand. Without understanding its geotechnical challenges, a military armory was erected in 1907, only to be abandoned shortly afterward due to sinking floors. By its demolition in 1934, the floor had subsided by an entire level! After this disastrous attempt the land remained largely unused, serving primarily as sports fields and a parade ground for over fifty years (see image 16).
In the 1980s, the Walker Art Center (Walker) and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (Park Board) embarked on a collaborative effort to creatively utilize the land. After successfully hosting temporary sculpture exhibits for several years, the concept of a sculpture garden took shape. In 1988, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, designed by Edward Barnes, debuted. The subsequent northward extension, crafted by Michael Van Valkenburgh, reached completion in 1991. By this time, designers were acutely aware of the site’s hydrological challenges, as evidenced by soil testing. A geotechnical engineer’s assessment deemed the existing swamp-deposited soils highly compressible and cautioned against their use in supporting any structures. Consequently, existing soil was excavated and replaced with compacted fill, and robust concrete footings were poured for various structures such as site stairs and cheek walls. The design battled with all the engineering technologies it had at the time and was fully guarded to the teeth!
However, after 25 years of extensive use, efforts to combat the site’s hydrological issues began to falter. By 2012, the sculpture garden was confronted with a range of issues, including aging infrastructure, a failing drainage system, Structural shifts and settlement, compacted soils, struggling plants, and significant repair needs stemming from seasonal floods (see image 15).
O2 Design (then oslund.and.assoc.) assisted Park Board in conducting a comprehensive assessment of the site’s challenges,
ultimately facilitating the procurement of $8.5 million in State Bonds for renovation. The rejuvenation of this iconic garden was realized in 2017
From the outset of the renovation project, sustainability was one of three primary objectives, alongside infrastructure enhancement and universal accessibility. Rather than keep fighting against the site’s natural hydrological condition, the team opted to leverage its inherent features as a means to enhance sustainability and reduce maintenance costs. The strategies include harvesting operation water and stormwater for irrigation, minimizing impervious surfaces to regulate runoff, planting native species to bolster water resilience, and notably, introducing a 2.5-acre fresh meadow mimicking the site’s predevelopment natural habitat. All without sacrificing the design’s function of providing usable event and programming spaces, facilitating both art appreciation and civic engagement.
Upon learning of the team’s sustainability initiatives, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) expressed interest and provided an additional $1.5 million through their capital project grants. The Board of Commissioners at MWMO comprises representatives from the city of Minneapolis and Park Board and shares information on major capital projects between agencies. Following the Park Board’s introduction, the board decided to collaborate and develop a highly visible stormwater management and habitat restoration project. Kevin Reich, then city representative on the board, recalls MWMO’s support for high-profile stormwater management projects beginning around 2007. However, by 2014, standard stormwater management measures were still largely unfamiliar to the public. Previous construction projects supported by MWMO, such as the Heritage Park and St. Anthony Village stormwater system, were primarily underground
and invisible to the community. In contrast, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is one of the most visited sites in the state, generating significant public interest. MWMO recognized
the Garden as an ideal platform for showcasing innovative sustainability strategies and raising awareness through education and community outreach programs.
Spoonbridge and Cherry stands as a quintessential landmark in Minneapolis. To maintain the sculpture’s pristine appearance throughout the year, the park periodically activates the fountain jet atop the cherry stem (see image 17). Additionally, approximately every decade, the cherry was removed temporarily for a full cleaning and paint touch-up, a quirky event celebrated by the community. The fountain jet also produces refreshing mists, particularly appreciated during hot summer days. What many may not realize is that prior to the 2017 renovation, all fountain water coming out of domestic water supply flowed directly into the drainage system without recycling or reuse. This resulted in the wastage of millions of gallons of water annually, a practice that persisted for over two decades, possibly due to lax regulations and oversight. Upon discovering this inefficiency, the design team promptly integrated the fountain’s operational water usage into the stormwater management system, allowing for its reuse in irrigation.
Adjacent to the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture in the grassframed “Great Room” lies a cistern system comprised of a series of ADS sanitary pipes, each five feet in diameter and 150 feet long, serving as the centerpiece of the water reuse system. When the operation water used to wash the sculpture reaches the linden seed-shaped pond, its water level is regulated by three
stormwater outlets, which are connected into the cistern system. Additionally, stormwater runoffs from impervious surfaces in the area, as well as excess water infiltrated through permeable paving and the adjacent fresh meadow, are collected. This collected water is then reused for irrigating the garden and the nearby sports field. This innovative system diverts 4.5 million gallons of runoff from storm sewers annually (see image 18).
In addition to improving stormwater quality through fresh meadow treatment and enhanced infiltration, engineering technologies like the SAFL Baffle have been integrated into the water reuse system. The SAFL Baffle serves as a stormwater pretreatment system, fitting into a sump manhole to prevent sediment from entering downstream systems and water bodies. As a result of the SAFL Baffle filtering, P8 modeling indicates a net decrease in phosphorus, a key contributor to eutrophication when present in excessive amounts, which can be detrimental to river health and aquatic habitats.
Given that poor soil quality significantly contributed to site degradation over the past 25 years, the geotechnical engineer recommended incorporating a substantial sand section to address unstable surface areas required for civic programming. In addition to the typical topsoil, planting soil, and soil amendments specified in landscape drawings, landscape architects collaborated with civil engineers to define a sitespecific soil mix to enhance drainage and promote healthy ecological function. Engineered soil, comprising 70% sand, 20% topsoil, and 10% compost, was utilized in areas prone to extensive foot traffic, such as the “Quad Rooms.” At a specified depth of 12 inches, this soil provides the necessary volume and structure to enhance drainage. The soil composition for the Fresh Meadow consists of 50% sand, 30% topsoil, and 20% compost, also at a depth of 12 inches. This composition serves as the foundation of the Fresh Meadow, supporting the health of native plants and ensuring they fulfill their intended stormwater management and ecological functions.
Native plant species inherently exhibit greater resilience to climate variations compared to imported horticultural species. They demonstrate adaptability to various water conditions, including drought, poor drainage, and standing water. In the renovation project, over 300 native trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses were planted. Hardy native species such as Maple, Coffeetree, Linden, and Swamp White Oak were carefully chosen for their resilience and ecological significance in supporting keystone species. While the presence of turf is necessary to accommodate flexible event spaces, the design team prioritizes specifying turf alternatives whenever feasible. Along Lyndale Avenue, for instance, the design team opted for “No-Mow” Fescue instead of traditional lawn. This seed mix, composed of various native fescue seeds, is better suited to the Midwest’s cooler climate and requires less water to thrive, thereby reducing irrigation needs.
The most visible feature of the water resilience strategy is the 2.5-acre restored fresh meadow at the north end of the garden. The garden’s natural hydrological characteristics, including low-lying land and damp soils, provide an ideal environment for a fresh meadow habitat. This habitat enables deep-rooted native plants to thrive in wet soil with periodic standing water. Functioning as a natural ecological system, these plants absorb stormwater runoff like a sponge and filter out pollutants.
Establishing a natural habitat with ecological function in an urban area requires deliberate design, patience, and consistent care. Local native restoration specialist Ron Bowen, founder
and owner of Prairie Restoration with over 50 years of research and implementation experience in native habitat restoration, was consulted to tailor the soil and seed mix to the specific site conditions. Two types of seed mixes were designed to accommodate the dry mesic and mesic conditions present in the fresh meadow, each comprising a unique combination of grasses or sedges, wildflowers, and seedling plugs, totaling over 40 native species. Addition to standard broadcast seeding, over 17,600 seedling plugs were meticulously planted in the fresh meadow.
A native meadow presents a different aesthetic than traditional turf lawn, requiring time to establish and potentially appearing unkempt to some. Educating the public about the ecological and hydrological benefits of this approach is crucial. It also necessitates a different maintenance approach, requiring new knowledge and training for the maintenance staff. On several occasions during the first opening season in 2017, Tom Oslund, the lead landscape architect was heartbroken to see the maintenance crew riding lawn mowers over the newly established fresh meadow in an attempt to maintain the classic “turf” look. He can’t recall how many meetings he had to convene with the Park Board, the project manager, and the maintenance crew to reiterate the design intent and provide guidance on the proper care procedures. Through his persistent advocacy, the Park Board hired a horticulture supervisor to train the maintenance staff in native restoration techniques.
Although the fresh meadow appeared barren during its first season, by the summer of 2018, the plants flourished as planned, attracting a variety of bees, butterflies, frogs, and other insects, delighting visitors in the subsequent years.
The newly constructed Fresh Meadow also functions as a natural art gallery which provides three circular plinths for large sculpture displays. These plinths of lawn are defined by deconstructed and repurposed granite walls from the site. They are accessed by a series of interconnecting land-bridges that move the visitor through a functioning fresh meadow and stormwater detention area. Every year during the growing season, the meadow comes to the waist height and the sculptures appear to float in the meadow from the distance, adding the layer and depth of art appreciation.
In collaboration with the Park Board, MWMO staff initiated monitoring of the stormwater reuse system at the garden in 2021. Monitoring equipment was installed to measure the cistern water level, enabling water resource engineers to analyze water collection and reuse capacity and address potential issues. MWMO anticipates delivering a preliminary report by the end of 2024, further utilizing the sculpture garden as a live learning and research laboratory for stormwater management.
MWMO continues to use Sculpture Garden as a prominent platform for community education and outreach. Throughout
and following construction, their communication staff provided regular updates and documented sustainable features and project progress. They produced illustrative brochures for garden opening events, installed signage explaining the water reuse system’s functionality, and received recognition for their video “Sustainability at the Sculpture Garden,” named the “Best Picture of the Year” by the Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts in 2020. Their youth program, the Mississippi River Green Team, monitors the fresh meadow habitat, utilizing it as an outdoor learning classroom. Additionally, the design team, along with Walker, Park Board, and MWMO, have conducted tours of the garden over the years, engaging artists, park visitors, garden clubs, engineering and design professionals, and the interested public.
Regarding the landscape architects’ role in promoting water resilience, Kevin Reich, Executive Director of MWMO, emphasizes the importance of advocating sustainable water management design to clients. Innovative design solutions that showcase sustainable water features as beautiful and appreciable are essential. Furthermore, resources such as MWMO’s Planning Grants, which support the planning process of projects aiming to improve water quality, should be researched and introduced to existing and potential clients. This enables small business owners or community groups to gain a better understanding of the scope and costs, advancing discussions on sustainability features.
Only through continuous innovation and pushing the boundaries of standard practices can we achieve design excellence and water resilience.
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Award of Excellence
Coen+Partners
Heart of the City
Honor Award
Coen+Partners
Heart of the City
Merit Award
TENxTEN
Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote Revitalization
Merit Award
Damon Farber
Minneapolis Convention Center Plaza
Merit Award
SWA Associates
The Clearing
Honor Award
Nicole DelPizzo & Connor McManus
Charlestown Water District
Honor Award
TENxTEN
Waukesha Healing Walk Memorial
Honor Award
TENxTEN
Wisdom Woods Vision & Communications Plan
Merit Award
Coen+Partners
Park(ing) Day
Honor Award
O2 Design
Wolter Woods & Prairies
Honor Award
Coen+Partners
Belvedere Avenue
People’s Choice Award
Bolton & Menk
The ARTery
Lob Pine Award
Chris Behringer
H.W.S. Cleveland Award
Jordan Van Der Hagen
Public Service Award
Rich Harrison, PLA, ASLA
Community Design Excellence Award
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
Roger Martin Travel Prize Fellowship
Katie Kelly, PLA
Women in Landscape Architecture (WxLA) Joan
MacLeod MLA Student
Leadership Award
Izabel Wilde
Women in Landscape Architecture (WxLA) Marjorie
Pitz BLA Student Leadership Award
Azalea Hallin-Graber
Lob Pine Award
Chris Behringer Public Service Award
Rich Harrison, PLA, ASLA
Chris is a multi-talented urban designer with more than 30 years of experience in the planning and design of streetscapes, plazas, parks, trails and open space systems. With a strong passion for design and placemaking, Chris strives to bring a level of environmental awareness to her projects. Chris’s strength lies in her ability to work closely with others and to strike a balance among creative vision, project needs and budgetary constraints.
Rich is a passionate, energetic, and talented RLA that thrives in community service. For the past 10 years he’s worked at Metro Blooms, with a focus on green infrastructure, stormwater management, habitat and community engagement. Rich excels when he’s working with and serving community partners through landscape design. Rich is always all in, guiding community design conversations and charrettes, pushing back on perceived limitations, and embracing the full scope of what we can accomplish for clean water, pollinator habitat, and environmental justice.
Community Design Excellence Award
Minnehaha Creek
Watershed District
H.W.S Cleveland Award
Jordan Van Der Hagen
Roger Martin Travel Prize Fellowship
Katie Kelly, PLA
WxLA Joan MacLeod
MLA Student Leadership Award
Izabel Wilde
WxLA Marjorie
Pitz BLA Student Leadership Award
Azalea Hallin-Graber
WxLA MN Student Diversity Scholarship Award
Chia Xiong
The Minnehaha Creek Watershed has gone through a multi-year effort to transform the water quality of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed. Like many watersheds they have focused on the ecology, science and engineering of how to improve the watershed, but what they have done in the realm of placemaking makes them unique and an example for all watersheds in the State of Minnesota. The results in the watershed have combined interpretive, recreational and environmental improvements to advance our communities and improve empathy for our natural environment.
Jordan has demonstrated a passion for the positive impact landscape architects can make on our communities. His work advocating for the transformation of the I-35 corridor from an underutilized interstate freeway into a pedestrian-friendly parkway that improves connections from the downtown to the lakefront has advanced the conversation from a student’s vision into a city-supported advocacy to engage the state of Minnesota in an implementation-oriented discussion. While Jordan has moved to Minneapolis, his ignited flame has allowed others to take up the cause and advocate for a more vital and more-connected downtown.
Inspired by work that is cross-disciplinary, collaborative, and inclusive, Katie is an associate at TEN x TEN whose professional experiences have largely been focused on cultural landscapes, sacred and contested sites, memorials, intrepretive planning, and community-engaged design. Katie’s desire to tell stories, to engage with history and people, and to consider how landscapes can help us connect, teach, and heal influenced her interest and love for landscape architecture.
Izzy Wilde is finishing her last semester of school at the University of Minnesota in the MLA program. She has served as the ASLA Student Chapter Co-President for the last two years as well as on the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis’ board of directors. In the summers, Izzy does waterfowl rehabilitation work at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. She enjoys doing this work because it allows her to be a steward for the conservation of birds in the wild and educate others on the importance of urban wildlife. In her career after school, she hopes to continue her work in the conservation of wildlife through landscape architecture and planning.
Azalea Hallin-Graber graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Design with a bachelors degree in Environmental Design and a minor in Urban Studies. Azalea believes in the power of providing tools and education to help ground people to a sense of place and community. Expanding their experiences and skills in fabrication and ecological restoration, Azalea is now studying boat building in Norway at Fosen Folkehøgskole. Working within the Norwegian pine and spruce forests from a deeply rooted boat-building perspective has been a playful and creative way for Azalea to expand their work in landscape architecture and fabrication.
Chia Xiong is the winner of the WxLA MN Student Diversity Scholarship Award. This award is granted every year to students currently enrolled in the Bachelor or Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota. It was established to strengthen landscape architectural practice by fostering diversity in our profession. Because we know that diverse groups of creative problem solvers consistently outperform homogeneous groups, our profession needs to include diverse individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Coen+Partners
General Design, Award of Excellence + Honor Award
This project re-imagines a car-centric streetscape of two city blocks and a plaza as a new public realm aligned with the city’s vibrant and diverse community. Proactive community engagement drove the success of this work: over 70 pop-up and prototyping events, one-on-one stakeholder meetings, artist sessions, and other engagement events captured a true understanding of the community’s needs and desires for this project. The project pioneers a curb-less street design, integrates dramatic public art installations from local and internationally known artists, and utilizes custom-designed accessible site furniture. Cutting-edge sustainability strategies promote greenery and reduce stormwater runoff and ice-melting salt usage.
TENxTEN General Design, Merit Award
Dakota elders tell of the creation of humans occurring in their homeland of Mni Sota Makoce (Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds). This sacred place is at Bdote, meaning the juncture of two bodies of water and refers to the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Historic Fort Snelling’s newly restored prairies, paths, gathering spaces, overlooks, and messaging features are perched on the bluffs above Bdote, creating a landscape experience that describes the site’s layered history as Dakota Homeland and a former military fort, where stories of Indigenous people, trade, soldiers, veterans, enslaved people, and immigrants now coexist.
Damon Farber General Design, Merit Award
The landscape architect led the renovation of an existing 3.1 acre green roof plaza for the Minneapolis Convention Center with the goals of implementing sustainable initiatives and creating more usable, revenue-generating space for events and visitors. The project transformed acres of mown turf into a smaller, programmable lawn surrounded by meadow and native garden installations.
Graceful pathways provide access into and through the gardens for convention center visitors and the general public. The SITES-certified project reflects the owner’s commitment to sustainability and has transformed the downtown district, providing habitat and refuge for a wide variety of birds and pollinators.
SWA Associates
General Design, Merit Award
The Clearing is the permanent memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Set in a rural context, the design favors simplicity and elevates ecology, allowing for the dynamics of seasonality and nature to interact with the processes of memory, trauma, and healing. Visitors may choose their own way among a network of paths towards a collective center. Here, surrounded by the victims’ names and a pool of water, is the “Sacred Sycamore.” This brave gesture is fragile in that it requires nourishment to persist. It is also resilient, encouraging us to remember the victims’ lives, not their death.
O2 Design Planning + Urban Design, Honor Award
Wolter Woods and Prairies is located on 160 acres of unglaciated land in northeast Iowa along the Mississippi River Bluff. The client acquired the land to develop an education and research center for environmental science to promote stewardship of nature and increase ecosystems’ biodiversity.
The master planning efforts started with identifying the site’s natural resources and geological patterns. Inspired by the unique geological setting with panoramic views toward the Mississippi River, the plan strives to enhance the natural experience with sublime natural moments
Coen+Partners
Residential Design, Honor Award
Belvedere Avenue artfully weaves together a challenging 146’ of steep grade change, dramatic views, and complex circulation requirements. An innovative and restrained design vocabulary brings the site’s topography to life, both visually and functionally. Seeking to create a series of landscape experiences while descending through the garden, the landscape architects designed a sculptural landscape where dramatic site walls shape a nature-forward landscape of transitions -- views, movement, views, movement. The project feels at once fresh and new, and entirely integrated with the site.
Nicole DelPizzo and Connor McManus Student Work, Honor Award
Located on a site at risk from sea level rise in a neighborhood in need of housing, the design of the Charlestown Water District uses an elevated boardwalk over restored marsh and park space to enrich and protect residents of the Bunker Hill neighborhood. With a central theme of “Living with Water,” each area of the design offers a way for residents and visitors to connect to the water -- from exploring the salt marsh to swimming and kayaking -- all while providing habitat, filtering stormwater, and buffering against sea level rise.
TENxTEN
Unbuilt Works, Honor Award
How might a memorial span across a city and reclaim the street?
The Waukesha, WI, community asked designers to propose a memorial design in honor of the six victims killed and many more injured when a man intentionally drove his vehicle into the crowded, annual Waukesha Christmas Parade. This proposal interprets the request for two memorial locations, one at the parade site and one at a nearby park, as an opportunity for procession and remembrance between these two spaces. The Waukesha Healing Walk honors the victims through action, by reclaiming the street and creating a safer, pedestrian-friendly landscape.
TENxTEN Communications, Honor Award
The landscape architect’s delicate approach provides visitors with subtle ways to engage with the natural environment. An interpretive guide, wayfinding features, and a maintenance manual help guests and staff understand the landscape and their relationship with it. These communication tools invite visitors to slow down, pay attention to their surroundings, appreciate the beauty of Wisdom Woods, and seize opportunities for personal reflection.
Coen+Partners Communications, Merit Award
At the edge of the mighty Mississippi, in the middle of a vibrant urban core, a Park[ing] Day “parklet” was created to communicate the powerful characteristics of food and share personal stories. The artful, abstract installation was designed to offer seeds to visitors to take home and plant in their gardens. In return, patrons were asked to leave stories, in the form of handwritten notes, about their food traditions, memories, or general observations.
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