and as of next year, in addition to the cur-
rent landscape architect members, the
CSLA will open its membership to include
interns and students.
HISTORY OF THE PROFESSION
Vincent Asselin is a partner at WAA inter-
national Ltd (multi-disciplinary firm special-
izing in the fields of landscape architecture,
urban design and planning), and President
of the CSLA. “Landscape architecture as
we know it originated from the industrial
period,” says Asselin. “The environment
was filthy, polluted and people were es-
sentially missing the base necessities for
life such as drinking water, proper sanita-
tion etc.”
In 1850, American F.L Olmsted, proposed a
revolutionary idea in the open competition
for Central Park in NY. His preoccupation
was to respond to the social problems of
the time by creating a park, one that could
bring people of every echelon of society
in a common, equalizing space and benefit
from the curative value of nature. This was
a revolutionary idea at the time, and he in-
troduced the idea of segregating cars from
people. “It is not exaggerated to say that it
changed cities for ever,” says Asselin.
At the core of the revolutionary think-
ing was the fusion of city and landscape
planning. “Think about all the Parliament’s
grounds across the country, although they
might be very different one from the oth-
er, most are excellent examples of how a
design creates a setting for an official rep-
resentation of our legal system, the im-
portance of Government Presence and, in
some cases, these sites are extensively
used by local populations for passive and
semi active recreational places.
Green networks, conservation areas and
parks are another major contribution of
landscape architects. In addition to specif-
ic site design such as Mont-Royal Park in
“The work of a landscape architect is extremely varied,” says Michelle
Legault,ExecutiveDirector of theCanadianSocietyof LandscapeArchitects
(CSLA). “It touches the design, planning, management and stewardship of
outdoor areas both public and private, landmarks and structures, any type
of land which needs to be managed in some way.”
AUGUST 2017
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