Landscape Architecture Australia – August 2019

Rosalea Monacella spoke with Chris Reed from Stoss Landscape
Urbanism (Boston), Lisa Switkin and Richard Kennedy from
James Corner Field Operations (New York), Bryna Lipper of 100
Resilient Cities (New York) and Sacha Coles of Aspect Studios
(Sydney). See Landscape Architecture Australia issue 162 for
part one of the interview.

Rosalea Monacella: Who or which organization do you think
is in the best position to catalyse change?

Sacha Coles (Aspect Studios, Sydney): Previously,
responsibility lay with the government to make policies
that encourage and enable the private sector to implement
resilient designs in a cost-effective way. However, this has
not happened fast enough. Although rare, there are recent
examples of committed private sector organizations driving
change, for their own reasons: for branding, market definition
or whatever else. Landscape architects working for these
“new Medicis”– the city-makers, developers and urban
regenerators – have the opportunity to test and implement
progressive projects. I still believe, however, in the strong
role of government to incentivize and/or show leadership
around achieving societal health. A resilient environment
is central to this.

Bryna Lipper (100 Resilient Cities, New York): Mayors and

city managers have extraordinary opportunities to increase

the resilience of their cities. They can formulate progressive

policies and incentives about how land is used, and can

leverage their investments to broker partnerships with the

private sector, based on environmental impact. They can

commission reviews of the impacts of new development on

resilience. By implementing some simple moves across many

cities, real outcomes can be achieved.

Chris Reed (Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Boston): The central

question here is, “How do you design for change?” That is,

change that [is predictable], but also unpredictable change.

If you [begin] a project with that mindset, you’re going to

come out with a different result: not a stage set [that] people

[only] move in and around, but a shifting set of structures

and armatures which themselves can be changed over time.

At the plaza at Harvard University we created a structure

that can be fitted out in many different ways. The surface is

embedded with many different structural hook-ups, utility

hook-ups and connections, so that any number of different

events can be accommodated over time. What we have

observed over the life of this project is that we invent new

ways to configure and reconfigure the site every time they

Top left to right: Chris Reed,

founding director of Stoss

Landscape Urbanism (Boston).

Sacha Coles, director – design

and strategy, Aspect Studios

(Sydney).

Bryna Lipper, senior vice

president and chief resilience

advisor at 100 Resilient Cities

(New York).

Bottom: Lisa Switkin and

Richard Kennedy, senior

principals at James Corner

Field Operations (New York).