So I am now President of the Florida Chapter...let the party begin! Wait...what? I have to go where?...Denver?...In November? But it's 25 degrees there! So, as any other Florida Chapter volunteer dedicated to bettering our profession I traded in my Hawaiian shirt, shorts, flip flops and Jimmy Buffet songs for a winter coat, wool pants, boots and John Denver songs. Upon arrival, my body went into shock having gone through a 60-degree change in six short hours.

 

Welcome to the 13th piece of my Trustee report series where I share a few notes and items from our national organization from the last month or so. I also remind people who may have lapsed in their membership to rejoin and that payment options are available. Please feel free to contact me at Trustee@FLASLA.org if you have any questions or concerns about ASLA issues. I am just back from Denver where the Board of Trustees (BOT) met in conjunction with the great Annual Meeting and Expo.

 

Fellow Members, As your newly elected Palm Beach/Treasure Coast Chair, I wanted to start off my position with a quick introduction: My name is Nicole and I am a landscape designer at Cotleur & Hearing in Jupiter. I am a Florida Gator and a past president of the Student Chapter of ASLA in Gainesville. I love to explore the world and cruising is my preferred method of travel. I have a love/hate relationship with Sketchup and only have one more LARE test to conquer. I love to plan events and I am extremely excited about meeting all of the current members and future members of FLASLA. We will have a lot of great networking and educational events planned for 2015 and I hope to see you all there! Happy Holidays, Nicole

 

The National Park Service Historic American Landscapes Survey announces the 2015 HALS Challenge: Documenting Modernist Landscapes. Winners of this national juried competition with cash prizes will be announced at the 2015 Annual ASLA Meeting and Expo in Chicago.

 

Amidst the Murcia countryside, between orange manors, olive groves and flower fields, old little towns and vernacular agrarian villages, nestled between a fertile valley, an imposing mountain range and the magnificent Mediterranean Sea, lies the Mar Menor community. At 7 km from Los Alcazares by sea and only 4 km from Torre Pacheco, a traditional Murcia town, this community was conceived from inception as a sustainable place to live. Immersed in the richness of southern Spain, Mar Menor offers 750 villas inspired by the local vernacular and geared toward Northern Europeans seeking the warmth of the southern sun and the flavor of Spanish culture.

 

The Landscape Architect created the original garden for the residence on the Marco River in 1980. During the next two decades, the client acquired the neighboring house and property. The two houses were connected by glass corridors and roof lines were designed to mimic the Katsura palace in Japan. After 20 years, the original landscape was missing the midrange canopy and the connection of the two gardens. A new palette of plant materials blends the entire property. New coconuts, bamboos, guavas, flowering trees and several varieties of shrubs were added to enrich the new garden palette. The owners have acquired several sculptures over the years. Garden vignettes were designed to enhance their presence in the garden spaces. We developed layers of privacy for the clients creating backgrounds dense tropical foliage.

 

Designing a private outdoor space in Naples, Florida for a family from the Midwest gave the designers the opportunity to focus on building a relationship: not only between the design team and the individual family members and friends, but between all of them and the Florida climate, environment and local practices. This project highlights the relationship between their dreams of luxuriating in blue sky and water and the art and science of assembling all the pieces to create indulgent yet functional resort-style living.

 

Friday, December 12, 2014 9 a.m. Hilton St. Augustine

 

Friday, December 12 Hyatt Regency Downtown 5 p.m. - 7 p.m