LAND COLLECTIVE @ ASLA 2014 Denver
LAND COLLECTIVE Principal, David A. Rubin, participated in two panel presentations at the National Conference of the American Society of Landscape Architects in Denver: “Empathy-Driven Design & 21st Century Public Spaces” and “Ground-Up: Building The New Firm Round-table Discussion.”
“Empathy-Driven Design” focused on the design and science of the creation of successful public open spaces with a concentration on current thinking in sociology and the means and use of metrics to interpret and intervene to increase connections between people. Rubin was honored to participate alongside Anna Rose, Principal of Space Syntax in London, a firm dedicated to providing strategic, evidence-based consulting services in economics, planning, design, transport and property development, and Stephane Tonnelat, ethnographer and author of “The Sociology of Urban Public Spaces”, fellow at the Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CIRHUS) based at New York University and a research fellow at the French National Center for Scientific Research. Rubin’s design of Canal Park in Washington, D.C. and “The Commonground,” a plaza for Eskenazi Health Hospital in Indianapolis, IN, were presented to describe the opportunities and challenges of creating successful public spaces in which human interaction is promoted as the primary objective for design success.
In a round-table discussion with three young design entrepreneurs, Rubin moderated “Ground-Up: Building The New Firm,” a panel dedicated to the “trials, tribulations, lessons and passion involved in creating and directing a new practice.” The candid conversation and observations from each of the four principals made for a lively, spirited, and informative discussion. Complementing LAND COLLECTIVE’s one and a half years were start-up principals Gyles Thornley of Connect One Design, Roger Socha from TRUEFORM, and Todd Lansing from CREO Landscape Architects.