The CSLA Awards of Excellence jury is composed of CSLA members who are nominated by their component association. The OALA, BCSLA and AAPQ select a representative for this jury annually. MALA, AALA, and SALA alternate their nominations every third year; and NLALA, NWTALA, and NuALA select a representative as their circumstances permit. On some occasions, members of the media or other professionals are invited to participate.
Award Categories
The CSLA Awards of Excellence are given for outstanding accomplishment in landscape architecture at the national level. Awards are given in the categories of Design; Planning and Analysis; Landscape Management; Communication; Research: and New Directions of Professional Practice.
Jury Reviews 2007
The WOW factor
What precisely constitutes excellence? The CSLA jurors looked particularly for projects that were innovative… projects with design or detailing that raised the bar for the profession… and above all, for work that elicited a WOW!
This year, with 80 submissions and 36 winners, the jurors particularly noted the ever-expanding range of landscape architecture in Canada today. The CSLA awards are receiving a growing number of show garden submissions, for example. Projects focusing on ecological design and sustainability also sharply increased. So did the number of complex, multi-disciplinary teams led by landscape architects. It is no longer groundbreaking or even unusual for landscape architects to lead teams of diverse professionals. “This is something that appears to be quite common now, and reflects well upon the effect our profession is having,” the jury commented.
If the jury had advice, it was chiefly about how we as landscape architects promote our work. Although virtually every landscape project focuses on people’s use of special places, many submissions failed to show people using the spaces. “These are not objects, they are spaces to be used by people,” said the jury, “and their use speaks to their success.” Let us see them!
Jury applauds diversity
by Linda A. Irvine, Jury Chair
The 2006 CSLA Awards recognize and encourage professional excellence, and celebrate the ever- expanding range of landscape architects in Canada today. The 27 winning submissions spanned six categories: Design, Planning and Analysis, Research, Communications, Landscape Management and New Directions.
This year, the jury was particularly impressed with the high quality of submissions and with their remarkable diversity. This diversity is a very healthy thing. The CSLA must be inclusive – even expansive – and embrace changing concepts of professionalism. We must not, above all, exclude or alienate important segments of landscape architectural practice.
The role of the LA is continually expanding, and the Awards of Excellence help articulate the intrinsic value that landscape archite
