FRIENDS OF FAIRSTED LECTURE SERIES 2024
SUMMER 2024 LECTURE
Monday, June 17, 2024
A Path Forward: Identifying Accessibility Challenges and Solutions for Historic Landscapes
Presentation by Alexa Vaughn, ASLA, FAAR; Laurie Matthews, FASLA; and Monica Rhodes, FAAR
Stewardship of historic landscapes and the inclusion of disabled people traditionally clash: Why is this? How can more landscape architects learn the preservation skills to uphold the character and experience of cultural landscapes while improving accessibility? In this presentation, experts will share successful methods used in projects that bridge the gap between historic preservation and accessibility; case studies from National Parks and Olmsted-designed landscapes will be explored. This lecture is moderated by Ian Scherling, ASLA, PLA, Associate Principal, Landscape Architect at Sasaki.
Alexa Vaughn, ASLA, FAAR is a deaf landscape designer, accessibility specialist, Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and PhD student at UCLA. She has extensive expertise in designing for the deaf community, facilitation of disabled community engagement, and deep knowledge and passion for the ADA and Universal Design.
Laurie Matthews, FASLA is Director of Preservation Planning + Design at MIG and a nationally recognized expert on cultural landscapes. Her work has helped rehabilitate some of the most iconic historic places in the country, such as Yosemite National Park, Willamette Falls, and Point Reyes National Seashore.
Monica Rhodes, FAAR is an international award-winning cultural preservationist who has made significant contributions at the intersection of history, policy, and civic engagement. She has established programs at national organizations to advance socially and economically inclusive preservation practices.
For design practitioners, we are delighted to inform you that this course has been submitted for LA CES HSW credits through the Boston Society for Landscape Architects. We have highlighted some of the learning objectives:
- Garnering a better understanding of why historic preservation and accessibility have traditionally clashed
- Learning to actively include disabled stakeholders in the design and preservation process
- Discovering a methodology to address gaps between preservation and accessible design, in both legal requirements and design principles
- Becoming familiar with case studies of historic and cultural preservation projects that have successfully created accessibility and inclusion
LECTURE SPONSORS
Thanks to Sponsors of our 2023-2024 Lecture Series:
Ray Dunetz Landscape Architects
Gary Hilderbrand
Kyle Zick Landscape Architecture
Friends of the Muddy River
Tom Woodward and David LePere
PLEASE DONATE
Make a contribution to support the Friends of Fairsted Lecture Series.
For additional information about this lecture and other Friends of Fairsted events and programs.
PAST LECTURES
2023–2024
November 2023:
The Olmsted in All of Us
Charles A. Birnbaum
2022–2023
February 2023:
Before Central Park: A Conversation on Seneca Village
Sara Cedar Miller and Carla L. Peterson
2021–2022
March 2022:
Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea
Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr
Dec 2021:
Beauty, Efficiency, and Economy: A Life of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
Elizabeth Hope Cushing
2020–2021
April 2021:
Ecologies of Memory
Sara Zewde
December 2020:
The Olmsted Brothers’ Planning in California: A Prescient Approach to Ecological Design
Christine E. O’Hara
2019–2020
November 2019:
Climate Change and Urban Landscapes: Extending Olmsted’s Legacy
Chris Reed
2018–2019
December 2018:
Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
2017-2018
April 2018:
What Is a Park For? Olmsted, Obama, and the Meanings of Urban Landscape
Carlo Rotella
December 2017:
Beyond Drawings: The Olmsted Archives as Muse and Vision
Lucinda Brockway
2016–2017
March 2017:
Lewis Mumford’s Green Urbanism
Aaron Sachs
December 2016:
From the Granite Garden to West Philadelphia (with a nod to the Fens): Restoring Nature & Communities
Anne Whiston Spirn
2015–2016
April 2016:
Parks: Cornerstone of Civic Revitalization
Rolf Diamant
December 2015:
The “Fairsted School”: An Enduring Legacy
Ethan Carr
2014–2015
March 2015:
Visible|Invisible
Gary Hilderbrand
December 2014:
Dwelling in Landscape
Daniel Bluestone