#454 - THOMAS WOLTZ, Senior Principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW)
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Thomas L. Woltz, Senior Principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW). The three discussed Thomas’s childhood influences; architecture & arts education; why he studied Master of Architecture; how landscape architects think differently; creating impact beyond your lifetime; landscape maintenance; pros & cons of private owned public spaces; research in landscape design; client alignment on project goals; challenging projects; and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT THOMAS
Thomas L. Woltz, Senior Principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW), leads the firm in the artful creation and revitalization of public landscapes. Working at the intersection of culture and ecology for the sustainability of the public realm, Thomas has led the expansion of NBW to include scientists and historians as integral contributors to the design of projects ranging from restoration ecology in large urban parks to post-industrial sites and educational campuses. Through this collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach, NBW’s designs reveal lost or erased histories in the landscape. The work of NBW now stretches across thirty states and twelve countries.
Thomas was educated at the University of Virginia and holds master’s degrees in landscape architecture and architecture as well as an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. In 2011, Thomas was invested into the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows, among the highest honors achieved in the profession and was named the Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal Magazine. He has also received the American Horticultural Society Landscape Design Award and was recognized as one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company and with the Land for People Award by the Trust for Public Land. Woltz currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Cultural Landscape Foundation.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Thomas's Childhood.
(03:19) Architecture & Arts Education.
(05:12) Why get a Master’s of Architecture.
“I had a tremendous epiphany in Venice. I had always thought that landscape was meadows, forests, fields, and gardens. Then I was suddenly living in a city without streets, but rather canals, and without cars, but rather boats. A completely hard-edged city. There I was having fantastic landscape experiences every day. The spaces made by buildings were landscapes, and the more ephemeral qualities of echo, light, water, and the sounds of the city… those were all landscapes. I finally realized that designing the landscape is actually a highly artistic and abstract activity, where you are designing the human experience and the outdoors. And I thought, “Oh my gosh, that is so subtle and elegant and poetic and changes with the seasons.” Whereas a building is remarkably static.” (06:09)
(10:41) Landscape architects think differently.
“It is appalling how [landscape architects] are treated by some architects. The dismissiveness, and they still think we come in at the very end as if we were a beautification squad. They're missing what the profession could offer them as incredibly empowering tools of design to make buildings better. It's not that landscape architects are smarter; they just think entirely differently. Part of that is a nimbleness of mind, because landscape architecture is akin to three-dimensional chess, where you have to keep in mind so many different simultaneous layers. It's not just the design of an object; it's the design of a living system. There are just so many things to think about at once, and those things are only to a certain degree under your control. I think it's just a different way and scale of thinking.” (11:37)
(15:51) Impact beyond your lifetime.
“Helping connect people to what this landscape is doing, what it holds, the stories it tells, and that this isn't new. Connecting them to the functions of ecology, to the cultural history of land, starts to help build a coalition that bonds people and place. If that bond is strong enough, they will care for it. One of the things that haunts me is the lack of understanding of what a public landscape requires in maintenance. We defer maintenance all the time. There's a deep chasm in the understanding of what it takes to maintain and sustain a public landscape. So, we have to have stewards who stand up and say to their city council. You cannot cut the funding for maintaining our public park system. No, we have to stand up for the care of the natural world.” (18:05)
(20:43) Landscape maintenance.
(23:05) Pros & cons with privately owned public spaces.
“Privately owned public space is truly a problem. It’s a transactional result of a developer who wants to bend the rules or break the rules entirely, and they say, “Let me break the rule. Give me five more stories and I will give you 30 feet off the sidewalk.” Well, that 30ft off the sidewalk is essentially a lobby to their building. So, is it really public? No. No is the answer. It doesn't look public, it doesn't feel public. Why aren't our cities and city leadership saying we need to build the best possible public realm, and developers can come up around that or contribute to it? This deal of breaking rules to benefit the developer, to get a toenail hold of space for the public, it's not good space. It's just not a wise idea because the results are painfully mediocre.” (23:50)
(26:57) Researching the history of landscape and new landscape design.
(36:33) Client alignment on project goals.
(38:56) Challenging project.
(46:00) Favorite place.
