The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced 100 Years of Landscape Architecture at The Ohio State University, a multi-component project celebrating the section’s centennial, recipient of the 2018 Award of Excellence in the Communications category. The annual ASLA professional awards recognize the best of landscape architecture in the general design, analysis and planning, communications, research and residential design categories from the United States and around the world.

The Project Statement for 100 Years of Landscape Architecture at The Ohio State University introduces the common theme and range of components within the communications initiative. 

Beginning in 2015, the Landscape Architecture program of The Ohio State University launched a multi-part initiative to celebrate its centennial. Forming around a common theme of making, the initiative gathered archival material and crafted new objects to tell the story of the program. The result helped bring together a community in transition, and provided an innovative look at the profession's history through the institution that has reliably represented its heart.

The initiative comprised four interwoven projects. First, a series of informational banners were installed throughout the program's home of Knowlton Hall. These banners were translated into a brochure of infographics for alumni, prospective students, and friends of the program. The exhibition Landscape by Hand displayed student work from the first 80 years of the program's existence. Finally, the program gathered its history in a book, published in 2017 as Testing Grounds: 100 Years of Landscape Architecture at The Ohio State University. The title points to a major theme for each piece: Ohio State's position as a bellwether of the landscape profession and academy, a site where new practices are tested and perfected.

The winners will receive their awards at the ASLA 2018 Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia on Monday, October 22, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The September issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine (LAM) features the winning projects.