ASLA Launches the Landscape Architect’s Guide to DC

Photo by PoPville flickr user ashleykalena

This is very cool.

From The American Society of Landscape Architects:

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is pleased to announce the launch of the Landscape Architect’s Guide to Washington, D.C. This online, mobile-friendly guide will help visitors and locals discover more than 75 historic, modern and contemporary landscapes in Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Va. Expert commentary and more than 800 photos are provided by 20 landscape architects. It is located at www.asla.org/guide.

According to Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, executive vice president and CEO of ASLA, the guide is the first of its kind devoted to Washington, D.C. It highlights historic monuments and parks—including the National Mall and Memorial Parks and Capitol Hill—and examples of new sustainable works—including Constitution Square, a cutting-edge green street that is one block long, and Diamond Teague Waterfront Park, which incorporates man-made, water-cleansing wetlands on the Anacostia River.

“The guide will provide the 19 million tourists who visit D.C. annually, along with locals, a fresh perspective on both iconic and brand-new landscapes within the nation’s capital,” says Somerville. “D.C.’s vibrant public realm didn’t just magically appear but was carefully designed over the years, and is continually evolving, through interactions among elected leaders, communities and landscape architects.”

The guide is divided into 16 distinct tours in all four quadrants of the District—as well as a tour of the new D.C. bicycle network. Each tour covers multiple neighborhoods, and includes a printable walking or biking map.

The guide was created by ASLA in partnership with 20 nationally recognized landscape architects, all of whom are designers of the public realm and leaders in sustainable design. The guides were asked to explain the sites from a landscape architect’s point of view and show how the design of these sites influences how people interact with or even feel about these places.

List of Sites Featured in the Guide after the jump.

Pennsylvania Avenue
John Marshall Park
Pennsylvania Avenue
Freedom Plaza
Pershing Square Park

Rock Creek Park

The White House
The White House & President’s Park
Lafayette Park
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
The Ellipse

The National Mall
The Mall
National Museum of the American Indian
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden
Enid Haupt Garden
Washington Monument
National War II Memorial
Constitution Gardens
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool
Korean War Memorial
DC War Memorial
Martin Luther King Memorial
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
George Mason Memorial
Tidal Basin (West Potomac Park)

Capitol Hill
National Japanese American Memorial
Upper and Lower Senate Garden
Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carrillon
West Grounds of the Capitol / Summer House
Union Square
The U.S. Botanic Garden / Bartholdi Park
U.S. Capitol Visitors Center
Eastern Market
Congressional Cemetery

Chinatown / NoMA
Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery
ASLA Green Roof
Constitution Square

Dupont Circle / Embassy Row
Dupont Circle
Spanish Steps
Embassy Row
National Cathedral

Columbia Heights / Shaw / Adams Morgan
Meridian Hill (Malcolm X) Park
Union Row
African American Civil War Memorial
Howard University Quadrangle

Brookland
Franciscan Monastery
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
McMillan Sand Filtration Site

Woodley Park / Upper Northwest D.C.
Smithsonian National Zoo Park
Hillwood Estate

L’Enfant
HUD Plaza
Benjamin Banneker Park
Southwest Duckpond

Navy Yard
Half Street Fairground
The Yards Park
Diamond Teague Waterfront Park

Anacostia / Deanwood / Mahaning Heights
Frederick Douglass Historic Site
Fort Mahan Park
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Georgetown
Georgetown Waterfront Park
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Cady’s Alley
The Exorcist Steps
Georgetown University
Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks Park
Oakhill Cemetery

Arlington / Pentagon / Rosslyn
Arlington Memorial Bridge
Women in Military Service for America Memorial
Pentagon Memorial
Arlington Cemetery
The Air Force Memorial
U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial