SAT-C08: Revealing Place: Context, Cultural History, and Ecological Memory in Landscape Architecture

Saturday, October 11, 2025

3:45 PM – 5:00 PM CT

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW

Speaker(s)

Sara Zewde, ASLA

Founding Principal & Assistant Professor of Practice
Studio Zewde & Harvard GSD
New York, New York
Thomas Woltz, FASLA, CLARB

Owner and Senior Principal
Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Charlottesville, Virginia
Ken Smith, FASLA

Founder and Principal
Ken Smith Workshop
New York, New York

This presentation challenges notions that land is empty or fallow. Three landscape architects will present strategies and studies emphasizing the importance of expressing a site’s historical, cultural, and ecological context and the benefits derived from this approach. Contemporary landscape challenges will also be addressed in this “place-revealing” design approach.

Learning Outcomes:

Learn to read the land’s history and context as part of the design process.
Gain interpretive techniques for revealing and incorporating place in design.
Understand the importance of advocacy and managing public and owner expectations and involvement.
Explore case studies that demonstrate how landscape design can serve social purpose, environmental health, and memory.