Corner Earns ASLA Medal, Tsolakis Named Honorary Member

James Corner (MLA’86), founder and CEO at James Corner Field Operations, professor emeritus of landscape architecture, and past chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Weitzman, has earned The ASLA Design Medal for 2023 from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Alkis Tsolakis (BA’70), professor of architecture and dean of the LSU College of Art & Design who received his undergraduate degree in fine arts from Penn, earned an Honorary Membership in the ASLA.

“How many masterpieces does a person have to make?” said Laurie Olin, practice professor emeritus in the Department of Landscape Architecture, of Corner’s professional portfolio, writing in his letter of endorsement.

Amanda Burden, the former New York City Planning Commissioner responsible for overseeing the transformation of Staten Island’s Fresh Kills landfill, described in her letter, “how [Corner’s] extraordinary vision to convert this toxic wasteland into 2200 acres of new parkland and habitat inspired citywide optimism and hope on the heels of the tragic events of 9/11.”

Since earning his Master of Landscape Architecture degree in 1986, Corner has devoted his career to advancing the field of landscape architecture and urbanism, primarily through his leadership on high-visibility, complex urban projects around the world, as well as through teaching, public speaking (including a keynote at the Weitzman School’s 2021 Commencement Ceremony), and writing. His firm’s projects include New York’s High Line; Seattle’s Central Waterfront; San Francisco’s Presidio Tunneltops; Chicago’s Navy Pier; London’s South Park Plaza at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park; Hong Kong’s Victoria Dockside; and Shenzhen’s new city of Qianhai.

In a statement published by the ASLA, Corner described the opportunity for today’s practitioners to contribute to the public good as unprecedented. “Landscape architecture has probably never had so much to offer society than it does today,” said Corner. “The field’s capacity to work creatively with complex natural systems combined with social experience, public space and community, places it squarely in the vanguard of today's built environment and urbanization.”

Corner joined the faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Penn in 1989, and was the chair from 2000 through 2012. Among his many other honors, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2021.

Currently a professor of architecture and dean of the LSU College of Art & Design, Alkis Tsolakis was a founding faculty member of the Hammons School of Architecture at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, where he held several administrative posts and was acting director of the art department. He has practiced architecture and sculpture in Greece, France, and the United States. He was a founder and director of the Drury University Center in Greece and the head of the Department of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He is currently serving as the interim director of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture.

In his letter of nomination for Tsolakis, Kurt Colbertson, principal and chairman emeritus at Design Workshop, said, “Landscape architecture needs strong articulate champions in our relationships with allied professionals, without the walls of the academy, and in the larger community. The State of Louisiana is extremely fortunate to have such a champion in Alcibiades Tsolakis.”

The eight honorary members inducted by ASLA are non-landscape architecture professionals recognized for notable service to the profession. Since its inception in 1899, ASLA has inducted only 255 honorary members.

“The ASLA honorees are the best of the best and represent what is possible in the field of landscape architecture. This is the highest recognition ASLA bestows each year,” said ASLA President Emily O’Mahoney, FASLA.

The honorees are selected by ASLA’s board of trustees. Announced on June 13, the 2023 recipients are documented on the ASLA website with letters of nomination and portfolios.

Founded in 1899, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the professional association for landscape architects in the United States, representing more than 15,000 members. ASLA’s mission is empowering its members to design a sustainable and equitable world through landscape architecture.