Kalamazoo, MI – For the third year, Landscape Forms, an award-winning designer, manufacturer and marketer of outdoor commercial furniture and accessories, has announced that it will host
Xtreme Challenge, an intense 2-day charrette event calculated to challenge and inspire emerging Gen-X design leaders. These 12 young landscape architecture professionals will be identified by their firms to join 12 outstanding landscape architecture students selected from The University of Texas at Austin master’s degree program as best-in-class, and will be divided to work in two teams under “celebrated” team leaders. This event scheduled for September 22 – 23, 2010 will foster creative thinking, teambuilding and facility of expression in an extraordinary opportunity to create designs for critical urban initiatives in one of the country’s most vibrant cities; Austin, Texas.
This impressive professional development program is intended to provide exposure and experience that will benefit both the participants and the firms in which they work. The young professionals will be mentored by prominent landscape architects and will, in turn, have the opportunity to mentor promising students preparing to enter the profession. The plan is to provide a memorable experience that is stimulating, educational and fun.
Xtreme Challenge Co-Hosts
- Bill Main, Honorary ASLA and President, Landscape Forms
- Barbara Deutsch, Executive Director, Landscape Architecture Foundation
- Frederick Steiner, Dean, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin
Xtreme Challenge Team Leaders Share Impressive Background
Renowned landscape architects/urban designers with extensive experience in urban revitalization projects worldwide will mentor the teams.
- Susannah C. Drake RLA, RA, Principal, dlandstudio
- Sarah Kuehl, Partner, Peter Walker and Partners Landscape Architects
- Dean Almy, Director Landscape Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin
Guest speakers will include municipal leaders and environmental advocates directly involved in shaping Austin’s future.
About Landscape Forms
Since its founding in 1969 Landscape Forms has earned a reputation for excellent design, high quality products and exceptional service. The Landscape Forms U.S. headquarters and manufacturing facility is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan with sales offices throughout North America, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Southern Europe. Landscape Forms collaborates with renowned industrial designers and consultants, landscape architects, and architects to design and develop integrated collections of products that address emerging needs. The company has an installed base of products around the world. Clients include municipalities, transit centers, corporate, college and health care campuses; and familiar brand leaders such as Boeing, Cisco Systems, Disney, Sprint, American Airlines, Herman Miller and Nike. Landscape Forms was recently named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the Top 15 Small Workplaces in the US. www.landscapeforms.com
About the Landscape Architecture Foundation
Headquartered in Washington, D. C., the Foundation was established as a mechanism to help the profession better use planning and design to solve environmental problems. Its mission is the preservation, improvement and enhancement of the environment.
About The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest public universities in the United States. Founded in 1883, the university has grown from a single building, eight teachers, two departments and 221 students to a 350-acre main campus with 21,000 faculty and staff, 17 colleges and schools and more than 50,000 students. The university has one of the most diverse student populations in the country and is a national leader in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded to minority students.
The School of Architecture’s programs were highly ranked nationally for 2010 by DesignIntelligence, a publication that produces the only recognized rankings for accredited bachelor’s and master’s programs in architecture in the United States. Architecture was ranked 5th overall, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and 1st among public institutions at the graduate level. The undergraduate program in interior design, the smallest in the nation, was ranked tenth. The graduate landscape architecture program, with only four graduating classes, was ranked twelfth. The Master of Landscape Architecture was also recognized as one of the three most notable in the world by Azure, a Canadian design magazine. The School’s enrollment for 2009-10 included 353 undergraduate students and 395 graduate students.
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