Insights from the leadership of ASLA-NY

In the closing days of World Landscape Architecture Month - #WLAM2025 - LAA reached out to the ASLA-NY leadership pairing of Annie Phaosawasdi, President, and David Russo, newly appointed Executive Director, to open up a wider conversation about the commitment it takes to represent and champion the profession.

Note to readers: Annie has now become Associate Principal at the renamed Hargreaves Jones.

By 2027 Annie will have served two consecutive terms heading the New York chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, which marked its centenary year in 2024 (you can watch a short film on their 100 years here).

Having previously served as the chapter's Education Committee Chair, Annie's presidency started in Fall 2022, with one year as president-elect. "It's a two-year term, but I was re-elected and was apparently the first NY Chapter president to run for a consecutive term as president".

David is also breaking new ground for ASLA-NY, becoming the first person who has practised as a registered landscape architect to take on the staff position role of Executive Director. Over two spans he'd spent up to a decade on the board, and was most recently ASLA-NY's Treasurer, co-chair of the Awards Committee and on the Fellows Nomination Committee.

The sense that the world of landscape architecture is making a growing impact, and is excelling at what Annie calls "designing for possibilities", is helping to power their desire to make changes and further evolve the organisation.

Annie, who holds an MLA from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and a BLA from Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, marvels at the expanding cornucopia of issues that landscape architecture encompasses. She remarks, for instance, that in the early to late 2000s the knowledge base for university students surrounding climate and environment was much lower.

"As I started working, what got me really excited (about landscape architecture) is a realisation that we're not specialists in everything. The longer I'm in it, the less I feel like I know.

"What I like about us as generalists is that we have enough knowledge to know what we should be considering, but we’re not the specialist and I find that perspective very humbling. There's no one person that knows the complete answer. It really depends on coming together as a team and collaborating”.

David credits community engagement as the ‘pull factor’ that drew him into the profession. "The thing that really tugged at my strings for a long time was the involvement of the community in the design process, you know the engagement and the designing for the people who live around a space. In New York we have so many 'friends of' groups that all want help on their spaces, and that have great connections to the communities that are going to be using them. It's just a great place to do community design".

This 'Gotham city' duo are not "necessarily a new team", says Annie, but they are certainly steering ASLA-NY through a new phase.

Annie offers a refreshing outlook on the governance-operations nexus, the challenges of being on a board and the cycles they follow.

"Whenever someone starts it's just easier, obviously, to keep doing what the people before you have been doing, in the way they've been doing it, because it's a two year term.

"There are certain patterns that predecessors may have set up, which is great given the hassle of that. However newer people coming in will not always understand where that came from and may keep thinking they have to follow what's established".

With a concerning question like 'what would happen if we all retired at the same time?' in mind, Annie is conscious of the importance of commitment as well as the downsides of waiting too long for renewal at the board table.

Among the things that Annie attaches importance to, is to constantly attract a 'next generation' to roles with and within ASLA-NY.

"We do our best to engage people from a wide range and we want everyone to have their own individual ideas of how they see things. Ideally we want to get new people involved sufficiently so they can grow into a role that has responsibilities and know that nothing is set in stone.

Annie notes that becoming involved in voluntary roles is difficult for busy professionals, who are juggling responsibilities and workloads at their office, but not impossible.

A good example of this is Annie herself: "I picked up the role of Education Chair at a time no one was doing it, so there were learning curves and trial and error trying to 'trailblaze' my own path. When I was transitioning to president I had some mentees that would take over and also develop the committee with their own personal touch".

During this time Annie spearheaded work promoting diversity and inclusion in the profession, through outreach and mentorship programmes with the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Institute at Lehman College’s GEAR-UP initiative and Brooklyn Bridge Conservancy’s TIDES Program. She also hosted webinars on diversity and equality, collaborating with The City College of New York, as well as Career Discovery events for students and emerging professionals. 

Annie: "For the president's role I learned the most from watching previous presidents. This involved taking note of what I liked and what I thought I could improve on, and reaching out to them anytime I need guidance. Fortunately there is a large and generous network of people with experience in ASLA leadership and past staff who have passed on tricks on the logistical side of things".

"Dave has witnessed me responding to opportunities to change things, but not for the sake of change alone. Pushing forward encourages us not to automatically operate from a default position.

"This may mean staying up all night trying to figure out how to save $2,000. But it's moving in the right direction, right? As long as it's moving in the right direction that's what counts, and that's even better if people who follow after us don't think there's only one way to do things”.

While David is literally just settling into his ED seat after the valued tenure of predecessor Diane Sferrazza Katz, a series of event-driven activities in April - both related and unrelated to #WLAM2025 - has been a testament to this dedicated drive.

"Transitions are hard and there just happens to be a lot of things happening during my transition, outside of the transition itself. I know it will settle down".

One of the 'completely different' approaches taken this month was to move the venue for the annual ASLA-NY Design Awards celebration - held this year on 24 April - with every detail that entails.

David: "We had always hosted it at the Center for Architecture, which is a nice connection to have it in an architectural hub. But the new opportunity was to have it at the Central Park Arsenal [see also the footnote below].

"It's a very historic building with a rooftop overlooking Central Park.I mean, there couldn't be a more appropriate connection to have this event up there, plus the Arsenal is giving us a space for free. Saving money is one thing, but really the benefit of the location and connection is bigger".

An Instagram post from @asla_ny

Managing each year's ever-replenishing list of events, and placing things so they're not competing with each other, can be as energising as it is overwhelming. Other April events included on the ASLA-NY calendar have included:

ASLA-NY's marquee event, and largest event-based fundraiser, is its annual President's Dinner in the Fall.

Taking this up a notch has also been in Annie's sights in recent years, with a shift away from being centred around the norm of traditional honorees to honouring youth - firstly youth activists for climate change followed by shining a light on youth programmes.

"I may have got a little heat for the change in direction but I got more love for it as well. Many of the youths were already in college doing great things. They talked about what inspired them and where they are now, and when they got up and spoke you could hear a pin drop".

The 2024 ASLA-NY President's Dinner ran under the title 'Planting the Seed'. To spice up the event attendees were invited to compete in a Shop Your Closet challenge by "pulling out that outfit you own but never wear" and the dress code was re-coded as 'environmentally chic'.

At the close of our conversation, Annie and David were excited to hear that the NZILA Firth Wānanga 2025 being held in Heretaunga Hastings on 22-23 May will be exploring edible landscapes and food sovereignty - calling it a "great concept".

Back on the topic of calls to change, it reminded them of the decision taken for a move at the President's Dinner to ditch spending thousands of dollars on table flowers to having centrepieces consisting of arrangements of fruit and vegetables (later donated to a local food kitchen).

The profession is in good hands.

Information about the Arsenal building

One of two buildings within Central Park that predates the Park itself, the Arsenal is now the headquarters of NYC Parks and the Central Park Zoo. Built initially to store arms and ammunition for the New York State Militia in 1848, the Arsenal has proven itself a chameleon building in serving the city as a police station, a museum, a weather bureau and an animals menagerie. It’s also home to the Arsenal Gallery, where several exhibitions of fine art and photography are mounted each year. The current exhibition, running till 30 May, showcases 100 years of New Yorker covers illustrating the vital role that parks play in the rhythm of city life. For more on that particular centenary see:

Sidenote: Due to a fortuitous invite to a family wedding, LAA's curator Stephen Olsen will be taking the opportunity to visit ASLA-NY to meet and interview David Russo in person on 6 May. Watch this space for some follow-on stories from the 'Big Apple'. Keep an eye out too for posts on the LAA Instagram @laaotearoa

ASLA, WLAM, Profession, #Around-the-worldStephen Olsen