Registration now open for international symposium convening international scholars and practitioners October 17 — 18, 2018

NEW YORK, May 3, 2018 — The American Academy in Rome (AAR) and Longwood Gardens are pleased to announce that registration is now open for Designing Water, a two-day symposium that explores the relationship of design and water across time, space, and scale. Created for professionals involved in the designing, planning, and managing of water systems, Designing Water brings together academic leaders and world-renowned design practitioners from Asia, Europe, and North America. Each presenter will bring their local perspectives to truly global interests and concerns—such as ecology, aesthetics, meaning, and public space—as they assemble at Longwood Gardens in the picturesque Brandywine Valley, immediately preceding the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in Philadelphia. Information and details on sessions, speakers, and registration can be found at designingwater.org.

“The Academy is pleased to collaborate with Longwood Gardens on this timely symposium, which presents a range of critical ideas about landscape and water,” said AAR President and CEO Mark Robbins. “Partnerships such as this reflect the Academy’s role as an academic and cultural institution; strengthening the voice of the arts and humanities through the annual support of artists and scholars”

Among the confirmed speakers at Designing Water are Julia Czerniak, Professor and Associate Dean, Syracuse Architecture (and chief curator of Designing Water), and several Rome Prize Fellows, including Anita Berrizbeitia (2006), Mary Margaret Jones (1998), Catherine Seavitt Nordenson (1998), and Charles Waldheim (2007).

“We are pleased to join with the American Academy in Rome to convene the world’s foremost experts to present Designing Water,” said Longwood Gardens President and CEO Paul B. Redman. “This conference’s unique focus assembles leading scholars and practitioners in garden design, landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology to discuss and advance the integral role of water in the built environment. Professionals involved in designing, planning, and managing water will find it an informative and inspiring experience,” Redman said.

Longwood Gardens
In 1906, industrialist Pierre du Pont (1870–-1954) purchased a small farm near Kennett Square, PA, to save a collection of historic trees from being sold for lumber. Today, Longwood Gardens continues this spirit of stewardship and innovation. As one of the great gardens of the world, Longwood is home to the most significant fountain collection in North America, the jewel of which is the recently revitalized 1,719-jet Main Fountain Garden. Encompassing 1,083 acres, Longwood combines horticultural artistry with natural lands, grand architecture with diverse garden design, and the performing arts with informal and formal education programs to create an extraordinary experience. Open daily, Longwood welcomes more than 1.5 million guests each year and is located in the sublime countryside of the Brandywine Valley, 30 miles from Philadelphia. For more information, visit longwoodgardens.org.

American Academy in Rome / The Rome Prize
Founded in 1894, the American Academy in Rome is the leading international center for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities. A not-for-profit, privately funded institution, AAR annually offers the Rome Prize Fellowship and Italian Fellowships to a select group of artists and scholars, after an application process that begins each fall. The winners, selected by independent juries through a national competition process, are invited to Rome the following year to pursue their work in an atmosphere conducive to intellectual and artistic experimentation and interdisciplinary exchange. Fellowships are offered in the following categories: Literature, Music Composition, Visual Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Design, and Historic Preservation and Conservation, as well as Ancient Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, and Modern Italian Studies. To date, AAR has fueled critical thinking, research, and work for over 1,700 artists and scholars who are leaders in their fields and whose rich and significant output continues to fill museums, concert halls, libraries, and universities across the United States and around the world. AAR also invites a select group of Residents, Affiliated Fellows, and Visiting Artists and Scholars to work within this exceptional community in Rome.

To learn more about the Rome Prize, the Italian Fellowships, or other programs at the American Academy in Rome, please visit aarome.org.

Designing Water Speakers:

Julia Czerniak, Chief Curator, Designing Water
Professor & Associate Dean, Syracuse Architecture

Anita Berrizbeitia, ASLA
Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design

​​​​​​​Elma van Boxel and Krisitan Koreman
Founding Directors, ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles]

James Corner, RLA, ASLA
Founding Partner and CEO, James Corner Field Operations

Georges Descombes
Principal, Atelier Descombes Rampini

​​​​​​​James A. Garland, AIA, NCARB President
President & Founder, Fluidity Design Consultants

Adriaan Geuze, Prof., Ir., RLA, OALA
Founding Partner, Design Director, West 8

Christophe Girot
Head of the Institute of Landscape Architecture, Dean Elect at the Department of Architecture of the ETH in Zürich

Dorothée Imbert
Professor, Hubert C. Schmidt Chair in Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University

​​​​​​​Mary Margaret Jones, FASLA
Senior Principal, Hargreaves Associates and Hargreaves Jones

​​​​​​​Tilman Latz
Partner & Design Director, Latz + Partner
Landscape Architect ByAK bdla, Architect ByAK, Urban Planner ByAK

​​​​​​​Michael G. Lee
Reuben M. Rainey Professor in the History of Landscape Architecture
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
University of Virginia School of Architecture

Nina-Marie E. Lister, MCIP, RPP, Honorary ASLA
Associate Professor, Ryerson University
Graduate Program Director, Urban & Regional Planning Director, Ecological Design Lab
Founding Principal, PLANDFORM

Kate Orff, RLA
Founding Principal, SCAPE

​​​​​​Colvin Randall
P.S. du Pont Fellow, Longwood Gardens

Paul B. Redman
President and CEO, Longwood Gardens

​​​​​​Mark Robbins
President and CEO, American Academy in Rome

​​​​​​​Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, ASLA, AIA, FAAR
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, The City College of New York
Principal, Catherine Seavitt Studio

​​​​​​​Charles Waldheim
John E. Irving Professor and Director, Office for Urbanization

​​​​​​​Mason White
Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Partner, Lateral Office

​​​​​​​Kongjian Yu, FASLA
Changjiang Chair Professor of Design, Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape
President and Principal Designer, Turenscape