Full House for Spotlight on Design

A packed house filled greeted OvS Principals Lisa Delplace, Sheila Brady and Eric Groft when they took the stage in the Great Hall of the National Building Museum Thursday, December 3. More than 150 clients, architects, planners, photographers, developers and fellow landscape architects attended the Spotlight on Design panel about the firm.

Part presentation, part collegial conversation, the principals’ presentations gave an overview of projects that best illustrate their work, each of their creative problem-solving skills, and lessons learned in the field and from colleagues. Each slide reminded audience members that landscape design is an exercise in artistry and science.

The presentation also referenced the collaborations with major institutions and the firm’s earliest projects by Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden, many of which are featured in the Museum’s latest exhibition The New American Garden: The Landscape Architecture of Oehme, van Sweden, organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). With a combined 90 years of experience in the field of landscape architecture, the majority of it at OvS, the discussion afforded the current generation of OvS principals their first opportunity to share a presentation stage.

Charles Birnbaum, FASLA, CEO + President of TCLF and National Building Museum Curator G. Martin Moeller, Jr. spoke about the firm’s significance in the field of landscape architecture, opportunities for the future and the significance of the discipline’s work on the American landscape. Together they engaged Lisa, Sheila and Eric on topics ranging from opportunities to work with a landscape over a span of 30 years, to relationship dynamic with long-time clients, even touching on favorite plants. Audience members posed questions on everything from Colonial references in plans for the American Museum in Britain to the success and efficacy of green roof installations at Chicago Botanic Garden.

All photos © Barrett Doherty, courtesy of TCLF.