2007 VA ASLA Awards

Analysis and Planning Professional - California Institute of Technology Landscape Master Plan

Honor Award 

Project:  California Institute of Technology Landscape Master Plan
Landscape architect: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Architect:  Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Owner/client: Cal Tech
Local landscape architect: Katherine Spitz and Associates, Inc.

Caltech is one of the leading institutions in the scientific community. Yet this leadership is not necessarily translated into its physical environment. The scope of the project was four fold: analysis; creation of a landscape framework plan; written design principles; and addressing of individual projects, both in conjunction with proposed buildings and as independent landscape works. Analysis of the existing campus, surrounding landscape, and region was done from historic, topographic, hydrologic, floristic, ecological, and existing-built-structures perspectives. From the analysis, we developed a landscape framework plan that defines four horizontal (east/west) bands in the campus, each identified with a particular historic (or future) period of development and a particular ecological community: hydric-native, mesic-mediterranean, mesic-global, xeric-native. By allowing each zone of the campus to retain its individual character, we avoid homogenizing the campus or marginalizing a particular period of development or style of built work. By grouping plant ecologies, the random dotting of the campus with individual species is avoided, but the region's incredible diversity of plants can still be showcased. The heart of the framework plan is water. The plan seeks to celebrate the use of water as a focal point of public spaces, while conserving it by reducing the area of water thirsty turf that is not used or appreciated. Installing native, drought-tolerant plants celebrates the region and helps ensure the future of its resources.