LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/923105
32 Landscape Architect and Specifier News society's meeting in Los Angeles on Oct. 22. He said he developed a deep appreciation for ASLA while working with Weaver, who told him that becoming a member is critical for a successful career. Miller sees a huge benefit in ASLA's ability to connect him to other landscape architects on a local and national level. This appreciation for those connections has given Miller a strong affinity for the organization. In return, he has supported ASLA by increasingly taking on more responsibility within the association. Soon after joining ASLA, Miller became a chapter president and then a chapter trustee for six years. From there he became the national vice president of membership for two years. All this has culminated in him taking on the ASLA presidency, which he started serving in October 2017. Being the ASLA president demands a huge time commitment, including traveling two or three times a month, conference calls and attending events. Miller said his partners at MRWM are very supportive of his new position and its demands on his time. When he has some free time, Miller loves baseball and has coached his son's little league team since his son's fifth birthday. But even when away from the office, Miller uses his design skills to help those in need. For example, every year his local little league sponsors the Challenger League, which is for children with physical and cognitive disorders. The baseball field had dugouts that were below grade, so using the dugouts was difficult for many of the participants. "The dugouts didn't work very well for a Challenger League, so we redesigned how the dugouts worked and how they could be accessed, and now everybody can get out there and play baseball," he says. "So that to me was, in a nutshell, an example of the power of what landscape architects can do: look at something, make it simple and bring people together in a meaningful way." Above: Officer Daniel Webster Children's Park, Albuquerque, 2017: Phase 1 of the park has as its centerpiece a large, shaded play structure modeled on a huge interchange where two national highways intersect in Albuquerque. Wide, two-way traffic ramps (for wheelchairs and people) rise and meet a series of elevated, looped walkways that lead to slides, climbers, spinners and nets. Easy to climb equipment is located together with more challenging elements. Interactive panels are located within easy reach on the elevated platforms and a step further down on a path of engineered wood mulch to provide graduated challenges. Caregivers may accompany children to lookout balconies to encourage play and interaction between levels. There are areas for boisterous play, but also for quieter, make-believe play. PHOTO: LANDSCAPE STRUCTURES INC. Gregory Miller Continued from page 30 "And so I've become the culmination of generations of farmers with this underlying interest in how things work below the surface." — Gregory Miller, FASLA