Author: Land 8
ASLA 2026 Professional and Student Awards Call for Entries
Showcase the best of landscape architecture—ASLA’s 2026 Professional and Student Awards calls for entries are open.
Professional Awards
The ASLA Professional Awards honor the best built and unbuilt work worldwide. Submit early to save with tiered pricing:
- Early Bird deadline: January 9, 2026
- ALL materials due (all professional entrants): February 6, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PST
- Recognition: Winners are celebrated at the ASLA 2026 Conference on Landscape Architecture and featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine.
ASLA Professional Awards timeline and rates / ASLA
Professional Categories:
- General Design
- Residential Design
- Urban Design
- Analysis & Planning
- Communications
- Research
- Landmark Award
- ASLA/IFLA Global Impact Award
- Community Service and other special recognitions.
Professional Awards Jury Chairs:
- General Design, Residential Design, Urban Design, Landmark Award: Adam Greenspan, FASLA — Chair; PWP Landscape Architects (Berkeley, California)
- Analysis & Planning, ASLA/IFLA Global Impact Award, Research, Communications, Landmark Award: Sierra Bainbridge, ASLA — Chair; MASS Design Group (Boston, Massachusetts).
Begin your entry and see full details: Professional Awards.
Get inspired! Meet the 2025 Professionals Awards winners.
Student Awards
The ASLA Student Awards spotlight emerging talent and ideas. This year’s cycle is earlier than in previous years, and previously completed projects are eligible.
- ALL materials due (all student entrants): February 6, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PST
- Recognition: Student awardees and their advisors are honored at the ASLA 2026 Conference on Landscape Architecture and recognized in Landscape Architecture Magazine.
Student Categories:
- General Design
- Residential Design
- Urban Design
- Analysis & Planning
- Communications
- Research
- Student Community Service
- Student Collaboration
Student Awards Jury Chairs:
- General Design, Residential Design, Urban Design, Student Collaboration: Ebru Ozer, FASLA — Chair; Florida International University (Miami, Florida)
- Analysis & Planning, Communications, Research, Student Community Service: Nina Chase, ASLA — Chair; Merritt Chase (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
Start your submission: Student Awards.
Meet the 2025 Student Awards winners
Why submit an award?
- Elevate exemplary practice and research across the discipline
- Gain national recognition in the profession’s leading platforms
- Celebrate with peers, clients, and advisors at the ASLA 2026 Conference on Landscape Architecture.
Key Dates:
- Professional Early Bird deadline: January 9, 2026
- ALL materials due for both Professional and Student Awards: February 6, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PST.
Central hub for both programs: ASLA 2026 Professional & Student Awards.
Spark Talks: Beyond the Classroom – Bridging Studio to Reality
ASLA invites landscape architecture students to join Spark Talks: Beyond the Classroom – Bridging Studio to Reality, a dynamic five-part webinar series designed to help bridge the gap between academic learning and professional practice. Starting on October 23, these short, engaging conversations bring together emerging professionals—many of whom were students not long ago—to share their experiences, lessons, and insights about transitioning into the workforce.
Each session explores a different facet of post-graduate life. The series begins with “Office Life 101,” a high-level overview of what to expect after graduation, featuring voices from large firms, small studios, and public practice. Next, “Marketing Skills/Business Development” offers a behind-the-scenes look at how professionals attract clients and build business, with insight from leaders at SmithGroup. The third session, “Working with Interdisciplinary Teams,” explores collaboration across design disciplines and shares how landscape architects can make their voices heard and thrive in complex project teams. “Project Post-Completion” follows, diving into what happens once a project is built, with Terremoto sharing lessons from their Los Angeles and San Francisco offices about stewardship, funding, and long-term care. Finally, “Life Outside of the Office” wraps up the series with candid conversations about maintaining balance and passion beyond the workday, offering practical advice for sustaining creativity and well-being in a busy professional life.
This series is an invaluable opportunity for students to hear real-world experiences from those who’ve recently made the leap from studio to practice—helping you prepare, connect, and spark inspiration for your own journey beyond the classroom.
Spark Talk: Working with Interdisciplinary Teams
Date: Thursday, November 6, 3 p.m. ET
Moderator: Paige Bernhardt, ASLA, PLA, Ayres Associates
Speakers:
- Susan England, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP, Senior Associate, LandDesign
- Bill Estes, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP, Director of Landscape Architecture, MIG
Spark Talk: Project Post-Completion
Date: Thursday, November 13, 4 p.m. ET
Moderator: Carlos Torres de Janon
Speakers:
- David Godshall, ASLA, Principal/Owner, Terremotto
- Jennifer Jones, ASLA, Principal, Terremotto
- Kasey Toomey, Terremotto
- Story Wiggins, ASLA, Partner, Terremoto
Spark Talk: Life Outside of the Office
Date: Thursday, November 20, 5 p.m. ET
Moderator: Emily Pixberg, ASLA, Landscape Designer, Design Workshop
Speakers:
- Eric Becker, ASLA, PLA, Senior Associate, Field Operations
- Kelley Oklesson, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP, Principal, Groundsmith Collective
- Ari Vamos, Landscape Designer, ABLE
Can’t attend?
No worries, we’ll record all sessions and share them on the ASLA Students video website following the presentations. Don’t wait, sign up for a FREE ASLA Student Membership now!
Past Spark Talks:
Spark Talk: Office Life 101
Date: Thursday, October 23, 1 p.m. ET
Moderator: Carlos Torres de Janon, Associate ASLA, MIG
Speakers:
- Patrick Burns, Associate ASLA, Designer, LandDesign
- Estello Raganit, ASLA, PLA, Senior Public Space Planner, City of Somerville
- Emily Siler, Associate ASLA, Designer, Genus Landscape Architects
Spark Talk: Marketing Skills/Business Dev
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2 p.m. ET
Moderator: Kenneth Kokroko, ASLA, PLA, University of Arizona
Speakers:
- Michael Johnson, ASLA, PLA, Vice President, SmithGroup
- Jen Miller, CPSM, Director of Business Development, SmithGroup
The Top Six Things We Saw (and Heard!) at ASLA 2025
The American Society of Landscape Architects recently wrapped up its annual conference. New Orleans, its lush parks, as well as its unique mix of French, Spanish, Creole, and American architecture, provided the backdrop to show off our profession, share wisdom from established landscape architects (or as we like to call them, our new mentors), showcase new ideas from up-and-coming professionals, and bop to some truly amazing live music. While we had a blast exploring the city’s iconic neighborhoods, there’s more to New Orleans than Bourbon Street and beignets. Our feet may ache from all the walking, but our heads and hearts are buzzing with inspiration. Here are a few highlights from ASLA 2025.
- Appreciation for cultural landscapes: Cities are more than collections of buildings, streets, and parks. They reflect the experiences, values, and histories of the people who inhabit them, and the talents of those who design and build them. ASLA 2025 featured a variety of field trips and sessions, such as tours of Terrebonne Parish, Afton Villa Gardens, the Bayou Bienvenue, and others, designed to teach participants about New Orleans’s unique communities. These chances to immerse ourselves in the local area also provided examples of how landscape architects are helping to preserve and celebrate the city’s rich history. Thanks to them, we will never look at historic spaces and materials the same way again.
- Innovative materials and products: Speaking of materials, we’re always on the lookout for the latest goodies to bring our projects to life. From playground equipment that resembled giant wooden orbs and cutting-edge soft surfaces that remind us of bubble wrap, to accessible, safe, public restrooms, and more—the vendors in the Expo offered a bevy of exciting new products that we can’t wait to try in our own designs. The swag was pretty great, too. Shout out to Green Theory for the beautiful, functional tote bags we’re already using to haul our stuff around.
- Solidarity with Indigenous communities: For millennia, Indigenous communities have stewarded the lands that we, in turn, care for as landscape architects. For that, we owe them a ton of gratitude. ASLA really embraced a commitment to amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities that went beyond simple land acknowledgments (although it did include them). This year’s conference expanded partnerships with Indigenous communities announced at ASLA 2024. ASLA’s affinity group, the Indigenous Design Collective, held the first Indigenous youth workshop and hosted multiple educational sessions, a discussion forum, and an Indigenous gathering. ASLA further demonstrated its commitment to supporting Indigenous landscape architects and communities by adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- A commitment to climate adaptation and protection: As landscape architects, the land is our canvas, and nature provides our (metaphorical) brushes. This makes us uniquely suited to protecting our essential (and shared!) natural resources. From ASLA’s new Climate Action and Biodiversity plan to student projects designed to address urban heat islands, to field trips that highlighted wetlands restoration efforts, and beyond, landscape designers at ASLA 2025 showed up to show off their amazing efforts to address the consequences of climate change, and we loved to see it!
- The sounds of New Orleans (and us!): There’s no better way to greet visitors to New Orleans than a jazz band in Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. We were grateful to the band for entertaining us as we braved a sea of people waiting for cabs and ride-shares. We loved adding another musician to our “inspo playlist”–award-winning musician Cody Blackbird, who provided a soundtrack to many events throughout the weekend, including ASLA’s professional and student awards ceremony. Not to blow our own horn—ha!— but the Land 8 party at The Maison featured an incredible local band who rocked the house with their covers of Fugees and Amy Winehouse songs. Thank you SO much, we look forward to seeing you collect a Grammy, one day. Beyond that, we loved hearing everything on the minds of our peers, including overviews of their work, advice for emerging professionals (us again!), and the sounds of everyone celebrating one another’s accomplishments.
- The next generation of landscape professionals: Whether presenting bold ideas at the Game Changers series, strutting across stage to accept national awards, or helping out behind the scenes, students and early-career (EP) landscape architects showed up big at ASLA 2025. We were excited to see new faces pushing boundaries, asking great questions, and shaping the profession! If you missed it, go back and watch the Game Changers talks, which would have inspired us to become landscape architects if we weren’t already. Also, check out the Student and EP award winners. And next year? Get ready; ASLA 2026 in Los Angeles is likely to be another level. Don’t forget to pack comfy shoes!
Did you attend ASLA 2025? Share with us your “list of six” and what you’d like to see at ASLA 2026.