LA organizations doing all LA professionals a disservice. Wake up!

[Jennifer de Graaf]

I completely disagree – I learn lots of new things and understand different perspectives through reading these forums. I would not be reading the forums at all if all I read was reiteration of my own views. If all we did was sit around and tell each other how wonderful we all were, there would be no reason to visit land8lounge besides pretty pictures and links.

[Ben Yahr]

I applaud Jake for bringing this up. As mentioned in another topic recently, we are doing ourselves a disservice by refusing to engage in any type of critical discussion.

It would be great if there was a serious discussion on actual working conditions at various firms, because you can bet the only thing that the recruiters will be talking to potential employees/interns about is the snack bars and cafes. You can also bet that EDSA is not the only firm putting on a happy face while making some tough decisions…

While not every firm is concerned with having happy employees, job seekers would be better off if they could sort out which firms focus on the “human” rather than the “resource” aspect of human resources. A certain amount of long term planning and vision will limit the possibility that a firm needs 120 employees one month and 60 the next, but it is hard to turn down potential projects.

I also think that some of the strong, overly pragmatic voices “of reason” are doing our profession a disservice. The field of landscape architecture is first and foremost about social issues. The construction, engineering, and development industries are indeed based upon managing profit through land use planning, but only landscape architecture allows for the synthesis of complex issues that may not have a readily apparent cash value assigned to them. Encouraging students/young professionals to abandon the (arguably overoptimistic) view that their contribution to a project can benefit society and the environment in profound ways is detrimental to them and the profession at large.

The fact is, we are often a small optimistic voice of hope and compromise standing up for social and environmental issues in projects driven by economic reality. If we are going to give up that voice, there is no reason for the profession to exist.

[nca]

While I agree, I think there may be alot more worth keeping from the time preceding the last 50 years, at least in regard to land development and design. I also don’t understand why we shoot ourselves in the foot and appeal to the kind of pragmatism that seems to have gotten us here in the first place time after time.

[Guy Stivers]

Jack: I’ve been at this a long time (30-years) Landscape Architecture is a business, some are manage better than others, just like any other business out there. If your layed off, fired, what ever, dust yourself off and move on to better opportunities ! ! ! ! But watch out, bad mouthing a firm can backfire.

Guy Stivers, old timer (1975, 1981, and 1992 recession survivor)

[Gabino Carballo]

Guy,

the difference is that in the last 30 years we have been fed the notion that nothing stands on the way of fat profits,

We have swept aside ethics and professional criteria to make way for marketing clap trap and ponzi schemes run by clever individuals that laugh at people that needs to work for a living.

Look at the US now: a capitalist country for profits and a comunist one for losses.

The same people who asked for complete deregulation first run to get money public money (from your taxes) to pay their own big bonusses.

This time is not an economic crisis, it is an ethical and moral one.

Freedom of enterprise and capitalism as we knew is endangered by financial monopolies that do not wish to suffer the fate awaiting hundreds of LA’s everywhere. This is unjust, unfair, unamerican and uneverything I have been rammed down my ideological throat in the last 40 years.

Time to wake up and ask awkward questions.

http://dapofessional.blogspot.com/2008/10/who-pushed-ethics-to-jump-out-of-widow.html

Gabino Carballo CMLI

[Gabino Carballo]

This is quite a widespread malaise coming to the surface now. Check this out for more of the same in the UK:

http://www.landscapejuice.com/2009/01/is-the-landscape-institute-finished.html#comment-6a00d8345192c169e201156f2ef90f970c

http://www.landscapejuice.com/2009/01/the-apl-shuts-the-barn-door-after-the-horse-has-bolted.html

A complete joke, if you would like my opinion.

Gabino

[Author]

Posts