ASLA Honors
Com mu n i ty Ser v i ce A wa rd
Nicholas T. Dines, FASLA
“To recognize an individual landscape architect, group of landscape architects, landscape architecture firms, landscape architecture education programs, or ASLA Chapters who have provided
sustained, pro bono service to the community demonstrating sound principles or values of landscape architecture.”
The Public Landscape Initiative that I have pursued in
my hometown of Williamsburg, MA for the last 14 years
was born in Boston at the 1999 ASLA Annual Meeting,
which commemorated 100 years of Landscape
Architecture in the United States. We were all urged to
engage in a local pro bono project to foster an
appreciation of Landscape Architecture as a profession
and to raise awareness of local natural resources.
One of Fredrick Olmsted’s more enduring objectives
was to create, propagate and sustain an American
Public Landscape. My work (1999 and 2013) aimed to
create a local public landscape by initially planting
perennial flower beds within roadway rights-of-way. The
purpose was to visually define public ownership, while
at the same time creating a seasonal cycle of color and
fragrance that would eventually redefine the local sense
of place. This work expanded to include design and
construction of new parks and public gardens that connected local places and institutions. The work required
the recruitment of volunteers, such as the Williamsburg
Dead-Head Society (to provide ongoing care) and the
Container Redemption Crew (to finance ongoing care).
I was inspired by two other landscape architects. I
admired the work of the late John Collins, FASLA, who
personally maintained a number of small parks that he
designed in Philadelphia. I also found inspiration from
my dear friend and colleague, Charles Harris, FASLA,
who developed the concept of Encore Years
to encourage post-retirement work, aimed at promoting
the public health, safety and welfare through application
of accumulated knowledge and the exercise of creativity.
Community service is a very
personal offering of expertise
and time and the story is
best told by the award
winner himself
“What makes Nick so much more than just an
indefatigable gardener and beautifier of his
surroundings is the fact that he does it all for a
larger purpose that he is happy to articulate:
he means to transform the civic life of the town
for the better by creating settings where people
Residents and visitors, alike, now experience the Town
Center as a Public Garden. It is personally and professionally satisfying to work in one’s own Town at such an
intimate and yet public scale.
can meet, converse, share activities, relax,
bounce ideas around, participate as individuals
in maintaining the town’s public face, and feel
comfortable at home in our public spaces.”
Lisa Weiner
Director Meekins Library
2013 Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
39