Introduction to the LA Landscape Architecture Award

The practice places of landscape architects include the vast majority of the earth's surface space, which has a wide range of geographical environments, social conditions and spatial scales, and contains different cultures, different species and different people. Every land is rich in traces of the people who rooted themselves in the production and life of previous generations. Every practice of landscape architecture has superimposed today's imprint on the land. Do these imprints truly respect each land and residents?

Through the establishment of a local and credible LA Landscape Architecture Award in China, we hope to conduct a continuous reflection and discussion on contemporary landscape architecture practice based on the basic observation and systematic judgment of the land and environment in which we live.

Based on the connotation and mission of landscape architecture, the LA Landscape Architecture Award selects nature, humanistic care, aesthetics and exploration as the four basic dimensions of evaluation, and then reviews and reflects on China's local practice through the setting of four award categories: Ecological Contribution, Community Contribution, Humanistic Care and Innovative Exploration. Through observation, perception and discussion, these practices become knowledge and experience that feeds back the future.

01 Award cycle and purpose

The LA Landscape Architecture Award held every two years, aims to discover and promote outstanding landscape architecture works with outstanding exploration and exemplary value of contemporary urban and rural environments in China, and to publicize and discuss the design ideas and methods contained therein, so as to promote the progress of Chinese landscape architecture design practice and theory.

02 Award dimensions and principles

Four dimensions to evaluate a work:

Nature: Any practice of landscape architecture cannot be separated from the relationship between man and land and the laws of nature. We hope to see the works' observation and attitude towards the land, the designers' understanding of the relationship between nature and humanity in the site, and the exploration of effective ecological paths, methods and technologies in practice.

Humanistic Care: Everyone who lives and has lived on the land should be respected, the people who have lived on the land have created the unique humanistic characteristics of each land, and everyone should have their own fair rights to use the land. We hope that the work can let everyone have their own corner to live, so that everyone feels the respect of the environment.

Aesthetics: The truly beautiful practice of landscape architecture must be poetic. This kind of poetry should be a real beauty, which comes from nature, art and real life, and can make people find a sense of belonging and touch people's hearts. We pay attention to the way the works reshape the living space and neighborhood relations of people at present, and pay attention to the perspective of the beauty of the production of the works.

Exploration: The progress of society comes from the desire to explore. This exploration can be either an attempt to the unknown, or a preservation of the present, or a reconstruction of the historical imprint. We support the innovation of ideas, methods, concepts and technologies in the practice of landscape architecture, and we believe that this innovation should have both historical and future attributes.

The evaluation will adhere to the principle of fairness, fairness and openness, comprehensively evaluate the submitted projects from four dimensions, and select the shortlisted projects. The shortlisted projects shall supplement the video materials taken on the spot, and the winning projects will be selected after the final evaluation of all materials by the jury. The winning projects will be presented with certificates and trophies at the award ceremony and receive continuous promotion.

03 Categories of awards

The submitted projects should be completed works in China within the past 3 years, and the completion time must be between January 1st, 2020 and June 30th, 2023. The planned and uncompleted projects are not included in the evaluation of this LA Landscape Architecture Award.

04 Award setting and description

The LA Landscape Architecture Awards are divided into four categories: Ecological Contribution Award, Community Contribution Award, Humanistic Care Award and Innovative Exploration Award. Each project is limited to one category. Multiple categories cannot be declared at the same time.

The award is divided into two stages, consisting of 7-9 contemporary outstanding landscape architects, social scholars, critics and curators with greater influence at home and abroad. The jury list will be announced later.