Culturally Inspired Landscape Design: Ed Leonetti creates balanced human habitats.

• Author: Cameron, Gina
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Engineering & Architecture

Alaska resident Ed Leonetti, PLA, is the landscape architect for Coffman Engineers in Anchorage and 2017 President of the Alaska Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. This landscape architect is taking the lead in making Alaskan landscape designs truly Alaskan.

Landscape architects impact their communities and shape quality of life by creating environments that encourage exercise, organic hands-on interaction, and energetic play. They analyze, plan, design, manage, and foster outdoor environments like parks, streetscapes, site designs, entry plazas, courtyards, playgrounds, and other unique settings which define communities and engage people. Landscape architecture is more than a climate hardy planting plan; it encompasses collaboration with clients and user groups to create a cohesive solution fitting the needs of each stakeholder while preserving the maximum amount of natural resources possible.

Leonetti, who chairs the Municipality of Anchorage's Urban Design Commission (UDC), is one of 16,500 licensed landscape architects nationwide, 49 of which are active in the 49th state.

"As one of nine design professionals on UDC, I respond to projects from the landscape Architects perspective. The UDC develops and guides Anchorage by evaluating public and private development projects to ensure the site design and infrastructure [roads] elements are in compliance with the local land use code. We consider features like building orientation, pedestrian circulation, vehicular circulation, parking, trail connections, roadways, parks, plantings, etc. to gauge their functionality, aesthetics, flow, and compliance."

Leonetti serves his clients through an artistic expression of his discipline. For the last sixteen years, he has actively participated in the planning, design, and construction of outdoor spaces in rural and urban locations across Alaska. He designs a facility landscape to mix with the elements and blend with its immediate surroundings, creating a balanced human habitat.

Culturally inspired design is another dimension of landscape architecture; it is the practice of thoughtfully incorporating local heritage, indigenous elements, vegetation, artwork, and stories into a community project. It takes a landscape architect with talent, desire, and an aptitude for special design to motivate the process and gain buy-in. Creating cultural relevance for no added cost, time, or labor, helps to create the inspiration for buy-in.

Living...