Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2017 - 35

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ON SPEC

BY VIRGINIA RUSSELL, FASLA, GRP, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

This story ends with once upon a time... As an academic practitioner,
my contribution to living architecture is expressed in my scholarship,
teaching, and service. Most academics are investigating aspects of
stormwater management, air quality, or the other co-benefits associated
with green roofs and living walls, but my scholarship is tied to the
development of pedagogy for living architecture. Teaching is my
opportunity to share my passion for living architecture with young
ommunity service projects and leadership in allied organizations are my creative outlets for advocating for living
architecture. But my contribution through teaching is the
most tangible. Three times a year, in any given semester,
(yes, including summers), I teach at least 60 students in landscape architecture, architecture, city planning, urban design,
environmental studies, engineering, and horticulture all about
living architecture. That adds up to about 180 students per year,
who will all participate in a co-op placement at least once before
they graduate.
The University of Cincinnati has the world's oldest cooperative education program, which prepares and places students
for semester-long work experiences in their fields of study.
Undergraduates will go out on co-op as many as five times before
they graduate. This means that the living architecture knowledge
imparted through my lectures, studios, field trips, and community
service projects is disseminating at a rapid pace. At least 60 students are placed into at least 60 different multi-disciplinary firms
all over the world every semester, or hundreds of offices each year.
My students will often be the only people in those firms who
know anything about living architecture. Whatever they teach the
firm is whatever I taught them.
My footprint in this industry - and that of many other academics - is much larger than some might imagine. But my influence
doesn't end there. With each of our community service projects,
LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM

we work with communities and activists to bring living architecture
to life. My students are what I call The Thin Edge. As an educator,
I can get access to and co-operation from agencies and citizen
groups that I could not reach as a consultant. In turn, we educate,
inspire, and motivate citizens and policymakers. Because our work
makes living architecture exciting and feasible, we create new
projects for the industry.
We all want this industry to grow. In our different ways, we each
support GRHC and its mission. There are a variety of ways that
you can engage and support the future citizens (and specifiers) of
the world in that mission: provide scholarships for tuition; finance
travel expenses to attend the CitiesAlive conference; sponsor community service studios, donate products for teaching and research -
there are many areas of need. Make your involvement a long-term
commitment. Build a relationship with a network of opportunity
such as the Student Chapters of the American Society of Landscape
Architects. Everyone wins in these mutually supportive scenarios.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2016 there
were a total of 457,000 employed landscape architects, architects,
and civil engineers in the US. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could
educate all of them about living architecture? Once upon a time ...
all of them were students.

Virginia L. Russell, FASLA, GRP Former Chair of the GRHC
Research Committee.

LIVING
LIVING ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE MONITOR
MONITOR // WINTER 2017 / 35
http://www.LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Winter 2017
