a/e ProNet client Peter Walker, founder of PWP Landscape Architects, will receive this year’s Urban Land Institute (ULI) J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. Walker will be honored at ULI’s annual fall meeting (October 16-19) in Denver.

Excerpt from the ULI Press Release:

Walker, whose career spans five decades, is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished landscape architectural designers of his time, forging the renaissance of landscape architecture as a discipline. The scope of his work is expansive, ranging from the design of small gardens to the planning of cities around the globe, with a particular emphasis on corporate headquarters, plazas, cultural gardens, academic campuses and urban regeneration projects. Exploring the relationships among art, culture and context, Walker challenges traditional concepts of landscape design.

“The thread that runs through all of my work is to make public space memorable, to make it the heart of the city,” Walker said. “You have to make people aware of the space so that it sticks in their memory, and it is important to the community. It’s not enough to just have open space. It has to have character and uniqueness.”

Walker was one of the chief designers of the National September 11 Memorial, “Reflecting Absence,” in New York City, which opened on September 12, 2011. His thoughtful approach to the memorial has been highly praised as reflecting both the collaborative aspiration of his practice and the public impact of his work. Other prominent projects include Jamison Square Park in Portland, Ore.; the Nasher Foundation Sculpture Garden in Dallas; Sony Center in Berlin; Millennium Park in Sydney; and Constitution Gardens on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

We congratulate Peter Walker on this well-deserved honor!

About the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development

The ULI J.C. Nichols Prize is funded by an endowment from the family of J.C. Nichols to the ULI Foundation. A management committee including ULI representatives and members of the Nichols family directs the prize program. More information on the prize program is available at www.nicholsprize.org.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has nearly 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

Item contributed by Leslie Pancoast of a/e ProNet Member firm IOA Insurance Services in Pleasanton, California.