ASLA honors Johanna Barthmaier
Johanna Barthmaier, who joined OLIN as a Landscape Designer in July, has won the 2011 ASLA Student Award for Excellence for her project “Tempelhof Wasserpark.”
Every year, the American Society of Landscape Architects invites students to submit design works to be considered for the annual ASLA Awards. Johanna took on the competition in the midst of completing her Master of Landscape Architecture studies at the University of Pennsylvania, choosing to focus on the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. The airport played a pivotal role in some of the most significant historical events of the 20th Century, including World War II, the Berlin Airlift and the Cold War, before economic constraints led the site’s decommissioning in 2010. As a large natural space situated just a few miles from central Berlin, the site presents a unique opportunity to “think big,” in Johanna’s words.
“Having such a large central green space allows the public to easily and actively incorporate a variety of new paradigms of sustainability into their everyday life,” Johanna explains. Her design was influenced by the site’s connection with aviation and seeks to restore the site’s original topography; by drawing inspiration from the folds of paper airplanes, Johanna found a way to restore the site’s undulating post-glacial hydrology, which would both improve drainage and local water quality while adding large swaths of green space to the bustling European capital.
Learn more about Johanna’s award winning project “Tempelhof Wasserpark.”
