We are pleased to introduce you to the esteemed 2024 WLA Professional Awards Jury. The jury consists of highly respected professionals from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom have a deep understanding and appreciation for the world of landscape architecture and design. Each juror was selected for their expertise, integrity, and commitment to excellence. The 2024 WLA Professional Awards Jury is from across the world, and we are confident they will bring a discerning eye and thoughtful perspective to the judging process.
Let us look closer at the 2024 WLA Awards jury members:
Lauren Cantrell | Principal and Founder, DELINEATOR
Lauren is a Landscape Architect and the founder and owner of DELINEATOR in Dallas, Texas, and Charlottesville, Virginia. Her experience spans the globe on a broad range of award-winning projects that have focused on environmental sustainability and material craft. Lauren believes that great design is a process that begins with an analytical understanding of a site and overlays the story of ‘place’ through the site’s cultural, social, economic, and environmental needs. She credits the strength of her most successful work to her ability to curate strong collaborations with clients, architects, artists, stakeholders, engineers, and consultants. In every project, Lauren focuses on strengthening the connection between people and place to develop the groundwork for long-lasting, exceptional spaces that express harmony between people and nature. She is currently licensed to practice Landscape Architecture in Texas, Virginia, and Maryland.
Hanneke Kijne | Landscape architect and Owner, MORE landscape
Hanneke is a landscape architect and owner of the urban design and landscape architecture office MORE landscape. Within her projects, she integrates natural structures and systems that help transformation towards a more sustainable future worldwide while creating places with a strong identity. Projects include large-scale and far-future visionary strategies, but also public urban spaces and private housing areas. Hanneke combines her work as a landscape architect with professional engagement in the academic and professional fields. She was head of the Landscape Architecture department at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam and is connected as a teacher and external critic/examinator to education institutes like Delft University, AHO (Oslo), and the University of Edinburgh. Hanneke regularly gives lectures, takes part in juries, and is a member of several spatial quality commissions.
Zhongwei Li | Founding Principal Lab D+H Shanghai
Zhongwei Li is the founding principal of Lab D+H and the creative director of the Shanghai office. In recent years, his team has won many world-class awards, such as the 2020 ASLA National Honor Awards. Li Zhongwei graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s in Landscape Architecture and Urban Regional Planning. Years of practical experience at the forefront firm have shaped Zhongwei into a steadfast urbanist, continuously focusing on the urban fabric and grassroots culture of cities. This is particularly evident as Zhongwei’s landscape projects are predominantly located in the heart of urban areas, emphasizing his commitment to addressing prevalent urban issues through innovative approaches to public spaces. Zhongwei also has a teaching fellowship with Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Manguesh R. Prabhugaonker | Architect & Landscape Architect
Manguesh R. Prabhugaonker is an architect with a specialization in landscape architecture. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master’s in Landscape Architecture. With over 27 years of professional experience, he has worked on various projects in landscape architecture, landscape planning, architecture, and environmental planning and management. He has been involved in both public and private sector projects, including the development of airports, entertainment industry projects, residential townships, urban parks, and institutional projects. Manguesh has also been actively involved in academia, as a visiting faculty and adjunct professor at various architecture colleges, including the Goa College of Architecture. He has held positions in professional organizations such as the Indian Institute of Architects and has been a member of committees related to architects’ social responsibility. Overall, Manguesh has a diverse range of experience in the field of architecture and landscape architecture, with a focus on sustainable design and planning.
Sophie Thompson | Director and Head of Public Realm at LDA Design
Sophie is a Landscape Architect, Director, and Head of Public Realm at LDA Design, leading design excellence across eight studios in the UK. Sophie has lived and worked in the USA and Australia and
leads the design and delivery of some of LDA’s most complex and prestigious projects. These include a new public square near St Paul’s Cathedral, eight urban spaces as part of London’s award-winning £35m West End Project, and 4km of coastal promenade at Southsea. Sophie sits on the government’s High Streets Task Force and is an examiner for the Landscape Institute. She talks about new approaches to street and public space design, women and safety, car-free cities, green infrastructure, and co-design.
Kongjian Yu | Founder and Principal Designer, Turenscape
Kongjian Yu is a renowned Chinese landscape architect and urban planner. He is the founder and dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University. Yu is widely recognized for his innovative approach to landscape design principles and for developing the Sponge Cities concept, which aims to mimic natural processes by integrating green infrastructure, such as parks, wetlands, and permeable surfaces.
He is the founder and principal of Turenscape, a leading landscape architecture and urbanism firm based in Beijing, China. Kongjian Yu has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award in 2018 and the TCLF 2023 Oberlander Prize. He is also a prolific writer and lecturer, advocating for environmentally sustainable and culturally sensitive approaches to urban development.
Special Juror – Charles A. Birnbaum | President + CEO, The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR, is the president, CEO, and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF).
Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR, is the president, CEO, and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). Prior to creating TCLF, Birnbaum spent fifteen years as the coordinator of the National Park Service Historic Landscape Initiative (HLI) and a decade in private practice in New York City, with a focus on landscape preservation and urban design.
Since taking the helm at the foundation in 2008, Birnbaum’s major projects include the web-based initiative What’s Out There (a searchable database of the nation’s designed landscape heritage) and the creation of the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, which includes a $100,000 (USD) award. He has authored and edited numerous publications, including: Experiencing Olmsted: The Enduring Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted’s North American Landscapes (Timber Press, 2022); Shaping the Postwar Landscape, (UVA Press, 2018) and many more books.
He has received numerous awards and recognition for his contributions to landscape architecture, including the ASLA’s Alfred B. LaGasse Medal and President’s Medal, a Fellowship of the ASLA, Rome Prize in Historic Preservation and Conservation, and the ASLA Medal, He also served as a visiting professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, a visiting critic and lecturer at Harvard’s GSD. In 2020, Birnbaum received the Garden Club of America’s Historic Preservation Medal and in 2023, TCLF received ASLA’s Olmsted Medal.
We thank the jurors for volunteering for the 2024 WLA Awards Jury and look forward to seeing this year’s entries.
More information can be found about the categories and registrations at the 2024 WLA Professional Awards webpage.