41st annual Aggie Workshop explored multidisciplinary design

Landscape architecture students teamed with design professionals at the 41st annual Aggie Workshop, a Feb. 5, 2016 event that included a lecture series, charrette and a panel discussion hosted at the Texas A&M College of Architecture by the university’s student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

This year’s Workshop theme, “The Integration of Landscape, Art and Architecture,” emphasized a multidisciplinary approach to landscape design, said Christina Anderson, chairwoman of the 2016 Aggie Workshop and senior in landscape architecture.

“I believe the best designers tend to have a basic understanding of each of the theme’s three disciplines," she said.

Andrea Cochran, who heads an award-winning San Francisco [landscape architecture firm] (http://acochran.com) , presented an 11 a.m. keynote address on the workshop theme in the Bethancourt Ballroom of the [Memorial Student Center] (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Memorial+Student+Center/@30.612282,-96.3413758,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x90311327f8c2221d) .

Cochran, an ASLA fellow, [received] (http://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/2014-national-design-award-winners/#landscape) the 2014 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, which honors lasting achievement in American design. Cochran’s landscape designs, which reflect her interest in how people move through an outdoor space, are featured in “ [Women in the Dirt] (http://womeninthedirt.com) ,” a film that explores the Harvard Master of Landscape Architecture graduate’s groundbreaking work and that of six additional female landscape architects.

Her 15-person firm, which undertakes a wide variety of projects including single-family residences, hotels, schools and public parks, has earned seven honor awards and an Award of Excellence from the ASLA for successfully integrating landscape, art and architecture in its designs.

The firm’s diverse, internationally recognized portfolio has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and a wide range of design publications.

In addition to Cochran’s keynote, Workshop’s morning activities at the MSC included an 8 a.m. sign-in and breakfast and two additional lecturers.

The keynote address was followed by a noon lunch in the Langford Architecture Center Atrium, a 1:30 p.m. panel discussion and a 2:30 p.m. design charrette in Langford A’s third-floor studio space. At the charrette, landscape architecture students  gained hands-on experience working shoulder-to-shoulder with professional designers.

The event concluded with a 5:30 p.m. dinner and networking opportunity.