The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, Southeast Chapter is proud to present the ICAA Garden Symposium: The Natural City Beautiful hosted in Birmingham, Alabama June 7-8, 2024. The symposium will include a series of events focused on the late 19th-century City Beautiful Movement as it evolved in the post-Civil War industrial city of Birmingham. Set within the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the City of Birmingham and surrounding areas are one of the most geographically and environmentally diverse regions in the United States. The topography quickly moves from transportation-friendly valleys to mineral-rich mountains, a combination that has guided the development of both a practical urban city grid and contrasting picturesque hillside neighborhoods.
Given that Birmingham was an intentionally designed city from its inception, the civic leadership formed city and neighborhood plans under the direction of nationally recognized designers such as the Olmsted Brothers, Warren Manning, Warren, Knight, & Davis, Tom Leader, Urban Design Associates, and others. Each generation of planners, landscape architects, architects, and horticulturalists recognized the uniqueness of the area and helped realize the setting aside of land for public use and planned development of the garden suburbs.
The “Magic City” eventually evolved beyond its overnight success as a steel-producing, railroad-based transportation hub, through a mid-20th Century period of changing social and aesthetic values, and into its present form as a culinary, outdoor, and healthcare destination for tourists and residents alike. This transformation has included recent urban interventions of award-winning projects such as Railroad Park, Rotary Trail, Red Rock Trail System, and City Walk BHAM. Many of these 21st-century contemporary designs have transformed Birmingham’s physical industrial vestiges into greenspaces. These efforts, coupled with the ongoing adaptive reuse of historic buildings and restoration of existing parks and gardens, reimagine the principles of the City Beautiful Movement in Birmingham to promote a built environment that is truly for “the public good, health, and happiness”.
Schedule of Events
Friday, June 7th
Afternoon Arrival & Check-In
Welcome Cocktails & Dinner (5:30-8:00)
Location: Vulcan Park and Museum, 1701 Valley View Dr, Birmingham, AL 35209
Please note: Transportation to this venue will not be provided.
The program will include:
Welcome & Birmingham Introductory Talk: Mark Pledger & Norman Johnson
Presentation of The Bunny Mellon Garden Design Prize
Saturday, June 8th
Keynote Lecture & Panel Discussion - 8:30 AM-11:00 AM (coffee & pastries served)
Venue: Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema - 1821 2nd Ave. N. Birmingham, AL 35203
This venue is a short walk from The Elyton Hotel, The Kelly Hotel, and The Fairfield Downtown - 1st Ave. location
Keynote Lecturer – William A. Gilchrist
Bill’s career has spanned public and private sectors. In his previous roles as director of Place-Based Planning in New Orleans, LA, and director of the Department of Planning, Engineering & Permits in Birmingham, AL, he oversaw the merger of city departments including engineering, public works, planning, urban design, and building and inspection services, as well as integrating permitting processes to improve efficiency and customer service. His work has been recognized by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National League of Cities, the American Planning Association (APA), and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Bill was also the director of the Urban Design Studio in the Atlanta Office of EDAW/AECOM. He has consulted in creating public processes for land-use policy in Romania and Ukraine.
Bill has engaged academic centers of excellence in design and planning as resources for local and regional development and served on advisory bodies to MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Tulane University, and Auburn University. For over a decade he was a member of the Board of the National Association for Olmsted Parks.
Panel Discussion
Panel Members:
Eric Osth, Urban Design Associates (UDA) Panel Moderator
As UDA’s, Chairman, Eric leads UDA’s marketing efforts in addition to running projects as a principal-in-charge. Eric has led urban design and architectural projects across the United States. Over the years, Eric has been deeply involved in the design community, serving on several boards of directors including the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art in New York City, Riverlife, and AIA Pittsburgh.William A. Gilchrist
Jane Reed Ross – Landscape Architect
Jane Reed Ross has been practicing Landscape Architecture for 40 years, with experience throughout the Southeast as well as in the Washington D.C. area and Queensland, Australia. Before joining Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood in 2008, Jane was a principal at Ross Land Design for 15 years. She led the firm in the direction of sustainable design in the following award-winning and beloved civic spaces: Homewood Central Park, Homewood Shades Creek Greenway, Birmingham Children’s Zoo, and Railroad Park. Combining quality design with environmentally holistic solutions, Jane has created spaces that have a sense of place and presence based on an ethic of function and art.
At GMC, Jane has been the project manager for the Red Rock Greenway Master Plan, and she has worked closely with the Freshwater Land Trust on the plan’s implementation with the following projects: the Civil Rights Trail, the Jones Valley/Cross to Sloss Trail, Homewood Shades Creek Greenway, the Aqueduct Trail in Tarrant, and Hugh Kaul Trail. Jane’s vision for the Rotary Trail with the Magic City Gateway is one of the most Instagrammed sites in Birmingham.David Fleming – REV Birmingham
REV Birmingham is a place-based revitalization and economic development nonprofit organization with a vision of making the city the most vibrant urban market in the Southeast where anyone can realize their dreams. Our core value is “Community Leads>Design Feeds,” as we actively partner with the community to identify needs and craft innovative solutions. Comprised of fearless problem solvers and passionate community members, our team is committed to bringing these dreams to life.Nimrod Long, President Nimrod Long & Associates
Nimrod Long, President, received a Bachelor of Arts from Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia in 1973 and then a Master of Landscape Architecture from the School of Environmental Design at the University of Georgia in 1978. Mr. Long has been retained as a designer and consultant by various local, state, federal, and private clients. This experience includes master planning for large commercial office parks, large-scale residential master plans, urban parks and streetscape designs, and landscape development for commercial, residential, and institutional properties. In 1997 Mr. Long was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects
TOURS
Part I - Birmingham Neighborhoods & Parks Tour with Docent
Downtown, Linn Park, Kelly Ingram Park, Railroad Park (stop and tour), and Rotary Trail
Lunch – Sloss Furnaces Cast Shed, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
Part II - Garden Tours
Garden Tour I – Aberdeen Road & Crest Drive
Garden Tour II – Henrietta Road
Garden Tour III – Jemison House – Introduction to Warren Manning’s Mountain Brook
Garden Tour IV – Beechwood Road
Garden Tour V – Southwood Road
Concluding Garden Mingle Cocktails - Country Club Road
Please note: Hotel accommodations are not included with the ticket purchase. Please click on the Get There tab for hotel links. We have secured limited room blocks at The Elyton and Kelly Hotels. These blocks will be released on May 10, 2024. Transportation, other than for the Saturday tours is not included. Please make arrangements for transportation to and from the Friday evening event.
Thank you to the sponsors of the 2024 ICAA Southeast Garden Symposium
The ICAA is very grateful to the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation for its generous support of this program, along with the Bunny Mellon Curricula Sponsors:|
Lead Sponsor, Hollander Design Landscape Architects
Garden Symposium Sponsor, Kathryn M. and Ronald J. Herman Charitable Foundation
Garden Design Prize Sponsor, Harrison Design
Continuing Education and Public Programs Sponsor, Charlotte Moss
Film Series Sponsor, Janice Parker Landscape Architects
With Additional Support Provided By: List in Formation
Silver Sponsors
Jacquelynne P. Lanham Designs
Pledger Architect
Troy Rhone Garden Design
2024 ICAA Southeast Garden Symposium Planning Committee
Norman Johnson
Katherine Pearson
Mark Pledger
Troy Rhone
Judy Talley
Ben Webster
Lynn Amoroso, Chapter Director
Brenna Slowey-Thomas, Chapter Assistant
