Lecture: Tom Woltz on Desiging the Frame

Jan 28, 2009
Thomas Woltz, ASLA
Nelson Byrd Woltz
“Designing the Frame: landscape architecture as a tool in the ecological conservation, education & sustainable architecture.”

Wednesday 4:00-4:55 PM
Cook Douglass Lecture Hall 110

Mr. Woltz is a landscape architect who holds Masters degrees in Architecture and in Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia. In addition to his practice, Mr. Woltz maintains a part-time faculty position at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He currently teaches Sites and Systems, a graduate course which explores ecological system analysis as a generator of design strategies in architecture and landscape architecture. Through teaching and constructed form, he seeks to emphasize the rich dialogue between the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and ecological process.

Nick’s Head Station, Gisborne, New Zealand
The firm of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects is developing a master plan for the estate that would assure a productive farming operation while repairing ecological damage done over the past hundred years including near total deforestation, drainage of fifteen hectares (37 acres) of wetland to the Pacific Ocean, and serious erosion due in part to over-grazing. With the completion of the Master Plan and the extensive conservation work, only 470 hectares (1,160 acres) of the 680 hectare (1,680 acre) property will be farmed. Despite the reduction in farming area, the fencing plans and improved fertilization regime have allowed livestock numbers to remain at levels prior to the implementation of the plan. Already the estate is a destination for local environmental groups, international students, and local farmers and the goal of an environmentally responsible livestock farm is slowly being realized.