Chrisco Bestowed Honorary ASLA

The honorary membership recognizes “persons other than landscape architects whose achievements of national or international significance or influence have provided notable service to the profession of landscape architecture,” according to the ASLA’s website.

“I am truly humbled by this recognition and firmly believe it is a testament to the values instilled upon me by so many great mentors and collaborators at Sasaki,” says Chrisco. “I find it personally rewarding to build more inclusive processes that pull from the best interdisciplinary thinking to yield truly creative and brilliant ideas.”

Chrisco joined Sasaki first as a summer intern and over the course of his 15-year career with Sasaki rose to principal and deepened the integration between landscape architecture and civil engineering practices within the firm every step of the way. Chrisco was nominated by a large cohort of colleagues and clients who commend Chrisco’s leadership as principal in charge on large interdisciplinary site projects that have advanced both Sasaki’s practice and the landscape architecture profession at large. In particular, Chrisco is recognized for his steadfast championing of sustainable and ecological solutions on complex projects around the country—as well as for his leadership within Sasaki’s studio.

Excerpted from their nomination letter, Chair of Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Ecology and principal Michael Grove, ASLA and principal Mark Dawson, FASLA describe Chrisco’s immense impact, as follows:

At Sasaki, disciplinary lines are often blurred. Being a truly cross-disciplinary practice in which no discipline is subordinate to another creates an atmosphere in which all opinions are valued about all aspects of a project. Zach Chrisco has used his position as a principal leading our civil engineering team at Sasaki to provide invaluable and unparalleled leadership and guidance on some of the most complex, impactful, and high profile landscape architectural projects across the country. This list includes the Chicago Riverwalk, Raleigh’s Moore Square, Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs, the Nord Family Greenway in Cleveland, the Cedar Rapids Riverfront Park, the Smale Riverfront Park in Cincinnati, and Gulf State Park in Alabama, to name just a few.

Each of these celebrated built urban landscapes represent Zach’s direct impact, not only on diverse communities they serve, but also on the landscape architecture practice at Sasaki. These are our legacy projects– representations of what we do best. Not only has Zach served as the “lead civil engineer” on many of these efforts, but he served as the leader on so many as well. On many of Sasaki’s most exciting current landscapes such as Greenwood Community Park and the Baton Rouge Zoo in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, Florida; and the Wilmington Waterfront Park at the Port of Los Angeles, Zach serves as the principal-in-charge, guiding large multi-disciplinary teams to implement these amazing landscapes. In this role, he advocates for a sustainable and ecologically informed landscape, campaigns for creative solutions to complex challenges, and places the profession of landscape architecture at the center of the process. As an engineer, he can often convince the most skeptical of clients or stakeholders that an elegant and beautiful solution is also pragmatic. When pushing the boundaries of our collective profession, this type of ally is invaluable.

“If this honor is about people who have elevated the profession of landscape architecture and pushed the impacts of it across communities, we cannot think of a better candidate than Zach. His passion is noble. He seeks no credit. His reward is a satisfied client and the smiles on the face of the public that walks through the world that he has helped create. Most importantly, he is continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible from our profession,” says Grove.

Sasaki colleagues join Grove in congratulating Zach Chrisco on this notable achievement.

Learn more about Chrisco’s work on the Chicago Riverwalk in this recent article first published by World Landscape Architecture (WLA) on construction administration for this complex urban project.