Justin Quinn Doyle Herman Design Associates

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1 Justin Quinn Doyle Herman Design Associates Sustainability Influences from Cultural Inspirations By Greg Parisi Justin Quinn has an appreciation for design that marries traditional landscape principles with contemporary design solutions; Justin s designs seek to connect with the regional vernacular. Prior to joining Doyle Herman Design Associates where he works as a landscape

2 architectural designer, he worked for award winning Dickson DeMarche Landscape Architects, where he gained experience in residential landscape design, construction documentation, construction administration, grading, and planting. With his former military background, Justin brings an incredible work ethic to his passion for landscape architecture, always striving for a balance between aesthetics, originality, sustainability, and function. A member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Justin received a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of Connecticut in 2009, earning the CTASLA Honor Award for excellence in design. Justin has been a guest critic and lecturer at the University of Connecticut and The Federated Garden Club s Landscape Design School. Sustainability has become a pressing issue in our society today. The ever-expanding need to maintain and sustain a greener world for tomorrow introduces various ideas, strategies, and technologies that will forever change our imprint on the ground we walk on. Justin Quinn has been a lead advocate of sustainability and all that it entails. Now working for Doyle Herman Design Associates in Greenwich, Connecticut, he has been exposed to an influx of sustainability projects and practices. From his youthful upbringings as a student and cultural experiences as a non-commissioned Infantry officer in the United States Army, Justin has accumulated quite the knowledge and influence from sustainability. Please give a brief background on how your education and life experiences have influenced your attitudes toward sustainability and sustainable design.

3 Growing up I never really thought or cared about sustainability. I came to landscape architecture by way of sports turf management, arguably the antithesis to sustainability. While grounds keeping at a minor league baseball stadium, I witnessed firsthand the harshness of synthetic fertilizers on my lungs while stocking sheds full of nitrogen and other chemicals. I observed how the nutrient run-off from the park caused major algae blooms in the watercourse behind the walls of the stadium. It wasn t until I went to UConn and discovered the LA program that I began to understand the importance of what I observed and formulate an opinion. I left school with general understanding of sustainability and most importantly a sense of responsibility to advocate sustainable practices. (I fully admit this is easier written in this than actually executed on a daily basis at work). After school I had the humbling opportunity to serve our nation as a non-commissioned Infantry officer in Afghanistan. The Pashtuns I lived and worked with saved most everything we throw out, utilized ancient storm water aqueduct systems and built 95% of their structures of rammed earth. This, coupled with my exposure to the topic at school, has had a lasting effect on how I see sustainability in our own culture. What, in specific, about your education at UConn developed your thinking about sustainability? The writing/reading class which exposed us to text such as Ian McHarg s Design with Nature and Richard T. T. Forman s lecture and book on Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land-Use Planning. I still remember Richard Forman discussing the +/- 27 different types of pollutants that run off our asphalt paved circulation system. How have your attitudes about sustainability informed or influenced you in your career?

4 Regulatory agencies have begun to institute sustainable practices within their codes, and this makes advocating for sustainable solutions easier. My firm s work is 85-90% residential in scope; it is often difficult to convince the client of their responsibility to select a compatible sustainable solution that meets both the needs of the site and the client s program. Having code on our side helps. Lately, we have been interested in bringing storm water to the surface and making it an aesthetic educational element. I ve learned it is important to consider a broader context, things you plan on your site affect a much larger area and when coupled and compounded throughout a suburban area really add up. How have your attitudes about sustainability informed or influenced you in your career? Overtime I have grown more and more suspect of the term sustainability. I think it is growing more and more difficult to tell the difference between those materials and methods that are genuinely dedicated to making a difference and those that are just another fad. Who are your design heroes and why? Stephen Stimson I love how he pulls from the New England vernacular and blends it with modern sensibilities. Lawerence Halprin A war veteran turned landscape architect who believed that his modern landscapes should fulfill the basic and vital needs of the individual and the group. What are two iconic built projects/places that exemplify your ideal integration of great design and sustainability principles?

5 The Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant

6 The High Line, NY, NY What are some projects with which you have been involved which have incorporated sustainable design/ environmental elements or concepts? I am currently working on a 7 acre site in New Canaan, CT the former homestead of Eliot Noyes one of the Harvard 5. The site sits on a watershed that feeds the public dinking supply. We are currently designing a system to manage the on-site water. The program includes slowing stream flow, creating an interactive sedimentation trap, promoting infiltration, establishing meadows and restoring and buffering on-site wetlands. What is the most important contribution that landscape architecture (or other related field) can make to environmental sustainability and sustainable development? I believe that educating and promoting sustainability to the public and allied professions is essential. When collaborating on a project team, (Landscape Architects, engineers, architects,

7 etc.) Landscape Architects should lead the sustainability discussion it is their responsibility and in their skillset to determine sustainable practices over the other professionals within the project team.