strada principal michael stern on landscape architecture in the steel city
Michael Stern has been working as a landscape architect in Pittsburgh for 14 years. Currently principal landscape architect of Pittsburgh's Strada architectural firm, Stern got his start working as a landscape architect in New York City, then taught at the University of Virginia. Stern most recently finished work on the Rivers Casino on the North Side.
How is a landscape architect different from a traditional architect?
Landscape architects deal with everything outside a building. That ranges from large scale urban work to gardens. The focus of my work has been public landscape, whether that's parks, street layout or otherwise. What I do, and what all landscape architects do, with a firm is focus on the relationship between a building and its site.
How did you decide to become a landscape architect?
It took me a long time to figure that out, actually but I finally decided on it as a career that combined a lot of my interests. I majored in anthropology so I have always had an interest in people. As a landscape architect, I am concerned with how people use space.
How does working in Pittsburgh compare to working in New York?
There are really a lot of similarities between the two cities. Most cities seem to have a similar principle behind them.
What is your goal or your philosophy when you go into a new project?
That varies based on the project. Of course we're always concerned about making something that is functional and aesthetically exciting, but a casino is going to have a different program from a college, for instance. One value that is always important is sustainability.
So what methods do you use to make a project sustainable?
We try to look at all the aspects of a project that can be made more efficient or cleaner. Saving energy and controlling runoff from storms will have a huge impact on the natural world. In parking lots and roads, especially, there are a lot of contaminants that can made their way into the sewer system if you're not careful. In the casino, for example, we have a pretty elaborate system of filtering and rerouting water so that it's cleaner and less of it goes into the sewers.
What are your thoughts on the design of cities as a whole?
I think that we need to overhaul the way we do cities. There are a lot of trends pushing people to make changes right now: the economy, carbon emissions. We need to stop spreading out our cities. Even in Pittsburgh we have a lot of empty space that we could be utilizing. We could fix that by rebuilding old structures, increasing population density. And there are ways to increase density without making things too crowded, like it is in New York. Another thing that we should be working on is relying more on public transit and less on cars. Now I'm talking talking about eliminating cars or anything, but we can still improve the infrastructure so that not everyone needs to drive their own car everywhere.
You are mostly concerned with public spaces. How do you think those can be improved?
The way public space is being used is very important. It's the most democratic space; it's where people interact. An important element is that, walking down the street, you come into contact with both strangers and people you know. A lot of that takes place online now, but I think that even people who are really into that whole world realize that there is something missing from it. It's a lot different when you can actually get out and interact with people face to face.
How is a landscape architect different from a traditional architect?
Landscape architects deal with everything outside a building. That ranges from large scale urban work to gardens. The focus of my work has been public landscape, whether that's parks, street layout or otherwise. What I do, and what all landscape architects do, with a firm is focus on the relationship between a building and its site.
How did you decide to become a landscape architect?
It took me a long time to figure that out, actually but I finally decided on it as a career that combined a lot of my interests. I majored in anthropology so I have always had an interest in people. As a landscape architect, I am concerned with how people use space.
How does working in Pittsburgh compare to working in New York?
There are really a lot of similarities between the two cities. Most cities seem to have a similar principle behind them.
What is your goal or your philosophy when you go into a new project?
That varies based on the project. Of course we're always concerned about making something that is functional and aesthetically exciting, but a casino is going to have a different program from a college, for instance. One value that is always important is sustainability.
So what methods do you use to make a project sustainable?
We try to look at all the aspects of a project that can be made more efficient or cleaner. Saving energy and controlling runoff from storms will have a huge impact on the natural world. In parking lots and roads, especially, there are a lot of contaminants that can made their way into the sewer system if you're not careful. In the casino, for example, we have a pretty elaborate system of filtering and rerouting water so that it's cleaner and less of it goes into the sewers.
What are your thoughts on the design of cities as a whole?
I think that we need to overhaul the way we do cities. There are a lot of trends pushing people to make changes right now: the economy, carbon emissions. We need to stop spreading out our cities. Even in Pittsburgh we have a lot of empty space that we could be utilizing. We could fix that by rebuilding old structures, increasing population density. And there are ways to increase density without making things too crowded, like it is in New York. Another thing that we should be working on is relying more on public transit and less on cars. Now I'm talking talking about eliminating cars or anything, but we can still improve the infrastructure so that not everyone needs to drive their own car everywhere.
You are mostly concerned with public spaces. How do you think those can be improved?
The way public space is being used is very important. It's the most democratic space; it's where people interact. An important element is that, walking down the street, you come into contact with both strangers and people you know. A lot of that takes place online now, but I think that even people who are really into that whole world realize that there is something missing from it. It's a lot different when you can actually get out and interact with people face to face.
