FRAMINGTON, MA -- The New England Wild Flower Society, America's oldest plant conservation organization, honors Patrick Chasse, ASLA of Mt. Desert Island, Maine with the first New England Wild Flower Society Landscape Design Award. The award recognizes the achievements of a New England-based firm or individual specializing in landscape architecture or design with a long-term commitment to the use of native plants in exceptional or distinctive landscape compositions. The Society launches the award in 2007 to mark the 75th anniversary of Garden in the Woods, Society headquarters and world-renowned living museum, displaying 1,500 of the native plant species and cultivars of North America. The award calls attention to the use of native plants for sustainable and beautiful landscapes. The awards ceremony takes place at the Society's annual meeting on November 4th, 2007.
"This award is the highest level of recognition I can imagine for my work," says Chasse. "Since my childhood wanderings in the woodlands of northern Maine, I have been interested in the way humans and their cultural paraphernalia fit into the natural fabric of the earth One of my goals for the landscape is to tie it into its natural context. Utilizing native plants is a way to blend into the regional character without undermining the sophistication of any landscape design. Achieving a balance between concept and context provides the best harmonic for serene living on the land."
Chasse's dual background both in design and in botany and natural systems allows him to understand the basic plant communities of any region, and to create works that are sympathetic both ecologically and aesthetically. "Watermark," a residence on Mt. Desert Island in Maine is one of the Chasse projects that will be highlighted at the awards ceremony at the Society's Annual Meeting on November 4th at headquarters at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Patrick Chasse, based in Mt. Desert Island, Maine, designs residential landscapes and some campus and institutional landscapes on the East coast of the U.S. from the tropics up to Maine, incorporating a broad range of cultural influences. He received a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters of Environmental Education from the University of Maine in Orono and graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a second Masters in Landscape Architecture. He also attended the Haystack School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, and Sheffield University in Sheffield, England where he was a visiting lecturer. He has also taught at the Arnold Arboretum and the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University and has served as Curator of Landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts since 2005. Featured in publications worldwide, his designs may be seen in Page Dickey's Breaking Ground: Portraits of Ten Garden Designers, Denise Otis' Grounds for Pleasure: Four Centuries of the American Garden, and periodicals such as House & Garden, Architectural Digest, Abitare, Town & Country, and Gardens Illustrated.
The Awards Committee is chaired by Clara Batchelor, Principal and Founder of CBA Landscape Architects of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Trustee of the Society. Admired for her outstanding urban and suburban contextual landscapes, Clara won a Boston Society of Landscape Architecture award for Harriet Tubman Park in Boston and was also recognized for her work at the Farnworth Museum of Rockland, Maine. She says, "Patrick has been a leader in promoting the use of native plants in contemporary landscape design."
"We are delighted to present Patrick Chasse with this award, recognizing his dedication and leadership in the use of native plants. I hope this award helps the public and professionals recognize the important role these plants play in garden composition," says distinguished landscape designer and Landscape Design Award Chairman Gary Koller of Koller & Associates of Stoughton, Massachusetts. Gary is known for producing beautiful garden designs in Boston, and received the Gold Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for his work. Koller will present the award at the ceremonies at Society headquarters at Garden in the Woods.
Rather than focusing on an individual project, the Landscape Design Award recognizes an organization or individual for a body of work created over time. The emphasis is on naturalistic or creative use and interpretation of native plants in plantings designed, built, and maintained in New England. In future years, it will be awarded as exceptional candidates are identified and not necessarily on an annual basis.
To nominate a worthy individual or organization for consideration or to submit an application, please contact Karen Pierce at kpierce@newenglandwild.org, 508-877-7630 x 3801. Please request the official entry form. Drawings, visual images and plant lists are required as part of the application. As part of the review process, a panel of judges visits the sites of the finalists.
New England Wild Flower Society also recognizes worthy individuals and organizations with awards for service, conservation, education, and gardens, both public and private. The Society gives awards to organizations and individuals in all six New England states with presentations at its annual meeting in November of each year. See the complete list at www.newenglandwild.org. Please contact Karen Pierce of the Awards Committee for information about the Landscape Design Award, or other Society awards, or to nominate a worthy individual or organization.
