MARK YOU CALENDAR NOW AND RETURN THE ENCLOSED REGISTRATION FORMS (BOTH SUGUNA AND ACCOMODATION) FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING IN OTTAWA
SUGUNA has changed the date of our annual meeting at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA from Aug 14 -16 to Aug 7-10, 1997. We hope this does not cause any undue inconvenience to your summer plans but we were forced to change because of an Australian Universities Alumni Weekend at the ANZ Studies Center at Pennsylvania State University scheduled from Aug 14-16. We decided it was undesirable to have our meetings dates conflict as some SUGUNA members may wish to attend both events.
Accommodation at the SUGUNA annual meeting will be on the campus of the University of Ottawa ( of course members have the option of staying at any downtown hotel) at a very reasonable room rate of C$39.50 + 12% per night for a twin bedded room. We will have flexibility in check in and out times. Registrants will be making their own accommodation arrangements directly with the university, and meal options ( Friday BBQ, Saturday Riverboat cruise/Banquet) with Dr. R. Seccombe (see enclosed forms). Visa and MC acceptable for both room and meal bookings.
Ottawa, the capital of the Dominion of Canada since 1867, is a beautiful city located at the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau rivers. It boasts many notable buildings including the 19th-century Basilica, the Houses of Parliament of Canada with their blue-green copper patina roofs, the neo-Gothic Parliamentary Library, the Dominion Observatory, the National Museum and a relatively new (1988) National Art Gallery with a 140-foot towering glass cupola, designed by the renowned architect, Moshe Safdie of Habitat fame, with landscaping by Cornelia Oberlander who spoke at our meeting in Bellingham. A Renoir exhibit will be on at the National Art Gallery (1 km from the University) during our conference and a visit will be an option on the social schedule.
A member recently complained that several University of Sydney graduates in the eastern states perceive that SUGUNA has been run exclusively for people on the West Coast. Nothing could be further from the truth. That member must have missed reading the last Newsletter, which listed the four types of "bones" that make up any organization. It just happens that the Back bones - those who get things done like- Bill Lew who organized meetings in Oregon and Whistler, B.C., Stephen Ludvik who organized our best attended meeting to date at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA and June Ross who arranged our last meeting at Western Washington University in Bellingham , WA, are all on the West Coast.
At that last meeting we planned the next two meetings to be at Ottawa in 1997 and Asilomar, (between Monterey and Carmel) CA in 1998. However, we are open to suggestions of suitable sites anywhere in Canada or USA (preferably on a university campus), provided that there is a member willing to accept the responsibility of serving as local arrangements chairperson. We held a meeting at Pennsylvania State University in 1993 and have attempted to schedule other meetings on the East Coast, such as at Princeton, but were unable to arrange accommodations. We need more members who will participate in SUGUNA activities and less Wish bones, Jaw bones , and Knuckle bones.
Another misconception is that our annual meetings are just for a bunch of doctors who like to get together for a weekend of golf, fun and social activities. When you read the lectures presented at our meetings you soon realize what a talented and multifaceted group of alumni we have. Unlike most professional or academic meetings that are narrowly focused we try to cater to all our alumni and therefore include talks on a wide array of subjects. At the 1995 meeting in Whistler there were a couple of talks that set off some successful scientific interactions. Jenny Green from Arizona State University talked about preserving cell membranes with the sugar trehalose during dehydration. Then Gillian Beattie discussed her work on transplanting pancreatic islet cells to cure diabetes. She mentioned the problems with cryopreserving the islet cells successfully and a lively discussion ensued on the possibility of using trehalose to protect the cell membranes during cryopreservation. This study has now been done successfully in Gillian's lab at UCSD and the results have just been published in the Journal Diabetes as a rapid publication.
Of course, in addition to intellectual stimulation and scientific exchanges , there are also golf and tennis afternoons, a BBQ, and a dinner to allow members to socialize and get to know one another. I confess that at the first meeting that I attended I did not know a soul, none of my classmates was there, and most were graduates from other faculties. That did not matter very much, it was easy to break the ice as we all had the Sydney University experience in common and I realized that they were a friendly bunch. I hope all of you will avail yourselves of this opportunity to spend a pleasant weekend in Ottawa and make new friends. See you there.
Ernest Newbrun, Executive Director
SUGUNA's address on the internet is http://www.austudies.org/suguna [this is a NEW address!]. You can browse on our page for an alphabetic listing of current members with their degrees and city and zipcode address, announcements, past Newsletters, awards.
We continue publishing talks presented at the last annual meeting in Bellingham.
In 1949 Aldo Leopold proposed a new design ethic which "tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community." Ian McHarg has further challenged us to respond to the natural systems and John Lyle encourages us to participate in the regenerative process of ecosystems. This gives rise to many debates in relationship to design, public perception and the natural processes.
Ecology is more than just another part of design - it must be viewed holistically in terms of human relationship as well as the 'genus loci' or spirit of the place. If we can accept this view we will be successful as landscape architects and designers and transmit to the users a new aesthetic dimension.
The decisions to follow natural patterns in creating wetlands such as at the Institute of Asian Research, or restoring the landscape with native plants, such as at the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Building and at the same time fulfill site program requirements for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, present new challenges for landscape architects. These challenges are based on an integration of:
This institute at the University of British Columbia is situated adjacent to a fringe of the native West Coast forest. This remnant forest that once covered the peninsula campus is now only a fragment on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. This location echoes the uniqueness of the facility and its connection to the natural environment.
In collaboration with the Architect and the project team a sustainable landscape solution was developed which challenged us to set new standards for environmental responsibility based on current research. We attempted to "re-think the nature of our human activities and their impact on the biosphere" (World Conservation Strategy) yet support clearly established design principles.
In order to achieve the goal of an environmentally sustainable landscape a management strategy was established:
The building site is characterized by a forest of coniferous trees over 100 feet high, with undergrowth of salal, ferns, and huckleberries in the undisturbed parts. Development on the site was designed to retain and extend the arboreal sense so that the building occupies a "clearing in the forest" and the natural ecosystem of the forest forms maintained.
In order to prevent root compaction, location of pathways were carefully studied. These paths are constructed of compacted earth with a gravel topping and are lighted by recycled and re-furbished, low-voltage lighting.
A greywater trench for water purification is featured along the front, urban edge of the building in the sunlight. The trench, lined with recycled PVC and filled with gravel is a subsurface biological marsh, planted with reeds, sedges and iris. Greywater from sinks and 'tea' from the composting toilets together with rainwater runoff is purified by natural processes and released into a subsurface irrigation system.
At the South end of the building is a small courtyard paved with paver 'seconds'. The inscriptions on large stones, carefully placed in the courtyard, speak of virtues such as propriety, wisdom, and benevolence within the all embracing realm of trustworthiness. Although these principles were chosen by the donor of the building, in part they also guided the thought and concern of the project team in working to set new standards and to face the challenge of designing an environmentally responsible building and landscape.
This was built nearly 100 years after other capital buildings in Canada in the harsh, remote land beyond the Arctic Circle. In response to the unique aspects of designing a new capital building, a site was carefully chosen which would typify the beauty of flat, scrub landscape and emphasize the architecture's harmonious relationship to rock out-crops, the peat bog foreground and the lakeside location.
The Concept for the building and its relationship to its surroundings was based on the approach of 'Least Intervention', in order to maintain vital ecological processes, conserve biological diversity, utilize ecosystems and populations of plants and animals at sustainable levels by dealing with key problems of conservation and development in a systematic and holistic way.
Site Development Guidelines were developed to preserve and restore where necessary the inherent beauty of the landscape, which is in itself is a celebration of life in the North with the lights and darkness telling us about the seasons, introducing us to the plants of the region as well as the need for protection of the natural environment.
Because there are no nurseries in the North to supply native plant material, a professional plant collector went to Yellowknife to collect seed from indigenous plants for propagation in Vancouver. This plant material, which was genetically hardy, was then returned to the site at the time of planting. Where it was necessary to build roads and paths close to the peat bog, mats of the bog were lifted and stored and were later used when the construction was finished to repair torn edges of the bog.
Like the blue and white panels on the flag of the Northwest Territories which represent the lakes and waters, the ice and snow, the new Legislative Assembly Building landscape symbolizes a pride in the local landscape and a respect for the beauty and systems of nature.
Library Square marks a new and significant shift in focus in Vancouver's downtown. By introducing a major public building into an area that has not historically been a pedestrian precinct, links are made between new and existing public spaces and opportunities are created for extending the vitality of the existing downtown core into an area that is currently undergoing a change in use and attitude.
As the most public of civic buildings, the city's main library incorporates two dynamic people places into the fabric of its street level piazzas. The landscape concept demands an urban solution with a paved plaza and street trees at the periphery. The grade difference from Georgia to Robson Street is 20-feet which presented a challenge to create an urban square with a gradient of 4.5%. The flow through the Colonnade opens up at the corner of Homer and Robson with a curving, stepped amphitheatre which spills out onto the street. The generous, sunny steps entice visitors to stop and enjoy the color and activity of the street as well as any impromptu performance which might occur in the area of the wide set-back.
The Georgia/Homer corner by contrast is more dignified with the elegant curve of the arcade sculpting the plaza and inviting the visitor to discover the treasures inside this landmark building. The pavement is pre-cast concrete laid on 6" of bird's eye gravel.
State of the art technology has been used in planting large caliper Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Trees, around Library Square and Morgan Maple Trees, as requested by the City, on Georgia Street. This newly reclaimed area of the city will soon be defined by a leafy canopy of trees lining all sides of the streets. The trees are planted in a continuous planting trench to promote linear root growth in a growing medium consisting of sand and gravel with irrigation and fertilization. The structural growing medium conforms to the City Engineering standards for 95% proctor compaction.
Hidden from the street view, Library Square offers a new concept in 'greening' tall public buildings. As seen from adjacent towers, the visually-accessible-only roof of the Library simulates the Lower Mainland. The blue grass (Festuca ovina Glauca var. 'Elijiah Blue') echoes the Fraser River while the green grass (Festuca ovina Glauca var. 'Solling') is the land. Higher elevations are represented with the rich, deep green of kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva ursi ). It is a low maintenance planting. The light weight growing medium is 1/3 sand, 1/3 pumice and 1/3 Humus Builder - a product based on composted wood and composted refuse from reconstituted food waste, sugar cane, hatchery waste, etc. All planters are waterproofed and are lined with a drainage system with filter cloth from Nilex.
The East side of the building, the retail and daycare facilities, features planterboxes with Dogwoods and Pearl Meidiland Roses. Library Square has pushed attitudes of urban design in the City of Vancouver towards new dimensions by challenging old ideas with fresh, innovative thinking that takes references from unlikely sources and builds on current research.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
BA (Smith), BLA (Harvard), Doc Law (hc UBC 91), Order of Canada. Canada's premier landscape architect, she is known for integrating her designs in the overall architectural project with the natural environment, yet always adding a unique new vision and dimension.
The 20th century has been a continual process of urbanization, the city is here to stay. Urbanization effects us all socially, politically and environmentally. There has been resistance to this process by nation states because of the power shift. Currently world population distribution is about 50/50 urban/rural, but the urbanization process is irreversible. Tokyo ranks first, with about 20 million inhabitants, New York metropolitan area has 16.3 million, Los Angeles has 12.4 million. In 20 years none of the US cities will be in the top 10 of population. They will be replaced by Karachi, Djakarta and Lagos. These portend cataclysmic changes, the problem is how to adapt to them where the political system is unstable, i.e. nation states such as Bosnia, Barundi with fragmentation and tribalization. Unfortunately during the last 25 years urbanization has had destructive aspects as in Detroit and Los Angeles.
People move to where they have the greatest opportunity. Twenty years ago China was basically rural, now cities are the magnets with promise of change and upgrading. Historically individuals achieved freedom from serfdom by moving to the city, the key of the city meant one was a freeman. Urbanization knows no borders, airshed is not divisible. pollution in Vancouver is related to what happens in Seattle. The urban resident is part of the environmental problem. We destroy more housing in wars e.g. in Barundi, Bosnia, Grozny, than we can provide shelter. Cities are the crucible of change - human rights, women's issues, education, transportation, housing, environment. Government alone can not solve all these problems, a partnership between public and private sector is needed with industry as a major urban actor, involved in jobs and infrastructure. The real constituents are the cities with a commitment to essential change. People live in a place because of jobs, space, the community. Human settlements engage us and engender a community responsibility.
H. Peter Oberlander
BArch (McGill), PhD (Harvard, Urban and Regional Planning), Order of Canada, Prof Emeritus. Canada's first professor of city planning, Peter founded the first School of Community and Regional Planning, and the Centre for Human Settlements at the University of British Columbia. His vision of planning which strengthens the social and economic stability of communities and cities has been evident in all his work, whether teaching or advising the federal government and the United Nations.
Each year SUGUNA recognizes members who have made distinguished contributions in the broad fields of science and human endeavors. At the SUGUNA meeting in Bellingham this year, Professor Ron Bracewell was made the 1996 awardee. Prof Bracewell has been the Lewis M. Terman Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University since 1974. Ron Bracewell obtained a B.E. ('42) and an M.E. ('48) from the University of Sydney and obtained his Ph.D. from Cambridge in 1949. He has been on the Stanford faculty since 1955 and has received numerous honors and recognition, including the University of Sydney's inaugural Alumni Award (1992) for Community Service.
In many ways, Ron Bracewell's accomplishments capture typical Australian characteristics of independence, versatility and innovation. His early research work in radio astronomy that involved reconstructing astronomical images was so significant that it was adopted for use with medical CAT scanners. The CAT scanner has entered mainstream medical practice as a vital new diagnostic tool. In 1992, Ron was elected to the Institute of Medicine (not engineering!) of the US National Academy of Science, becoming the first Australian to achieve that distinction. He was also awarded in 1994 the IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal "For pioneering work in antenna aperture and image reconstruction as applied to radio astronomy and to computer assisted tomography".
One of Ron's crowning achievements was delivery of the 15th BUNYAN LECTURE in Stanford University's Astronomy Program February 27, 1996. The purpose of the annual BUNYAN lectures - normally given by an invitee from outside the University - is "to contribute to the spreading of knowledge about cosmology, by encouraging original research into the nature of the Universe and into the origins and destiny of man, and by making available the results of that research to a wide audience." Past contributors have been Carl Sagan from Cornell, world renown in his work in understanding of cosmology .
Ron's peers at Stanford University broke precedent by inviting him ( as a non-outsider and close to his 75th birthday) to give the 1996 BUNYAN LECTURE on the daunting subject : "THE DESTINY of MAN". It is encouraging for us that Ron's truly insightful analysis of this subject predicted an optimistic, if uncertain, prognosis for the destiny of man.
Ron Bracewell's current interests are in continuing community service by seeking to increase public awareness of scientific knowledge, especially in finding ways to include scientific knowledge into political decision making, from international forums down to local communities.
Stephen Ludwik
Thanks to all those who sent in their 1996 membership we are in much better financial shape. It costs us about $1000 for printing and mailing a newsletter to all alumni. For those who have not yet sent in their payment, we are now collecting dues for 1997. Please send US$30, made payable to SUGUNA, to Ms Gillian Beattie, at 13615 Sagewood Drive Poway, CA 92064