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Gerdo Aquino
Gerdo Aquino, SWA’s president and an adjunct associate professor of the Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Southern California, is a leading advocate for efficient and multipurpose infrastructure. As an academic and practitioner, he seeks to promote landscape infrastructure through both research and large-scale commissioned projects. Aquino directs his USC design studios’ focus on the application of landscape infrastructure to resolve pressing urban challenges related to density, environmental degradation, health, and accessibility. He encourages his students to identify existing infrastructure opportunities, consult with civic leaders, and develop rehabilitation plans that seek to achieve more integrated solutions. In his academic mentoring role, Aquino aims to provoke new thinking in the field, and empower the next generation of landscape architects to optimally shape and program future infrastructure investments. His students’ work has received national recognition for their innovative investigations into this field of study. As SWA’s president and co-managing principal of the Los Angeles office, Aquino’s multifunctional design approach to landscape infrastructure has resulted in exemplary ASLA-award-winning projects. He’s also the coauthor of an the book Landscape Infrastructure, forthcoming from Birkhäuser/Actar.
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Rio 2016 Olympic Park Competition
The Olympic Games brings people together from all over the world in the spirit of competition.
The challenge for any Games creation is to create a festive experience for the participants, visitors, and crowds during the time of the games, while also creating a place that can last past the short-lived Olympic ceremonies. In this proposal for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, our competition entry transforms from a robust mix of neighborhood uses and open spaces surrounding the Olympic infrastructure. The aim is to have a site with an uninterrupted life from the Olympics forward.
SWA provided the master planning and landscape architecture for the 118-hectare site in the neighborhood Barra da Tijuca. The underlying concept, "Embrace," weaves a grand planning gesture through the design to provide a lasting identity while also defining the spine of the Olympic Games. The elements within the plan include 'Games,' 'Transition,' and 'Legacy,' that are integrated over time. Strategies for urban design, accessibility, and sustainability are underwritten by a comprehensive landscape infrastructure that creates cohesive open spaces, circulation systems, and ultimately, experiences.