Recently, the City of San Diego’s landscape architects were recognized for their vision in creating the Parks Master Plan. Meet some of the talented staff behind the plan.

Kathleen Brand is a Project Officer II and a Landscape Architect for the City of San Diego’s Parks and Recreation Department, practicing for over 30 years since she graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

She was inspired to make landscape architecture her profession by Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of Central Park in New York City and the first person to call himself a landscape architect. Olmstead knew parks were not just for recreation but as a resource for maintaining the health of the community and the city.

“Landscape architects share a lot of education and training with civil engineers but also possess extensive training in horticulture and the earth’s natural systems,” said Brand.

“Their training includes planning, site design, grading and drainage, irrigation, planting design and construction detailing. It is essential always to understand how the project works within the context of regulations and other project disciplines, to create a site-specific, well-designed project that fits the site and the surroundings, as well as creates a benefit for the community,” she added.

Brand likes working with staff and other departments on various projects that have never been permitted before. She finds it rewarding to collaborate with other city staff and see projects go from planning, design, permitting and through construction.

She describes her position at the City as hybrid: “I’m a plan reviewer, a project manager, a supervisor, an open-space planner, a park designer, stormwater advisor and much more.”

“When it comes to many of the City’s biggest priorities, including climate action and resiliency planning, community infrastructure and parks, stormwater management, improving accessibility and complete street design, we are the ones that are leading the fight for the City of San Diego,” said Brand, “We are mighty but few…the ones who really pull it all together.”

Martin Flores is a Landscape Architect and Park Designer for the City of San Diego with a degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

The diversity of our population is his inspiration. “I know that the recommendations we make are for everybody, not just a select few, and hopefully, some of the decisions we make will last for many years.

“The work we do at the City requires immense collaboration between departments and external stakeholders, with plans and initiatives requiring contributions from several City departments. Since the City workforce is so big, it can take time to work across all departments to ensure any new policies or initiatives are functional.”

Darren Genova is a Park Designer with the Architectural Engineering and Parks Division of the City’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department. With a degree in Urban

Planning from UCSD, Darren says the most challenging part of his job is “managing it all.”

Commented Genova, “Everyone knows we need to be proficient in landscape and irrigation design. Still, most don’t realize that we are also responsible for drainage, grading, retaining walls, electrical systems, plumbing systems, making spaces accessible for people with disabilities, preparing construction specs, developing contract language and stormwater and geotechnical requirements. Collaboration here is the key.”

Genova is inspired by his parents, nature, the cosmos, people with integrity and the courage to innovate.

Late last year, the San Diego Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects presented the City with an Honor Award for the Park’s Master Plan. City landscape architects from various City departments also assisted in four other projects that earned awards. These projects include the Mission Trails East Fortuna Field Station, which received the President’s Award, landscape architects SPURLOCK Landscape Architecture; Maruta Gardner Playground at Bonita Cove Park, Civita Park and the E Street Greenway Master Plan, all by Schmidt Design Group.

Explained Brand, “Without City landscape architects pushing, planning, coaching and collaborating, we would not have received these awards.”

The editor would like to thank Delle Willett for her longtime column about landscape architecture in San Diego and how it affects the urban landscape. We will miss her insight and wish her the best of luck in the future.