The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
is the national professional association representing landscape architects. ASLA has more than 16,200 members and 48 chapters, representing all 50 states, US territories, and 42 countries around the world. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication, and fellowship.
The St Louis Chapter of ASLA represents the Eastern half of Missouri and is responsible for the promotion and legislation of our profession in the St Louis Region. Partnering associations include the Missouri Association of Landscape Architects (MALA) and Western Missouri/East Kansas Prairie Gateway Chapter.
The profession of landscape architecture is the art and science of analysis, planning, design, management, preservation and rehabilitation of the land. The scope of the profession includes site planning, garden design, environmental restoration, town or urban planning, park and recreation planning, regional planning, and historic preservation. Practitioners share a commitment of achieving a balance between preservation, use and management of the country's resources.
Activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation of public parks and parkways to the site planning for corporate office buildings, from the design of residential gardens to the management of large wilderness areas or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills. Entrance into the profession requires advanced education, training, licensure in all but five states and specialized skills.
The Missouri Association of Landscape Architects (MALA) was formed in 1962 to be the voice for landscape architects in Missouri related to attempts to pass legislation for Landscape Architectural Licensure. At the time, ASLA National advised all chapters that they could not conduct lobbying activities by directly paying a lobbyist. MALA, since it was not an ASLA chapter could however provide compensation to the lobbyist. More importantly, the legislators and the other professional organizations needed to know that the people promoting this bill were truly representing the profession throughout the state. More...
