By Megan Sam
Science and design don’t always speak the same language, often working in isolation even on the same projects. Adrian Sakr, an environmental engineering student at the Center for Coastal Solutions (CCS), wants to change that. He believes that building a more resilient future for Florida’s coastlines starts with breaking down these silos to foster more meaningful innovation. At the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Florida Annual Conference held July 15 to 17 in Ponte Vedra Beach, he took a step in that direction by connecting with designers to explore how coastal engineering and landscape architecture can work together to strengthen the ecological, social and cultural benefits of nature-based solutions.
“My experience as a coastal engineer has always been about studying how the systems we design can have broader benefits for people and nature,” Sakr, a member of the Altieri Lab, said. “Bringing landscape architecture into the process helps us go beyond infrastructure that serves only engineering or ecological purposes. We can create designs that are also beautiful and culturally meaningful.”
Sakr’s current research focuses on surveying coastal designers from different fields to get a better feel for the state of interdisciplinary collaboration today and how to better apply it in future projects. The conference gave him fresh ideas and a real-world look at landscape architecture. Before that, most of his experience with the field came through academic research. Meeting professionals who are designing projects, seeing theory put into practice, and hearing from leaders in the field really helped him understand how important landscape architecture is to community development — and the responsibilities that come with it.
A standout moment for Sakr was the keynote from Pippa Brashear, resilience principal and partner at SCAPE design studio. She talked about how urban landscape architecture can be a real force for change, a message that really stayed with him.
“We have so much capacity to shape society now and into the future, and we have a responsibility to take that seriously, fully considering and empathizing with the needs of the people whose lives our work touches,” Sakr said.
Sakr left the conference energized by new professional connections and even more convinced that working across disciplines is key to making real progress.
“There is immense need and momentum for more deeply integrated design processes, education and partnerships to better serve human and environmental needs,” he said. “Conferences like ASLA are vital, they connect practitioners across fields and raise awareness of each other’s work. When each discipline gains exposure to others, collaboration can become the default, and projects can more holistically address the needs of coastal communities.”