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Date of lecture: February 19, 2025
Abstract
MKW + Associates has been designing outdoor spaces for over 60 years. During that time, we have focused a part of our practice on creating spaces for children to learn, play and hopefully evolve into well rounded adults. Our talk will focus on the design processes that we were a part of for two different spaces designed for children. One is a public playground located near a major urban public housing development. The other is a Children’s Garden in a large private botanical garden. Each project had its own set of challenges and constraints as well as opportunities. We will share an overview of the design process for each project and resulting landscapes.
Bios
Allen Juba
Mr. Juba, a principal with the firm since 2001, is a landscape architect and urban designer experienced in all aspects of the profession. He is responsible for directing the firm’s projects and is the managing Principal for the firm. His work includes the design of municipal parks and recreation areas, cultural institutions, downtown revitalization and streetscapes, waterfront parks, sports facilities, housing site development and college and university campuses. His responsibilities range from developing concept and schematic design direction to quality review and construction administration. His expertise in overall design, design detailing and planting design is evident throughout much of the firm’s work. Allen led the design and management of Hudson River Park- Segments 6 and 7 between 25th and 59th Streets in New York City.
Current projects include the Allen and Pike Street Malls in Lower Manhattan, NY, Capital Park at the Statehouse in Trenton, NJ and Juvenile Justice Facilities in New Jersey.
Allen graduated from Rutgers University-Cook College in 1983 with a BS in Landscape Architecture.
Jim Welsh
Mr. Welsh is a principal with the firm and has spent the last 25 years of his practice focused on leading landscape architecture projects for public agencies and private clients in New Jersey and New York. He also managed the landscape design program for major urban development projects in China and the Middle East. Local projects ranged from master planning to design and construction phase services. Projects varied in scale from less than ¼ acre urban plazas to 200-acre waterfront parks.
Current projects include Capital Park at the Statehouse in Trenton, NJ, Ramsey High School in Ramsey, NJ and Challenge Playground in Queens, NY.
Jim graduated from Rutgers in 1991 and returned to teach Landscape Architecture Construction I from 2001 to 2002.