https://www.hinishdc.com/

What does it mean to approach landscape design as a commissioned art? In this episode of The Landscape Architecture Podcast, Michael talks with Hadiza and Aaron Hinish, about the ideas and experiences that have shaped their work. They discuss making the most of a client's budget, building trust through transparency, and how their creative and practical roles have evolved over time. The conversation also explores Aaron's 3D-first design process, the connections between filmmaking and design, and a formative project they built by hand during the early days. With their young daughter alongside them on the job site, they took on the stonework, metalwork, and carpentry themselves. That experience helped shape the studio's design language and approach to making.

Sponsored by: https://www.landfx.com/

In this follow-up conversation, Michael Todoran sits down again with Darren Baldwin, President of Pikus 3D https://pikus3d.com/, to go deeper into how 3D-printed concrete is changing the way landscape architects design, collaborate, and solve problems.

The conversation moves beyond the initial novelty of watching a massive 3D printer in action and into what the technology actually makes possible. Darren discusses how removing the traditional constraints of molds and formwork can give designers greater freedom, allowing an early sketch or idea to stay intact as it moves from concept into fabrication.

Michael and Darren explore Pikus 3D's design-assist process, the use of physical miniatures to help designers and clients understand projects, working directly in 3D rather than relying solely on conventional shop drawings, and how architects are becoming increasingly comfortable specifying additive-manufactured concrete.

Darren also shares real-world examples of the technology in action, including custom stepping stones developed to solve an unexpected water-flow problem, lightweight concrete elements for challenging structural conditions, and projects where rapid fabrication turned site constraints into design opportunities.

As 3D-printed concrete moves from something new and experimental toward a more established part of the design process, the conversation raises a larger question for landscape architects: What becomes possible when the limitations we have associated with concrete begin to disappear?

https://www.hapsagency.com/ and https://www.landfx.com/

https://www.hapsagency.com/ PR for landscape architects

Torey Carter-Conneen has served as Chief Executive Officer of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) since 2020, leading the 16,000-member organization through a period of significant change for both the association and the profession.

In this conversation, Torey joins Michael Todoran to discuss what he has learned about landscape architecture after entering the profession from outside of design, and why curiosity has become central to the way he leads ASLA.

Using ASLA's industry research as a starting point, they explore the business realities facing landscape architecture firms today: building and diversifying backlog, preparing for economic uncertainty, developing stronger relationships with architects and developers, and learning to communicate the economic value of landscape architecture in language clients understand.

The conversation also moves beyond business into leadership itself. Torey and Michael discuss the value of asking questions, the problem with "fake it till you make it," imposter syndrome, and why even highly accomplished leaders continue to question themselves and their work.

They also examine ASLA's role in advocating for licensure, communicating the profession's impact to the public, strengthening community engagement, and connecting landscape architecture to larger conversations around resilience, climate, public health, development, and the everyday places people inhabit.

It is a wide-ranging conversation about leading a profession, running a practice, understanding your audience, and making a stronger case for why landscape architecture matters.