BSLA Fieldbook BSLA 2015 Spring Fieldbook | Page 30

BSLA

/ MEMBER

DENEEN CROSBY, ASLA
SOLVING THE COMPLEXITIES OF URBAN WORK

M

y first
job as
a Landscape
Architectural
Designer was for
William Pressley
and Associates. I
wanted to work in
Boston and was thrilled
to be offered a job at my
interview—I moved from Syracuse to
Boston the following weekend. Much of
our work at that time was with architects.
After Bill’s, I was a Landscape Architect
with CBT and then with Wallace Floyd
Associates (later Wallace Floyd Design
Group)—both primarily architectural
firms. I enjoyed working side by side with
architects; it led to very informal and easy
collaborations. I became much more aware
of the architectural concerns that, along
with landscape architectural concerns,
drive the design of the built environment.
I currently serve with the Boston Civic
Design Commission; we review and
comment on all major development in
the City as it affects the public realm. I
continue to greatly appreciate the value
that all planning and design professionals
bring to the table.

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BSLA

My current partner, Skip Smallridge,
hired me while at Wallace Floyd to draw
perspectives for the visual impacts section
of the Third Harbor Tunnel EIS. One of the
projects I was working on involved creating
perspectives to illustrate the impacts of
connecting the Third Harbor Tunnel to
East Boston which would have placed toll
booths directly outside of people’s homes
on Bremen Street. I remember Skip telling
me how much he enjoyed how horrible the
perspective made the street look and that
was the point. I realized that part of our job
when working on public projects is to help
people understand what a project is, what it
will look like, and how their community will
be affected.
I have always been mostly interested in
working on urban projects. I enjoy the
complexities of the urban environment
and witnessing how even small changes
in an urban environment can have such
a significant impact. I worked with both
of my current partners, Skip and Carole
Schlessinger, on the Third Harbor Tunnel
EIS and later on various pieces of the Central
Artery project.