On Thursday, October 4, 2018, The American Society of Landscape Architects honored Cliff Garten Studio’s I AM A MAN Plaza, a memorial for the 1968 Sanitation Worker’s Strike and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The project was spearheaded by the City of Memphis and the UrbanArt Commission. Garten collaborated with Memphis-based landscape architect John Jackson of JPA, Inc. and spoken word poet Steve Fox, as well as the greater Memphis community, who through a series of public workshops together developed an original contemporary text that was etched into the marble gates to the plaza’s entry. The 12-feet-tall I AM A MAN sculptural block letters at the center of the memorial plaza are built of bronze on one side of the sculpture and mirror polish stainless steel on the other side and are laser-cut with a historical text from the Civil Rights struggle.
The ASLA promotes, advocates, educates and advances the practice of Landscape Architecture. It sets the standard for professionalism, exposes the membership to new ideas and practices, and makes connections between people and information. The ASLA Quality of Life Awards celebrates professional excellence by recognizing the firms, individuals, and agencies responsible for outstanding works of landscape architecture and environmental planning that promote an enhanced quality of life in Southern California and beyond.
