Last month, SCAPE Partner, Elena Brescia, was elevated to the 2015 Class of the Council of Fellows. The Fellowship is among the highest honors bestowed by the ASLA, and recognizes the sustained contributions of a select group of landscape architects to their profession and society at large in the areas of works, leadership, knowledge, and service. Elena has been serving voluntarily for the ASLA and pro-bono for interdisciplinary organizations continuously for 15 of her 22 years as a professional. She served on the Executive Committee of the New York Chapter of the ASLA for six years and, concurrently, as a representative of the Chapter on the Executive Committee of the interdisciplinary design coalition New York New Visions for Rebuilding Lower Manhattan, which addressed issues of the restoration of the urban fabric after the events of 9/11. She also served on the New York State Council of Landscape Architects, which interacts with the NYS Office of the Professions.
Currently, Elena participates in New York’s interdisciplinary arts and design coalition, the Fine Arts Federation of New York, on which she has served for the past nine years as a Director, an Officer, and as President, revitalizing this 120-year old organization that has an impact on all public work in NYC. Her service has engaged many influential groups and has had a positive impact on the field of Landscape Architecture; it has increased recognition for the field in the City and among affiliated design disciplines.