Congratulations, Haipeng Zhu | BSLA Executive Committee

We are pleased to announce Haipeng Zhu, PAYETTE’s Landscape Architecture Manager, has been elected to the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) Executive Committee. Zhu has been an active member of the BSLA since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2013. He is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in the professional community especially for international students and practitioners, and he will continue his efforts promoting licensure for landscape architects.

Zhu joined PAYETTE in 2021 and immediately impacted the design and management of some of the firm’s most significant ongoing landscape work. Prior to PAYETTE, Zhu was a Landscape Architect and Associate at Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge in Boston, working on a range of educational, park and streetscape projects. As the only Asian among the 9 BSLA executives, and the only practitioner who practices in an architectural firm, we believe Zhu is a wonderful addition to the BSLA Executive Committee.

To the landscape architecture profession, the Greater Boston area was once considered as the “Mecca.” We have the famous Emerald Necklace, a public park system of more than 2,000 acres designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who is known as the founder of American Landscape architecture. The first full-scale professional office for landscape practice was established in nearby Brookline. Harvard University offered the first degree in landscape architecture. Every year, large numbers of landscape students graduate from top tier landscape programs, and there are hundreds of professional firms and more than a thousand practitioners who currently practicing here. Not to mention the long list of landscape legacies, from colonial times to the 21^st century.  

The Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) is the local chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), with members from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Maine. It is the first regional chapter of ASLA, and while ASLA celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, BSLA marks its 111^th year. The “BSLA connects, convenes and celebrates landscape architects and the greater design community, as we strive to advance the profession of landscape architecture, and support the creation of extraordinary – resilient, equitable, beautiful — environments throughout the region and the world.”

Haipeng Zhu, PAYETTE’s Manager of Landscape Architecture, had been an active member BSLA since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design a decade ago. In 2023, Haipeng was elected to the BSLA board of executives and to fill the position of member at large Zhu is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in the professional community especially for international students and practition era, and he will continue his efforts promoting licensure for landscape architects.

As the only Asian among the 9 executives and the only practitioner who practices in an architectural firm, we believe Zhu is a wonderful addition to the BSLA board.