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Q & A
Joy Kuebler
By Kelly Hayes McAlonie; photos by kc kratt
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Joy Kuebler
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Joy Kuebler has been very busy over the last ten years. As a landscape architect and principal of Joy Kuebler Landscape Architect PC, she has designed many learning gardens, healing gardens, and other landscapes all over Western New York and beyond. In addition she has won numerous awards, including 2007 Business First’s 40 Under Forty and the AIA Buffalo/WNY Josesph Siracuse Award (the youngest and first woman recipient of the latter). Her enthusiasm is contagious and her accomplishments many—and she’s just getting started!
When you were twenty-five, were you planning on becoming a landscape architect?
I decided that I wanted to become a landscape architect when I was about twenty-one. I started out in engineering school in college and then I realized that I did not love math and science. Then I took interior design; I loved design but I found that walls, the ceiling, and floors were limiting. I stumbled into landscape architecture by meeting a landscape architect while in school. For me it is the perfect synthesis of design, art, math, and science.
What do you consider your most important accomplishment?
At Buffalo Public School 90, I had the opportunity to realize some of the ideas that I have been working on for over ten years—in particular, the notion that landscape elements can be a meaningful part of a school curriculum. More than that, I am told by the faculty that the garden has also provided a means for socialization and interaction that the students did not have before. I worked alongside passionate teachers to convince the status quo that the little kids on the East Side were valuable and deserved a green place in which to learn.
What do you want to have accomplished by fifty?
[First,] to have built and implemented a physical therapy clinic [that] would expand on the traditional physical therapy environment to closely simulate the real-world outdoor environment. This would provide patients with a true understanding of their abilities—and limitations—in the context of their everyday lives through the use of a garden environment.
[Second,] to have the state Education Department implement a policy where they fund outdoor learning environments in the same way that they fund teaching spaces in schools.
Who are some of your influences? Favorite landscape architects?
I am fortunate to have had a number of mentors who have directly affected my professional life. Paula Horrigan, a professor of mine at Cornell University, remains one of my primary role models. David Duchscherer, of Wendel Duchscherer Architects and Engineers, taught me how to apply high moral standards to a business practice. And Carol Siracuse of Cannon Design taught me how to use tenacity to accomplish my goals.
My favorite landscape architects are Cornelia Oberlander from Canada, who forged the way for women landscape architects in the 1950s; Kathryn Gustofson from Seattle, for her modern sensibility towards design; and Janet Rosenburg from Toronto, for combining parenthood with her passion for landscape architecture.
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How do you feel Frederick Law Olmsted would react to the twenty-first century landscape?
This is a question that we landscape architects ask ourselves every day. The most important aspect about Olmsted’s progressive philosophies is that they are just as relevant today as they were in the 1880s. I would like to think that if he had been a consistent force for the last 150 years that the profession would have been more prominent. I think that his understanding of people in the landscape, coupled with his knowledge of the natural world, would have resulted in communities enveloped in green space alongside technological advancements.
What trends do you see in the profession?
Sustainability is foremost in landscape architecture today. But more than that is our role of bridging the gap between the concept of sustainability and how people really live. Our role is to provide self-sustaining environments that are helpful, enjoyable, and beautiful but also continue the natural life cycles of the environment.
What is your favorite garden in Western New York?
We are blessed to have avid gardeners who have created some wonderful private sanctuaries as seen through the Garden Walk. In the public realm, I love Schoellkopf Park in Niagara Falls. When I need to feel the power of the landscape I visit Goat Island.
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Fast facts
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Favorite food
Peruvian cuisine, by far.
Favorite drink
Margarita on the rocks, with salt.
Favorite landscape in Western New York
Forest Lawn Cemetery—rich in architecture, fluid landscape and a wonderful arboretum.
Favorite landscape in the whole world
Natural landscape: The fjords of Norway.
Built landscape: a tie between Central Park in NY and the entire city of Paris.
The landscape architect whose work I find most intriguing
Katheryn Gustofson is a wonderful designer who pushes the limits of landscape and architecture using incredible textures and design. Closer to home, I am a great admirer of Janet Rosenburg’s work in Toronto.
Favorite artists (musical or visual)
I would follow Jamie Cullum around the world; he's a wonderful jazz/ pop pianist. Also, the paintings of Kathy Wright of Sarasota make my heart sing, and I own several of this up-and-coming artist’s works.
Most important influence
My kids. They keep me laughing, and because a good portion of my work is based on kids, I am always watching them to see how they move, think, and react in the world.
Favorite material
Natural stone; it’s not used nearly as much as it should be.
Favorite trees
Sophora japonica—there is a beautiful stand of these on Florence near Parkside—and Stewartia pseudocamellia. The bark is absolutely beautiful.
What I love
My children laughing and playing in the dirt, the smell of rain in the air, and a hot cup of tea on my patio at 6 a.m. in July, just me and the birds.
People might be surprised to learn that I ...
Originally went to college to be a mechanical engineer, and played the flute in my high school marching band.
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Kelly Hayes McAlonie, AIA, is past president of the American Institute of Architects, Western New York Chapter.
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