Department
Landscape Architecture
Degrees Held
- BEng (equivalent University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
- MLA (University of Colorado Denver)
Research Interests
Leila
Tolderlund is a Senior Instructor and Research Associate at the University of
Colorado Denver and Boulder. She promotes a holistic approach to
sustainable design strategies and actively helps further the understanding
of livings systems, green infrastructures, and urban integrated systems.
In her teachings as well as in her practice, she emphasizes assessing and
re-evaluating design schemes – built and proposed – through an understanding of
the synthesis of ecological, social, economic, functional, ethical and
aesthetic site considerations.
She is currently teaching Landscape Architecture Studios, Integrated Cross-disciplinary Site Planning, and Green Roof, Vertical Gardens and Other Living Systems/Design and Implementation seminars. Her primary focus is promoting a holistic approach to sustainable design strategies. I am fluent in several languages including: English, Danish, Norwegian, French, and German.
She is the Project Manager and Senior Instructor for the design and implementation of the University of Colorado Denver Green Roof Project and IRIS (Infrastructure and Research for Integrated Systems) which promotes intensive and extensive green roof and green wall testing, student and faculty research, and a public experimental research garden. UC Denver’s green roof research project started in 2006 and the IRIS initiative started in 2010. Both projects aim to educate and create awareness about green roof and vertical garden plots. Students have designed and will implement living systems on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor at our building located on 1250 14th Street in downtown Denver. These projects will add to a growing body of professional literature and knowledge. Overall aim is to explore how vegetation ratios in our cities effect and help generate sustainable urban living. Uniquely, and for the first time, research will be conducted for arid and semi-arid regions of the Western Region of the United States. This type of research has so far been limited to areas with higher precipitation. Leila Tolderlund makes it a priority to keep students involved during the design, implementation and research stages of projects.
Professional Activities
910 Arts:
Conceptual Design for Green Roofs, Vertical Gardens and Living systems at 910
Arts on 910 Santa Fe Drive; collaboration with owner and local residents,
artist and community members.
Instructor
and Project Manager, Aug 2012 – ongoing
Instructor
and Project Manager, May 2012 – ongoing
[Im]Possible Landscapes – Living Systems - Analog and Digital
compositions. Double Daughter's, Denver. Instructor May 2010.
Denver
Public Library: Conceptual Design for the Denver Public Library Green Roofs;
collaboration with City of Denver – Greenprint Denver. Instructor and Project
Manager, Dec 2009 - ongoing
Green
Roof Symposium for the West – GrowWest www.growwest.org, Founding Member.
3rd annual Green Roof Symposium – Denver Botanic
Gardens, June 2010
2nd annual Green Roof Symposium – Denver Botanic
Gardens, June 2010
1st annual Green Roof Symposium – Denver Botanic
Gardens, June 2009
“Exit –
An Architectural, Landscape Architectural and Cultural Documentation of the
EXIT events in Novisad, Serbia” University of Colorado Denver, 1999-2006
Professional Associations
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, 2003 -present
ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects), 2001-present
CCASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects), 2001-present
USGBC (United States Green Building Council), 2003-present
UCGBC (local chapter), 2003-present
Licenses
GRP (Accredited Green Roof Professional)
LEED AP, NC 2.0, 2004 (Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design - Accredited Professional)
Presentations and Publications
2007: EXIT Serbia.
Reception and Gallery exhibition “Exit – an architectural, landscape architectural and cultural documentation of the EXIT event in Serbia/Novisad, April 2007 at University of Colorado Denver + 4240 Architecture, Denver, Colorado.
2005+6: “Preparation for LEED Accreditation”, design professionals. Firm wide workshop/video conference for Design Workshop.
2004: “How to LEED”, implementing strategies and principles of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. University of Colorado Denver
1999+2000: Featured in: ”Colorado Homes & Lifestyle Magazine”.
Most Recent Courses
Landscape Architecture Design Studio I – II Reading and Writing Landscape
Integrated Site Planning
Green Roof, Vertical Gardens and Other Living Systems
Landscape Architecture Design - Vertical Studio. Highly Charged Nothingness Colorado Urban Front Range/regional scale- Denver’s Civic Center/local scale
Awards, Grants and Recognitions
AIA (American Institute for Architecture) AIA Fisher’s traveling scholarship – documentation of EXIT, Novisad, Serbia 2006
ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architecture) Design and Planning National Student/Faculty Award 2005
ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architecture) Honor Award 2003
UCD Department of Architecture & Planning award of academic achievement 2001-3
Hideo Sasaki’s National Award of Merit 2002
Americorps National Award of Merit 2002
BHA Design Inc – Outstanding Graduate Landscape Architecture Student 2002
Denver Parade of Homes “Best home of the year”–team 2002