From California to Asturias: LASD Studio Joins the Spanish Association of Landscape Architects
I am proud to share that I have joined the Asociación Española de Paisajistas (AEP) as a professional member and am now listed in its public Directory of Landscape Professionals under Asturias.
For me, this is more than another professional credential. It marks a meaningful new chapter in a journey that has crossed countries, climates and cultures - while remaining guided by one enduring belief: landscapes can become living systems in which art, nature and human life evolve together.
A journey across landscapes and cultures
My path began in Ukraine, where my early education in garden design and Master in Landscape Architecture studies gave me an understanding of plants, composition and the emotional character of gardens.
It later took me to Denmark, where I lived, studied and worked for nine years. I completed an MSc in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Copenhagen, developing a broader understanding of landscape as a dynamic ecological and cultural system.
My master’s thesis, Designing Landscapes as Evolutionary Systems, explored an idea that continues to guide my work today: a landscape should not be conceived as a finished image. It should be designed as a living framework - capable of growing, adapting and becoming richer over time, and more RESILIENT!
Denmark taught me restraint, clarity and respect for natural processes. It showed me that sustainability is not an additional feature placed on top of a design. It begins with understanding the land, water, vegetation, climate and everyday life of the people who will inhabit it.
The journey continued in California, where I established LASD Studio and spent years working within a very different environmental reality. Drought, wildfire, water restrictions and rapidly changing ecological conditions made resilience an immediate design responsibility.
Our work in California has included private gardens and estates, residential communities and landscape transformations focused on water conservation, ecological restoration, defensible space, biodiversity and long-term value. At the same time, California reinforced the importance of beauty, atmosphere and outdoor living. A resilient landscape must also be a place where people genuinely want to live.
Today, from Asturias, this international experience is entering a new stage.
Northern Spain presents another remarkable landscape context: an Atlantic climate, abundant rainfall, historic gardens, rural estates, coastal environments, productive landscapes and a deep cultural connection between people and land.
Across projects in Ukraine, Denmark, California and Spain, every place has taught me something different. But the central purpose has remained constant.
The mission behind LASD Studio
LASD Studio was built around the idea that landscape architecture can do more than decorate space.
We want to create landscapes that conserve water, rebuild soil, support biodiversity, respond intelligently to climate and become more meaningful with every passing season. We believe that ecological performance and artistic expression should strengthen one another.
Our work looks beyond the moment a garden is completed. We consider how it will grow, how it will respond to changing conditions and what it may mean to the people who inhabit it ten, twenty or fifty years from now.
This is the meaning behind our guiding statement:
A living legacy is not a static monument. It is a landscape that continues to develop: trees gaining stature, plant communities finding equilibrium, wildlife returning and memories accumulating around terraces, pathways and gardens.
It is a place that becomes more valuable because it is alive.
Becoming part of AEP and IFLA
Joining the Asociación Española de Paisajistas is particularly meaningful as LASD Studio develops its professional presence in Spain.
The AEP brings together professionals working in landscape design and landscape architecture and promotes the profession’s contribution to society. Its understanding of landscape combines environmental knowledge with science, art, ethics and aesthetics—principles that strongly align with our own approach. Learn more about the AEP and its mission.
The AEP also represents Spain within the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and IFLA Europe, connecting its members with the wider international landscape architecture community.
IFLA represents the profession globally through national and multinational associations across its international regions. The AEP is officially identified as the member association representing Spain. View the AEP’s IFLA profile and IFLA’s member associations.
For me, membership is not simply about placing another logo on the LASD Studio website. It represents participation in a professional community and a commitment to learning, collaboration and the responsible evolution of landscape architecture in Spain.
A new chapter in Spain
As LASD Studio continues to grow in Asturias and throughout Spain, we bring with us experience shaped by several very different landscapes, but we approach every new site with humility.
Before proposing a design, we listen to the land. We study its climate, water, vegetation, history, architecture and patterns of human life. Only then can a meaningful landscape begin to emerge.
This AEP membership is an important step in establishing the studio’s long-term professional presence in Spain. It also reinforces the mission that has guided my journey from Ukraine to Denmark, California and Asturias:
To create landscapes that are beautiful, resilient and alive, yet capable of becoming a legacy for the generations that
follow.
“Where Art and Nature evolve into Living Legacy”
Read more about Yura Lotonenko