Landscape & Defensible Space: Designing for Fire Safety
April 9 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm PDT
AIA in California Presents….
Landscape & Defensible Space: Designing for Fire Safety
AIA in California recognizes the immense challenges facing our city and county in the wake of the tragic and devasting wildfires that have stricken the Los Angeles County region. The swift and equitable rebuilding of homes, businesses, and public infrastructure is paramount while simultaneously ensuring the safety, resilience, and long-term sustainability of our communities.
This program will serve as an opportunity to educate architects on the critical role of landscape design and defensible space in creating fire-resistant properties.
Objectives:
- Review updated state and local landscape codes for fire-prone areas.
- Detail best practices for creating defensible space zones (0-100 ft).
- Discuss low-water, fire-resistant planting strategies.
- Analyze case studies of successful defensible space implementation.
(*Virtual on Zoom. Register below to receive the access link)
FEATURED SPEAKERS: (12:00pm – 1:30pm)
- Melanie Buffa, ASLA – President-Elect, SoCal ASLA
- Stephanie Landregan, FASLA – Director, Landscape Architecture, UCLA Extension
- Elisa Read Pappaterra, ASLA – Founder, Studio Pappaterra
- Clark Stevens, NCARB – Director of Resource Design, Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCDSMM)
Moderated by:
- Greg Kochanowski, AIA, ASLA – Design Principal, Practice & Founder, The Wild: A Research Lab
- Mohamed Sharif, AIA, RIBA – Partner, Sharif, Lynch: Architecture & Director, Undergraduate Program in Architectural Studies and Graduate Program Design Faculty, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design
REGISTER HERE
FEATURED SPEAKERS:
Melanie Buffa, ASLA – President-Elect, SoCal ASLA
Melanie is a landscape designer with over 10 years of professional landscape construction documentation and project administration, leading the implementation of projects ranging from public, multi-family housing, and residential throughout Southern California.
She brings a deep knowledge of all aspects of horticulture and ecology of the varied climates of California. Melanie has worked for large-scale landscape contractors and commercial nurseries collaborating with designers and builders on complex landscape installations. Melanie now serves as president-elect of the Southern California chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has led discussions about fire resiliency and regenerative design.
Stephanie Landregan, FASLA – Director, Landscape Architecture, UCLA Extension
Stephanie Landregan, FASLA, is the Director for the Landscape Architecture Program and the Horticulture & Gardening Program at UCLA Extension. Her studios focus on collaboration with government agencies to provide solutions via community-based design. Her areas of teaching include natural systems design, green infrastructure stormwater design, community facilitation, water conservation design and installation, and pollinator design.
Stephanie is one of the co-founders of Altadena Green, a fire response group working to save the private trees in Altadena. She is the Governor’s landscape architect appointee to the State Mining and Geology Board, presently serving for her third 4-year term (2022-2026). Stephanie is one of two So California Council ASLA Directors. She served on the City of Los Angeles Parks Advisory Board for Augustus Hawkins Nature Park. Stephanie’s past service includes as a Planning Commissioner (2009-17), Historic Preservation Commissioner (2006-2009), and Design Review Board member (1996-2004), for the City of Glendale, California. In 2000, 2006, and 2010 Landregan was appointed by three Speakers of the Assembly to serve on the State of California Landscape Architects Technical Committee (LATC) and served for 13 years. Stephanie was one of the founding board members of the Glendale Parks and Open Space Foundation (2010-2013) and has served on both national and international associations’ Executive Boards.
In 2014 Stephanie was chosen as one of the first 40 women as an LA Biz Woman of Influence. In 2012, Ms. Landregan was nominated by the City of Glendale and was selected for the Distinguished Leadership Award, Citizen Planner by the APA-Los Angeles area. Stephanie was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2010 for her service to the profession.
Ms. Landregan is a registered licensed landscape architect in the State of California, 4093, and a LEED Accredited Professional BD+C. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kentucky in 3-Dimensional Design and a Master of Science in Project Management from UW Platteville. She holds a Certificate in Landscape Architecture from the UCLA Extension Program. In May of 2021, Stephanie became a certified apprentice beekeeper with the California Master Beekeeper Program.
Elisa Read Pappaterra, ASLA – Founder, Studio Pappaterra
Elisa Read Pappaterra is an internationally recognized, award-winning landscape architect specializing in fire ecology and horticulture. Based in California, she is renowned for designing botanically rich, sustainable, and Firewise landscapes. Her expertise extends across the landscape, nursery, and botanical communities, where she is celebrated for her deep plant knowledge, appreciation for rare species, and commitment to environmentally sensitive design. Her holistic approach—summarized in her philosophy, “from soil to soul”—integrates ecological and cultural elements to create meaningful landscapes.
As the founder and principal of studio pappaterra, Elisa has built a practice dedicated to enhancing the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) through education and innovative design. She collaborates with botanists, arborists, and fire mitigation specialists to develop resilient, ecologically sound landscapes that balance beauty with fire prevention and long-term sustainability.
Recent Work & Accomplishments:
Since 2020, Elisa has led research and design initiatives in Firewise landscaping. In partnership with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, she co-created DefensibleSpace.org, a platform advocating for sustainable, fire-adaptive practices in Southern California. As part of this initiative, she provides expert landscape consultations to homeowners in fire-prone California Counties, advancing public awareness and best practices for wildfire resilience.
Clark Stevens, NCARB – Director of Resource Design, Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCDSMM)
A practicing architect for 30 years, Clark Stevens (he/him), Architect, NCARB is a leader in conservation-based planning and design for ecologically and culturally critical landscapes in the American West, Tribal and Hawaiian lands, coastal California, Santa Monica Mountains and Upper Los Angeles River watershed. Clark served both as Executive Officer and Principal Architect of the RCDSMM for 15 years. Under his leadership, the RCDSMM’s capacity, staffing, and budget grew exponentially, culminating with LA County LAFCo’s approval of the expansion of its Sphere of Influence to include the entire Rim of The Valley region.
With the hiring of our District Manager in 2024, Clark now focuses full-time on leading the unique integrated resource design program and projects for which the RCDSMM has become known. His work includes regional habitat connectivity planning, the design of interpretive ‘learning landscapes’, the creation of new topographies and bathymetries in coastal and riparian landscapes, and the design of wildlife passage strategies and architecture.
Moderated by:
Greg Kochanowski, AIA, ASLA – Design Principal, Practice & Founder, The Wild: A Research Lab
Greg is a licensed architect, landscape designer, and educator in California with over 26 years of experience. His work weaves together architecture, landscape, and urbanism to create sustainable, equitable, and innovative environments that honor and enhance the unique qualities of place. Building on this foundation, Greg’s research emphasizes holistic design processes that foster resilience and harmony between natural systems, culture, infrastructure, and development, addressing the complex challenges posed by climate change.
Greg’s work has been featured in venues such as the Venice and Rotterdam Biennales and has received recognition, including the Architectural League of New York’s Young Architects Forum Award and honors from the AIALA, AIAPF, ASLA, and AIACA. He has presented at ASLA and AIA National Conventions, sharing insights on Southern California’s Wildland-Urban Interface and its recurring fire, flood, and debris flow cycles, exploring broader climate impacts across the Western U.S. and globally.
He is the author of The Wild and the upcoming Wildlands in the Expanded Field: Designing in the Pyrocene (Routledge Press, 2026). In connection with issues of wildfire and climate, Greg’s research also delves into affordable housing strategies aimed at addressing pressing social and environmental challenges. This includes innovative ownership models and housing solutions for vulnerable populations, emphasizing equitable, resilient, and sustainable communities.
As Partner and Director of Design at Practice in Pasadena, CA, and Founder of The Wild: A Research Lab, a nonprofit addressing urban climate issues, he advances design research and advocacy by bridging innovative practice with critical research. He currently serves on the Board of Community Design Group and previously served as Co-President of the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design.
Mohamed Sharif, AIA, RIBA – Partner, Sharif, Lynch: Architecture & Director, Undergraduate Program in Architectural Studies and Graduate Program Design Faculty, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design
Mohamed Sharif is an Associate Adjunct Professor at UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Design, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses and directs the undergraduate program. Recently, he worked with Professor Hitoshi Abe on a multi-year design research platform focused on resilience and regenerative urbanism.
His practice, Sharif, Lynch: Architecture, with Todd Lynch, has completed several award-winning projects in Los Angeles.
Sharif’s work has been published in journals and periodicals, including 306090, a+u, arq, Constructs, JAE, the Getty Center, Log, and POOL. He served on the arq editorial board (Cambridge University Press, 2006–2016) and was President of the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design (2007–2009), later joining its Advisory Board (2010–2016).
RESOURCE LINKS:
AIACA Hardening for Wildfire Resilience
AIA California published an article discussing the impacts of wildfires in California and the importance of hardening both the site and structure to limit destruction. The piece emphasizes that wildfires create significant financial burdens and highlights strategies to enhance resilience.
https://aiacalifornia.org/news/hardening-for-wildfire-resilience/
Continuing Education: Wildfire-Adapted Design
An article in Architectural Record discusses the importance of hardening homes against fire in tandem with other measures, most critically, defensible space. It emphasizes that while hardening homes is essential, it must be complemented by other strategies to effectively mitigate wildfire risks.
Sustainable Defensible Space
Created by the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, along with a diverse steering committee of experts, this project focuses on offering solutions to improve resilience and resource conservation values, and resistance of structures to wildfire loss for developed properties in the SMMNRA by improving management by homeowners of their defensible space zone. The site has an additional “Resources” tab for more detailed information and links to associated agencies.
Rockwool/RDH Technical Bulletin: https://www.rockwool.com/syssiteassets/o2-rockwool/documentation/technical-bulletins/residential/rockwool—building-with-stone-wool-in-wildfire-prone-areas.pdf?f=20250311140839
SFPE WUI Handbook: https://www.sfpe.org/wuihandbook/home
NFPA Wildfire Resources: https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire
2022 CBC – Chapter 7A – https://up.codes/viewer/california/ca-building-code-2022/chapter/7A/sfm-materials-and-construction-methods-for-exterior-wildfire-exposure#7A
Calfire WUI Listed Products – https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/fire-engineering-and-investigations/building-materials-listing
IBHS Wildfire Research – https://ibhs.org/risk-research/wildfire/
