Turkish landscape architecture association honors Artunç
Sadik Artunç
A Mississippi State faculty member will be honored at an international meeting of landscape architects next week.
Sadik Artunç, a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, will be honored next month by the Chamber of Turkish Landscape Architects at its 15th National Landscape Architecture Awards. He will accept the “Onur Ödülü,” or honorary award, at the joint meeting of the chamber and the 60th International Federation of Landscape Architecture (IFLA) World Congress, to be held Sept. 4-6 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Secretary-General of the Chamber of Turkish Landscape Architects Nihan Yegin Yarayan said, “Sadik Artunç has made exceptional contributions to the field of landscape architecture, and we believe his expertise and dedication to our profession deserve this distinguished accolade.”
A native of Turkey, Artunç attended the University of Istanbul, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in forestry and master’s in forest engineering. He attended the University of Michigan for his Master of Landscape Architecture, and although he had planned to return home to teach, Turkish universities were lacking landscape architecture programs in the late 1970s.
Artunç began teaching in 1981 at Louisiana State University’s School of Landscape Architecture, where he remained until joining MSU’s Department of Landscape Architecture in 2007. He has maintained professional ties with the Chamber of Turkish Landscape Architects, delivering scholarly lectures when he visits the country. At the upcoming meeting, he and Turkish colleagues will present their research on lessons learned from COVID-era usage of outdoor spaces and the importance of managing these spaces.
“This award is personally gratifying, and I thank the Turkish Chamber for recognizing my work over the years, both in Turkey and in the U.S., and for highlighting the global importance of our profession,” Artunç said. “I’m grateful for the invitation to the meeting and look forward to speaking there.”
Artunç’s nearly five-decade career is grounded in classroom instruction and international professional experience. His consulting work focuses on large-scale planning and design, mostly in recreational and tourism spaces. He has worked on projects in the U.S., Guatemala, Nicaragua and Turkey and has traveled as a visiting lecturer and scholar to academic institutions in the U.S., Canada Germany, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Switzerland and Turkey. In 2005, he joined IFLA and was appointed to a committee charged with establishing landscape architecture programs at African universities.
“Landscape architecture is important for the planet,” he said. “I’ve seen projects that promote sustainability and better living, but I’ve seen others that damage ecosystems and do not benefit the communities in which they were built. I’m passionate about teaching and inspiring my students, the next generation of professionals, to make a positive impact on development at home and abroad.”
For more information on MSU’s Landscape Architecture program, visit www.lalc.msstate.edu. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences can be found at www.cals.msstate.edu.
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Meg Henderson | Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing
