60+ countries, hundreds of projects, one amazing career

Kona Gray, FASLA, PLA, rarely needs an introduction. Current president of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and a principal at EDSA, he has built an incredible 39-year career. SYNKD recently chatted with Gray about his background, inspirations, and projects. Read the article below, edited for clarity and length, and listen to the full podcast at https://youtu.be/Y2n4oFYvgKQ.

The beginning is a good place to start. You grew up in Liberia, which is intriguing. Can you tell us about your childhood?

I feel very lucky to have had the experience of growing up in Liberia. I was born in the states. My parents immigrated to the US in the 1960s for university and both my sister and I were born in Cambridge, MA. We went to Seattle for my parents’ graduate studies, then we moved back to Liberia. That was an amazing experience. So from the early ’70s to around 1980, I spent in Africa. It was some of the most impactful years of my life in terms of aligning me with what I do now, what I love, being in the environment, and designing for people.

Your dad is an architect and you first majored in fine art, then architecture, and eventually landed on landscape architecture (LA). How did that kind of come to be and what clicked with LA?

Yeah, it certainly wasn’t a straight shot for me. I think that is true of many people. You find your passion as life evolves and unfolds.

My dad is actually 85 years old, still an architect, still practicing in Liberia. He is definitely someone I admire tremendously for his grit and tenacity. One big inspiration for me in the world of art and creativity is Sidney Poitier. And Sidney Poitier and my father have a lot in common. Just that ‘nothing will stop me’ kind of drive—but with the care for doing it the right way.

My dad didn’t encourage me to be an architect. He encouraged me to focus on what makes me happy, what I love, and to certainly always do the right thing. I grew up in a strong religious family with a lot of focus on the golden rule and just being a good person.

I started drawing at an early age because my dad would bring home his work. It’s an architecture thing, they just don’t know when to stop designing! And so at our kitchen table, he would be drawing, I would be drawing, and I would show him my drawings to get his input. It was really a great relationship to design from the get-go.

I went to Boston Architectural College (BAC) and that was very rigorous. You are required to work during the day to attain practical hours, then all your classes and studios are in the evenings.

In my studio courses, there was a focus on the object of a building. But I kept adding stuff to my renderings like people, cars. And my professor, I remember this vividly, was like, ‘I want to see your architecture.’ And I was like, ‘No, that’s not real! It doesn’t exist like that.’ So I’m sure I frustrated the youknow-what out of him. But there was that little lightbulb that popped for me.

Because it was going to take me so long to finish BAC, I worked my way back to Georgia and thought I’d go to Georgia Tech, but their architecture courses didn’t align with my timing. Then I was with a friend from the University of Georgia, just hanging out, and she says, ‘Well, Georgia has a program called landscape architecture. Maybe you would consider that?’ I was like, ‘What the hell is that?’ No idea.

Then I sat down with the program chair. He looked at me, started checking boxes and says, ‘I’ll have you in and out of here in a year and a half.’ I was like, ‘sold!’ Still to this day, I’m so grateful. Things happen for a reason, little by little. And I give a lot of credit to my friend. Over those early years, I learned how to go with the universe, ride the waves, just let life take you where you should go.

Speaking of where to go, you’ve been to 30+ countries. Is there a culture/country you feel is pushing the boundaries of LA?

Yeah, there are so many. I’m fortunate to be a part of a global design company. Sometimes I pinch myself because I’m on a plane going somewhere to design with clients and communities in far places. I’ve been really mesmerized by our planet and how wonderful it is. All over the world are these unique landscapes and we’ve worked in pretty much every part of it.

Yet there are two places I have not been to, but I’ve researched, studied, and am intrigued with them—Japan and Singapore. I’ve actually traveled to 60+ countries, but I haven’t been to those two. And I really want to go.

In Singapore, there’s a major emphasis on the functionality of the landscape in terms of what it does to support a very small diamond-shaped island. They have limited land and so having areas available for the environment to do what it needs to do essentially keeps them safe. It makes their lives better. There’s not a lot of traffic or smog. It’s just beautiful from what I’ve researched. That’s why I’m inspired by Singapore. The Japanese have also revered the landscape for centuries. Eighty percent of the country is covered by forest. It just shows you their attention to care, understanding, and respect for the environment. And that just aligns with my spirit.

It’s ingrained in their culture. I feel like in the U.S., it’s almost an effort to get people to recognize the value of the environment.

I know. I don’t get it. The indigenous people of this country understood it. If you go and do a little bit of research, you’ll see it’s ingrained in multiple cultures. They only utilized what they needed. Through our industrial revolution and our technological revolution, we’ve gotten so far away from that. What we really need is an environmental revolution.

This, I believe, will reset the world. But most importantly, reset the U.S. because we have this wealth of land. There’s so much land here that it’s misunderstood and underappreciated. And it’s just … it’s sad. When I look at tiny countries with just a little bit of land, they get it. They care for it because they don’t have a lot. But they treat it like it’s a lot.

In your own projects, are there one or two that stand out for a particular reason?

Yeah, there’s one that was earlier in my career. My mentor and our partner in charge at the time, Joe Lalli, and I really worked closely on this project with another colleague, Hitesh Mehta, who is amazing. We were just so fortunate to work on this eco-destination in China. It’s located in the bamboo forest. The project is called Crosswaters. It’s an award-winning project.

You know when the stars align and you have that client that just gets it? We experienced that. We actually had a Feng Shui master on this project because we wanted to make sure it was spiritually centered. It was so cool. I’m in this design studio, everybody really pulling together. I’ve always been intrigued by projects that not only solve a business approach for a client, but give back to the community. The Crosswaters is open to the public. It’s a botanical garden. And the reason it’s called Crosswaters is when you arrive, you lose your car and you cross a bamboo bridge. It’s basically a spiritual retreat and there’s limited units. They’re all tucked in the bamboo forest. You can’t tell where the architecture stops and the landscape begins and vice versa. It’s all interwoven together. It’s definitely one of my favorites. It’s fantastic.

The other one that inspires me was a ‘making-a-difference’ project we did here in north Miami. It was an abandoned site in an underserved community. The site had been in the ownership of Miami-Dade County Parks for 50 years and was supposed to be a park, but it was a junkyard. The county had it in their surplus and it just sat there. So the stars aligned again and through a close friend, a contractor named Tom Miller, and a local TV station, we came together and donated services to transform this property for the community.

What did the space incorporate? Was it gardens or playground, a combo of both?

We went through a very intriguing process, but a process rooted in LA, where we worked with the community to bring their visions, their ideas, to life. It took a lot of trust-building because they were very skeptical. No one had paid attention to them for decades. But through the process of design, we got to know them. We listened to the community, took their input. They were like, ‘You’re going to pull some playground out of your catalog and drop it here.’ We were like ‘no, that’s not how we do it.’

Once we got to a point of trust and care for each other, the process moved very smoothly. It was really fantastic. I always tell the story of a young girl that was part of the design workshop. I asked her, ‘What would you like to see?’ She answers, ‘I really want an orange slide.’ I said, ‘orange slide? Ok, can I ask why?’ And she says, ‘The Miami Dolphins are my favorite sports teams and they are orange, and I love orange.’ So she got her orange slide.

Everything was donated, the materials, time, everything. I called upon colleagues who were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll do this.’ They rolled up their sleeves and pulled it together. Cutting that ribbon and seeing the entire community come together was … I mean, I had tears, tears of joy.

It was multi-generational and the design was inspired by a flower. One portion was dedicated to the roots, the kids. We had areas for children to experience nature play and formal play. The next section was the stem, the parents. In that area we had walking paths and fitness equipment. The last section was the bloom, the elders. This had very contemplative seating areas, where wisdom is disseminated. It was such a great experience to draw this out together. That’s why I love doing what I do. It’s not an effort of work. It’s just a passion.

At SYNKD Live you mentioned working on another cultural project, the Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth, TX. Though it’s still in development stages, what can you share?

With this project, again, I pinch myself because in life you don’t always see these things happen. It’s like, my goodness, this is something we really want to do. Our involvement began with an invitation from the architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). They were looking for an LA with sensitivity. interested in going on a journey. For anyone aware of museum projects, or any projects where they have to raise money, they take time.

The matriarch of this project is Opal Lee. She’s responsible for bringing the movement together to establish Juneteenth as a holiday. She actually walked to Washington, D.C., with her team of supporters. She’s 98. She’s amazing. When Joe Biden signed it into law (2021), it’s unbelievable considering the history. It’s very monumental.

We began the concept stage and drew inspiration from the Juneteenth Star. It has a lot of meaning. We also worked off the architects who took the Juneteenth Star and wove it with the traditional shotgun shack architecture vernacular. So we took the star and paired it with the landscape. One major element of the Texas landscape is the bluebonnet. We brought those two together and that was the inspiration that really drove the project. Rooting the star with the place and identifying that expression through everything.

We saved the existing trees on-site because we wanted an instant landscape and trees are very significant. They have a lot of meaning in terms of life. One of the big ideas we brought forward is a series of gardens/ plazas around the building. My favorite is the ‘promised land plaza.’ It’s the main place where everyone gathers and has a lot of significance in African American culture.

We’ve gone through concept refinement and schematic design. We’re about to enter design development. And all along our client is raising money. It takes time to make these things happen. We’re just very thankful we have this opportunity to collaborate and be a part of such a transformative project. Maybe there’s a major benefactor out there inspired to make it happen. We’d love that!

As we discuss the Juneteenth Museum, DEI initiatives are taking fire. As an advocate for attracting more minorities to LA, do you have any comments on the current state of affairs?

Sure, I definitely do. I think we shouldn’t take anything for granted in life. I think that’s first and foremost. I think we are all fortunate to be here. I think what’s important is that we consider the contributions that anyone can make, right? We’re all God’s children. Everyone has something to contribute no matter what your situation is.

When you look at DEI and the reasons why it has become such a lexicon in our culture is that it’s one of the first times people have acknowledged the importance of everyone—not just one group—everyone. From my perspective, that’s why it has bubbled up. If the genie’s out of the bottle, you can’t stuff it back in. We have a lot of wishes we will receive, because people deserve it. People deserve to be treated fairly. That’s what equity means. It’s so simple. I don’t know why it’s been twisted. I know there’s a lot of concern that ‘I’m not going to advance because you’re doing this or you’re doing that,’ but there’s abundance for everyone.

I’ve never wanted to be treated differently because of who I am, my skin color, the color of my eyes, my dreads. I’ve always wanted to be considered a human. That levels the playing field. We’re all humans. And so when we consider that, we all should be equal. There’s a flag I have in my house that says ‘humankind, be both.’

As president of ASLA, what do you see as the organization’s role when environmental initiatives, a major focus of LA, are also under fire? How do you see this trend affecting the industry?

Yeah, it’s a crazy time, but it’s not new. I hope people know that. This stuff was going on in the ’60s and early ’70s. Then there was a major movement toward the environment because it benefited people. That’s what we all need to understand. If you just step back, think about it, and understand what we all need, it gets really easy.

So our mission is very solid at ASLA. It’s focused on designing a sustainable and equitable world through LA, full stop. Very, very simple. And we put a lot of emphasis on doing the right thing. And that’s what I love. I love to know people care and want to do the best they can through LA.

We have amazing members, non-members, and community that all are going in the same direction. I tell people this is another blip in time. Don’t stop what you’re doing, right? I think our role as ASLA is to really push forward, to hold strong to our values. If something’s really egregious, speak up. If it’s kind of wonky, let it be wonky because it may be a distraction. And just keep going. Doing what we do. Don’t change who you are just because one group has decided they want to try something different. Yeah, it’s all right. It shouldn’t affect who you are.

One of the major things we want is for everyone to become more aware of LA and the green industry. We’re going to keep pushing it forward.

For More Info

Kona Gray Principal at EDSA www.edsaplan.com