Her father, Joseph Alembik, emigrated from Poland in 1923, and her mother, Sonia Grosman, emigrated from Bälti, Bessarabia in 1931. Alongside designing landscape projects, Kliass was also a consultant for several governmental institutions, including the Department of Economics and Planning in São Paulo, the Department of Water and Electrical Energy, the Municipality of São José dos Campos in São Paulo State, and the Metropolitan Agency for Housing in São Paulo. She also served as Director of Planning for the Department of Planning in São Paulo City (SEMPLA), and was a member for the Administration Council ofCETESB (Environmental Sanitation and Technology Company). In 1976, Kliass founded the Brazilian Association of Landscape Architects (ABAP) and served as its president for five non-consecutive years throughout 1980-2000. She was also closely tied to the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and coordinated the 16th IFLA World Congress held in Salvador, Bahia. Kliass taught landscape architec- ture and urban design at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of Mackenzie University in São Paulo from 1974-1977. She also taught at the School of Architecture and Urbanism at the Catholic University of Parana, where she coordinated the land- scape architecture program from 1980-1982. On September 13, 2019, Kliass was the first woman to receive the Colar de O u r of the Institute ofArchitects of Brazil.