Women-Led Design

In a profession traditionally dominated by men, women are bringing bold, new ideas to life. As leaders in major firms and founders of their own businesses, women are using their platforms to elevate one another and to create memorable places. Here, we feature some leading practitioners and firm founders, with an emphasis on their exceptional contributions to the profession and the world.

Case Study Brief

The Lurie Garden at Millennium Park
Chicago, Illinois
“Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) was founded in 1999 by Jennifer Guthrie, FASLA, Shannon Nichol, FASLA, and Kathryn Gustafson, FASLA. The partners were the recipients of the Smithsonian’s 2011 National Design Award for Landscape Architecture, and their work has received numerous national and regional Honor Awards from ASLA and AIA. GGN has worked on prominent projects like the National Museum of African American History, CityCenterDC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Campus, and Lurie Garden, which is a renowned, highly visible Chicago landmark that offers 3 acres of natural respite from urban life. ”
Case Study Brief

Vista Hermosa
Los Angeles, California
“Mia Lehrer, FASLA, is an award-winning Salvadorian-born landscape architect and the founding principal of Mia Lehrer + Associates, now Studio-MLA. She is internationally recognized for her progressive landscape designs, working with such natural landmarks as parkland, lakes, and rivers, coupled with her advocacy for ecology and people-friendly public space. The firm has worked on an array of ambitious public and private projects, including Vista Hermosa Park, the first public park built in downtown Los Angeles in 100 years. ”
Case Study Brief

HTO Park
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“Janet Rosenberg, FASLA, founded top Canadian landscape architecture firm Rosenberg & Studio in 1983. She has been involved in the design and implementation of public and private realm landscapes throughout Ontario and across Canada that seek to create treasured, ecologically-responsible landscapes that respond to the demands of the urban environment, and engage, excite, and enhance the quality of life for those who inhabit them. HtO park represents a significant anchor park for the revitalization of downtown Toronto's formerly industrial waterfront. ”
Case Study Brief

Chicago Botanic Garden Lake Shoreline Enhancements
Glencoe, Illinois
“Heidi Natura, ASLA, founded Living Habitats in 1990 and has been actively involved in promoting the wise use of natural resources through her planning and design work. Living Habitats works to support projects that range from intimate residential sanctuaries to multi-year stewardship strategies that promote habitat connectivity and seek to create a positive impact on the natural environment at all scales. A major undertaking, the Chicago Botanic Garden Lake Shoreline Enhancements project recreated habitat along 5.7 miles of shoreline. ”
Case Study Brief

Buffalo Public School #305 McKinley High School
Buffalo, New York
“Joy Kuebler, ASLA, founded Joy Kuebler Landscape Architect in 2003 to focus on the human experience in the landscape, working to improve the quality of life for people through the power of the environment surrounding them. She has a particular interest in designing unique spaces that shape her region and area neighborhoods and in engaging with the people for whom she designs. McKinley High School is an example of her commitment to creating sustainable, educational landscapes. ”
Case Study Brief

George "Doc" Cavalliere Park
Scottsdale, Arizona
“Kristina Floor, FASLA, founded Floor Associates in 1997 with a dedication to creating sustainable projects that respect the sensitive desert environment of most of the firm's projects, while collaborating with clients to reinvent the places they live, work, and play. Floor Associates' work is characterized by its pioneering leadership in sustainable arid-region landscape methodologies including expertise in over-structure and green roof designs. George 'Doc' Cavalliere Park represents an exceptional example of a public park in the desert, significantly reducing surface temperatures while providing high ecological function. ”
Case Study Brief

63rd Street Beach, Jackson Park
Chicago, Illinois
“Terry Guen, FASLA, founded Terry Guen Design Associates to bring ecology back to communities through high-profile technical landscape and urban design. Her firm is a nationally-recognized designer of urban ecological landscapes and public spaces for neighborhood, citywide, and regional-scale projects. The 63rd Beach project has restored the ecological integrity of a formerly degraded shoreline in Chicago, providing habitat for over 200 species of birds. ”
Case Study Brief

Dutch Kills Green
New York, New York
“Margie Ruddick, ASLA, founded Margie Ruddick Landscape to blend ecology with with city planning in gardens, parks, and waterfronts. Winner of the 2013 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in landscape architecture, she has forged a design language that integrates ecology and culture. Dutch Kills Green promotes a new idea of nature in the city, where storm water, wind, sun, and habitat merge within an urban infrastructure to create a more sustainable vision of urban life. ”
Case Study Brief

Belo Center for New Media
Austin, Texas
“Christine Ten Eyck, FASLA, founded Ten Eyck Landscape Architects in 1997 and was an early adopter of water-harvesting landscapes in the American west. Ten Eyck Landscape Architects leads design innovation in the region and illustrates the capacity for place-based landscape architecture to address pressing global issues such climate change impacts like drought along with aging infrastructure. The Belo Center for New Media incorporates many of the firm's signature features like innovative water systems and a unique palette of native plants. ”
Case Study Brief

Cavallo Point
Sausalito, California
“Cheryl Barton, FASLA, founded the Office of Cheryl Barton in 1994 and has developed a national reputation for the seamless integration of design intelligence and environmental intelligence in her work. Her firm's best-known work includes landscapes at the Stanford Law School, the Gap Headquarters and San Francisco, the Rosie the Riveter Memorial, and Cavallo Point, a 'post-to-park' renovation of Fort Baker in Marin County, California. ”