We are a collaborative landscape architecture and urban design practice that shapes beloved places that are socially vibrant and ecologically restorative. Every scale is essential. From 100-mile river corridors to rooftop microplazas, our work combines design excellence and a deep knowledge of ecology to regenerate, connect, and transform the built environment.
We are biased toward action, implementation, and learning by doing. To meet the climate crisis, society must simultaneously shift to a renewable economy and adapt our landscapes for the change to come. SCAPE partners with cities, non-profits, and developers to physically transform our world to meet the moment. We center biodiversity and love for the natural world as a climate solution in all of our work.
We see ourselves as co-designing alongside the plants, animals, and of course, people that we share space with on the planet. Our participatory process is equal parts design strategy and community conversation. We start by researching a site’s social, ecological, physical, and historical context, weaving this information into visual stories that invite people into a design conversation. We convene neighbors, governments, disciplines, asking questions and sharing ideas. Motivated by equity and social justice, we translate this analysis into actionable landscape plans. We want everyone to be involved, to inspire more people to steward the incredible environments that sustain us.
For two decades, SCAPE has pioneered an immersive vision of living within nature and helping cities thrive in the gradient between land and water. Kate Orff founded our firm in 2005 with the radical belief that nature can heal itself if we help it. We’ve grown into a team of over 80 landscape architects, urban planners, and fierce ecological advocates headquartered in New York with offices in New Orleans and San Francisco. Today, the firm is led by five partners: Kate Orff, Gena Wirth, John Donnelly, Alexis Landes, and Pippa Brashear. In 2017, Kate became the first landscape architect to receive the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. SCAPE has been honored with several of the highest awards in the design field, including the 2023 Obel Award, the 2019 National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and many others.
