New York, New York (June 25, 2025) – The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced its 2025 Fellows, and the ASLA New York Chapter is proud to celebrate the national recognition of several of its distinguished members. Fellowship in ASLA is one of the highest honors the Society bestows, recognizing individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the profession and society through their body of work, leadership, knowledge, and service. The designation of Fellow is a testament to sustained excellence and impact over the course of a career.

This year, four ASLA-NY members have been elevated to the Council of Fellows:

ASLA-NY congratulates these outstanding professionals for their achievements and their continued dedication to advancing the field of landscape architecture.

The full list of Fellows can be found at asla.org. ASLA Fellows will be elevated during a special investiture ceremony at the 2025 Conference on Landscape Architecture in October. This year’s dedicated ASLA-NY nominations committee are: Taewook Cha, FASLA, (co-chair), Jennifer Nitzky, FASLA, (co-chair), Annie Phaosawasdi, ASLA, Nancy Prince, FASLA, David Russo, ASLA, Nicholas Pettinati, ASLA, Susannah Drake, FASLA, and Amy Verel, ASLA.

Meet the New York Chapter ASLA Fellow-elect Members:

Field Operations, New York City, NY

Nomination in Works by the New York Chapter

Lisa Switkin has spent over two decades masterfully shaping transformative public spaces that elevate both the field of landscape architecture and the human experience, primarily through her leadership on high-profile, complex urban projects. Recognized for her collaborative leadership style and creative approach to public engagement, her work weaves together community needs, environmental stewardship, and design excellence into spaces that become integral parts of the urban fabric. Her projects transform cities, creating vibrant social anchors that are highly site-specific and deeply rooted in place, history, and community, and inspire similar innovations worldwide. A partner at Field Operations, she also served as president of the Landscape Architecture Foundation and was a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Since 2004 Lisa has guided the design of the much-lauded High Line, the now iconic 1.5-mile elevated railway that was reclaimed as a world renown public space on Manhattan’s West Side. The innovative design is characterized by an intimate choreography of movement, with alternating vistas and experiences, and distinctive paving, planting, furnishing, lighting, and social spaces. Her work on the Domino Sugar Factory site in Brooklyn was inspired by extensive community input, resulting in the five-acre Domino Park reconnecting Williamsburg to the East River for the first time in 160 years. Thirty large-scale salvaged relics are incorporated into the design, showcasing the industrial past. Planted with native species, the park acts as a natural buffer and absorbent sponge. In the heart of Santa Monica, the six-acre Tongva Park is one of the first large-scale contemporary urban projects to highlight California native plants, featuring over 300 new trees and thousands of native plants, and was a trailblazer in climate-appropriate water use in public spaces.

Terrain-NYC Landscape Architecture, New York City, NY

Nomination in Works by the New York Chapter

Steven Tupu’s work reflects his long dedication to environmental justice for underserved communities—from landscape architecture to basic human needs. He sees design as a public service and addresses inequalities suffered by minority communities through his collaborative approach to design. Growing up in a Pacific Island community, an understanding of responsibility beyond family was instilled at an early age and he was shown what can be accomplished as a collective. When Steven launched terrain-nyc in 2004 he prioritized the culture of the office and collaboration where every designer contributes to every project. St. Augustine Terrace in the Bronx was formerly the site of a Catholic church, whose demolition exposed large swaths of old rock formations, which became the organizing heart of the site. The rock face is planted in sporadic, lush pockets of native planting while other natural depressions in the rock’s surface are left to create temporary ponds. At the Bush Terminal Industrial Campus, the nation’s first vertical factory located in Industry City, Brooklyn, Steven led the design of Courtyard 5-6 and transformed the 60’ wide x 600’ long railway loading dock into a series of distinct landscape experiences. The heart of the courtyard is a woodland forest that frames a large flexible-use turf space which has become a vibrant neighborhood destination. Working at Morningside Gardens in New York, Steven’s investigative rigor revealed the need for more than a walkway renovation of the 1957 campus; it led to a comprehensive redesign of the stormwater system, the development of areas for new uses, and improved accessibility across the campus, reflecting the needs of the multigenerational residents.

Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, New York City, NY

Nomination in Leadership/Management by the New York Chapter

Stephen Whitehouse has dedicated his career to transforming New York City into a greener city. With his forward-thinking ideas and leadership, he has put landscape architecture at the center of resilience and infrastructure strategy. As Chief of Planning for NYC Parks, he was an agency policymaker and increased visibility and types of work for the landscape architecture profession through master plans and infrastructure programs such as the Green Streets program, the Citywide Greenway Plan and its implementation, requirements for waterfront design, and strategic park acquisitions—all contributing to making a greener, more interconnected, and more equitable city. His visionary planning of the waterfront park system expanded opportunities and created new park destinations. As co-founder of Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, Stephen has led studies that put landscape architecture at the center of resilience strategy and created award-winning spaces that model the forward-thinking policies he helped to develop early in his career. He established foundations for wastewater programs, green infrastructure, and post-disaster coastal resilience innovations at all scales. He has designed courtyards, roof gardens and other amenity space for projects creating over 4,000 new affordable apartments. After Hurricane Sandy, Starr Whitehouse was part of the winning team for the Rebuild By Design competition with the Big U project that protects ten continuous miles of low-lying geography in a dense, vibrant, and vulnerable urban area. Throughout

 his more than forty-year career, Stephen has proven to be a strong leader in the landscape architecture community and beyond. An award-winning leader, he aspires to assist others in finding creative and transformational solutions.

SCAPE Landscape Architecture, New York City, NY

Nomination in Works by the New York Chapter

Gena Wirth’s longstanding commitment to progressive design practice and exemplary idea-driven work has resulted in visionary projects in the public realm, connecting social equity, climate resilience, and ecosystem health. Her dedication to exposing hidden systems of geology, ecology, and hydrology in the urban fabric has made her a leader in large-scale resilience and climate adaptation projects that advance ecological, nature-based design. As Design Principal at SCAPE and through her nonprofit volunteer work, she leads innovative projects at the forefront of climate resilience, adaptation, and urban ecological design, that advance unique forms of landscape storytelling. Public Sediment for Alameda Creek is a watershed-scale climate adaptation vision that addresses sea-level rise, drowning bayland ecosystems, and sediment scarcity in the South Bay. Public Sediment reconnects migratory fish to their historic spawning grounds; introduces a floodable creek corridor; and builds regional stewardship around sediment resources. Gowanus Lowlands in Brooklyn is an award-winning community-based vision for a new public realm, a restored waterfront edge, and open space network centered around the Gowanus Canal and its watershed—a Superfund site currently being cleaned up. The Gowanus Lowlands addresses multiple issues including urban heat island, lack of tree canopy, sea-level rise, coastal flooding, stormwater management and a combined sewer system, and lack of connectivity to open spaces across the neighborhood. Living Breakwaters introduces a layered approach to risk reduction—enhancing physical, ecological, and social resilience along the South Shore of Staten Island. Developed by a large, multidisciplinary team led by SCAPE and widely considered a model for climate-adaptive nature-based infrastructure, the project consists primarily of 2,400 linear feet of near-shore breakwaters that reduce erosion and provide a range of habitat spaces for oysters, fin fish, and other marine species.

For more information contact:
American Society of Landscape Architects, New York
David Russo, Executive Director

About the American Society of Landscape Architects, New York Chapter:

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the national professional association for landscape architects. Founded in 1899, ASLA is the professional association for landscape architects in the United States, representing more than 15,000 members. Landscape architects lead the planning, design, and stewardship of healthy, equitable, safe, and resilient environments. The New York Chapter, founded in 1914, encompasses the five boroughs of New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties. The Society’s mission is to lead in the planning, design and care of both our natural and built environments. While keeping pace with the ever-changing forces of nature and technology, landscape architects increasingly have a profound impact on the way people live, work and play.

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