Thomas Woltz, senior principal and owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, will present the firm’s new monograph, The Land Is Full: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, exploring how landscape design reveals ecological and cultural histories. He will highlight twelve major projects that engage sensitive sites, such as burial grounds, Indigenous lands, and threatened natural habitats. Notable projects include a reclaimed burial ground near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Memorial Park in Houston, and the Aga Khan Garden in Alberta. Woltz will discuss how these designs create meaningful public spaces and preserve lost histories. Following the talk, Woltz will join Thaïsa Way, director of Garden & Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, for a conversation on the significance of cultural landscapes and the importance of uncovering erased histories.

Program Schedule

Doors open at 6 pm
Program starts at 6:30 pm
Thomas Woltz will be available for book signing from 7:30 to 8 pm
Reception from 7:30 to 8:30 pm

This program has applied for 1 HSW LU (LA CES).

About Thomas L. Woltz

Thomas Woltz leads his firm in the artful creation and revitalization of public landscapes. He led the expansion of NBW to include scientists and historians as integral contributors to the design of projects ranging from restoration ecology in large urban parks to post-industrial sites and educational campuses. Thomas was educated at the University of Virginia and holds master’s degrees in landscape architecture and architecture as well as an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the State University of New York, Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. In 2011, Thomas was invested into the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows and was named the Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal Magazine. He was also recognized as one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company and with the Land for People Award by the Trust for Public Land.

About Thaïsa Way

Thaïsa Way PhD, FASLA, FAAR, RAAR, is the Director for Garden & Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, a Harvard University research institution located in Washington DC. She is the PI for a Mellon Humanities in Place Initiative, “Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference.” She is a Visiting Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and is Professor Emerita in Landscape Architecture in the College of Built Environments, University of Washington. Dr. Way was awarded the Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture at the American Academy in 2016 and served as the Mercedes Bass Scholar at the AAR in 2023. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and serves on the CEO Roundtable, the Society of Architectural Historians Board of Directors, and the leader of the Built Environment Dean’s Advancing Change initiative. Dr. Way’s scholarship seeks to challenge the canon of landscape architecture to engage with the inscriptions of race, gender, and class on the profession, practice, and pedagogy of the field.

This program is supported by the Darwina L. Neal Cultural Landscape Fund for adult programs focusing on cultural landscapes. Additional support provided by The American Institute of Architects, The American Society of Landscape Architects, STUDIOS Architecture, and Arup.

Image courtesy Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, photo by Nick Hubbard.