Anya Domlesky
Anya Domlesky
Chicago, IL
Embedded Files
Anya Domlesky is an urban designer and landscape architect, currently Director at XL Lab. She was formerly the Director of Research at SWA Group where she founded and ran XL Lab, the firmwide innovation lab undertaking practice-based research on three drivers of change in the built environment: climate change, emerging technologies, and processes of urbanization. Working across eight global offices, Anya was the principal investigator on projects exploring near future conditions in the built environment, performing analyses of design performance, experimenting with new technologies to create tools for design practitioners, and doing topical investigations addressing emerging complexities and unprecedented challenges. XL Lab is now an independent not-for-profit org and WBE. Prior research work was under PIs at The Canadian Centre for Architecture and the MIT Urban Risk Lab.
As a designer, Anya has focused on landscape-driven urban design and environmental planning, managing and collaborating on design and planning projects in California, NYC, China, Haiti, and Serbia while at SWA, the New York City Department of City Planning Waterfront and Open Space Division, and Hood Design. She has lectured internationally, consulted for large firms on practice innovation, and taught at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, UC Berkeley, and Boston Architectural College. She holds an MLA from Harvard University and an M.Arch II from McGill University.
Urbanization (building, unbuilding, reuse)
Other
The Rise of Practice-Based Research in Design
Dissemination
Dissemination
Practice-facing (printed)
Climate Infrastructure Toolkit (card deck, poster, checklist,app)
www.climateinfrastructuretoolkit.com (website)
Field Guide to Life in Urban Plazas (booklet)
Infrastructure Adaptation (case studies, Urban Land Institute)
Plaza Life Revisited (video)
Future Trees (web app)
Carbon Sequestration Analysis (key takeaways)
Middleweights (annual lists)
Landscape Architecture Foundation. Landscape Performance Series. Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park Phase I (Case Study)
SWA Project on the City: Miami (booklet)
"Report on the Current State of Immersive Environments for Design"
Planning Magazine. “Using Your Illusion”
urbansensoriumexhibition.com (website)
Post-occupancy Assessment 2015 (booklet)
Academic and Public-facing (printed)
Author. Infrastructure Adaptation (forthcoming book published by ORO/AR+D)
Author. “Alias Greenway: What’s in a Name?” Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning proceedings.
Author, “Enabling a Future-Focused Practice in an Uncertain Age.” TAD (Technology Architecture Design) Journal. (ACSA) Climate Issue (Journal article.)
Author. “Learning from Disaster: What Two Hurricanes Reveal About Ways to Design Public Space as Flood Infrastructure.” Journal of Climate Resilience and Climate Justice 1:66-77 (Journal article.)
Author. “Hybrids: Design for a Different Future.” The Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture (journal article)
Author. “Infrastructure Corridors: Leveraging Linear Systems for Public Life.” AIA/ACSA Intersections Research Conference: Communities- Conference Proceedings.
“Plaza Life Revisited.” Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Shenzhen (UABB). chief curator: Carlo Ratti, MIT and Carlo Ratti Associati. (Exhibition)
“Plaza Life Revisited.” Municipal Art Society (MAS) Summit Innovation Exhibition. (Exhibition)
“Urban Sensorium: 5 Cities, 5 Senses, 5 Maps.” Urban Space Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada DesignTO Festival(Exhibition)
“Urban Sensorium: 5 Cities, 5 Senses, 5 Maps” SPUR Urban Center, San Francisco, CA (Exhibition)
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)/ Landscape Architecture workshop on Engineering with Nature (EWN). Speaker. Proceedings.
Practice-facing (oral)
various webinars at SWA
High Line Network Symposium. “Ask the Expert: Impact Metrics” Panelist
City Parks Alliance Greater Greener Conference. “Climate Infrastructure Toolkit” City Parks Research Lab presenter.
Urban Land Institute (ULI) Spring Meeting. “Infrastructure Adaptation: Open Space for Multi-benefit Public Use.” Moderator
ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture. “A Future of Computational Collaborators: Machine Learning and AI in Landscape Architecture”; and “Realizing Climate Action Ambitions: Pathways to Decarbonization” Speaker
American Planning Association (APA) National Planning Conference. “Where We Will Grow: The Vanguard of American Urbanism.” Speaker.
Greater Greener Conference. City Parks Alliance. “Opportunity Time: Windows for Funding Public Space Creation.” City Parks Lab presenter.
AIA/ACSA Intersections Research Conference: Communities. “Infrastructure Corridors: Leveraging Linear Systems for Public Life.” Speaker
ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture. “Hot Hot Heat: Practice-based Research on Urban Heat and Shade.” Speaker.
ASLA-APA-AIA New York PlanScapeArch Conference “Technology Panel.” Panelist.
International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Annual Meeting “Learning from Disaster: What Two Hurricanes Reveal About Designing Public Space as Flood Infrastructure.” Speaker.
New York City Department of City Planning, Urban Design Group. “Plaza Life Revisited." Speaker.
ASLA Annual Meeting, “Testing Ground: Leveraging Emerging Technologies in Landscape Practice.” Speaker.
SXSW Cities Summit “Urban Sensorium: Sights, Smells, and Sounds of the Future City.” Speaker
Academic and Public-facing (oral)
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Annual Meeting “Infrastructure, America’s De Facto Urban Design” Speaker.
Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) annual conference. “Public Life in the Urban Night.” Speaker
Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Annual Meeting. “Innovations in the Built Environment: Aligning Efforts Between Academia and Industry.” Panelist
Digital Landscape Architecture Conference. “Hybrids: Designing for a Different Future.” Keynote speaker.
Instruments of Change Symposium. University of Pennsylvania McHarg Center. Session 3: Experimental Landscapes (Monitoring Change). Co-moderator
Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) 50 Conference: “Evaluating the Success of Public Space as Flood Infrastructure: An Analysis of Resilience in Two Parks Post-Hurricane.” Speaker.
Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Annual Meeting. “Designed to Flood: Evaluating the Resilience of Waterfront Parks.” Panelist.
Impact
Impact
Practice-Based Research
Landscape Architecture Foundation webinar
Co-author. “Practice-Based Research Now: Purpose, Approach, and a Proposition.” Landscape Journal vol 43; no 2 (Journal article.)
Author, “Enabling a Future-Focused Practice in an Uncertain Age.” TAD (Technology Architecture Design) Journal. (ACSA) Climate Issue (Journal article.)
ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture. “Trickle-Up Research: Inquiry and Curiosity in Design Practice” Speaker
ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture. “Landscape Research Now: How Nine Firms Inform Their Practices.” Speaker
Author. “Adapting practice for the future of landscape-driven urban design.” Designing Landscape Architectural Education: Studio Ecologies for Unpredictable Futures. Eds. Rosalea Monacella and Bridget Keane. Routledge. (Chapter)
Professional Practice 101: A Compendium of Effective Business Strategies in Architecture. Third Edition. Andrew Pressman, ed. Martin Zogran, author. Chapter 3 section. “The Role of Research in Practice: Building a Knowledge-Based Approach to Design.” Routledge. (coverage)
International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Annual Meeting “The Rise of Practice-based Research in Design: Entities, Models, and Coalitions in the AEC Industry.” (Poster)
Author. Landscape Architecture Frontiers “Incubating Innovation in Practice: Research Models from Architecture, Engineering, and Landscape Architecture.” Issue 35, Volume 6. (Journal article.)
ASLA Annual Meeting “Incubating Innovation in Practice: Models from Architecture, Engineering, and Landscape Architecture.” Speaker
Teaching and Mentoring
Baumer Lecturer, Ohio State University Knowlton School of Architecture.
Distinguished Myles H. Thaler lecturer, University of Virginia School of Architecture.
Public Lecturer, Auburn University College of Architecture, Design, and Construction.
Guest Lecturer, UMass Amherst.
Guest Lecturer, University of Southern California (USC)
Guest Lecturer, Columbia University GSAPP. Department of Urban Design.
Guest Lecturer, NC State College of Design.
Guest Lecturer, University of Florida School of Architecture, Department of Architecture.
Guest Lecturer, University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability.
Guest Lecturer, Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Department of Landscape Architecture.
Guest Lecturer, Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Panelist, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.
Panelist, University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design.
Public Lecturer, NC State College of Design.
Guest Critic, University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design.
Guest Lecturer, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, NYC.
Public Lecturer, Utah State University. College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences.
Guest lecturer, University of Toronto John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.
Panelist (public), University of Pennsylvania, Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Department of Landscape Architecture.
Guest critic, University of Toronto, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.
Guest critic, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Department of Landscape Architecture.
Guest critic, Ohio State University, Knowlton School of Architecture.
Guest lecturer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Fine and Applied Arts. Department of Landscape Architecture.
Guest lecturer, University of California Polytechnic, Pomona. Department of Landscape Architecture.
Guest lecturer, Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Department of Landscape Architecture.
Guest lecturer, University of California Berkeley. Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation.
Guest critic, California College of the Arts (CCA)
Guest lecturer (public) and critic, UC Berkeley Urban Design
Guest lecturer, Virginia Tech. Urban Affairs and Planning Dept.
Guest lecturer, UC Berkeley Extension School.
Guest lecturer and critic, UC Berkeley. Landscape Architecture
Guest critic, UC Davis.
Guest lecturer, University of Southern California (USC). School of Architecture
Studio Instructor, Harvard GSD Career Discovery
Guest critic, Harvard GSD undergrad architecture
Teaching Assistant, Harvard College
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Harvard GSD
Guest Critic, McGill University of Architecture
Media Coverage
LA Times
Metropolis Magazine. “The Landscape Architecture-AI Buffer Zone.” Zach Mortice.
Landscape Architecture Magazine, Editor’s letter. Jennifer Reut
Collaborative Tools for Community Architecture. Raul Avilla Royo. Arquine
Landscape Journal. “Research in Landscape Architecture Design Firms: Lessons from Practice.” Robert L. Ryan.
American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte’s Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life. Richard K. Rein, author. Island Press
Outsider Magazine. #29 “Plaza Life”
Environmental Science and Policy (journal) “Design Experimentation for Nature-based Solutions: Towards a Definition and Taxonomy.” By Sareh Moosavi. Vol 138, pgs 149-161.
Landscape Architecture Magazine. “Whose Eyes on the Street” by Karl Krause. May 2021
Places Journal. “The Problem with Solutions.” By Rob Holmes.
Socio-Ecological Practice Research. “Landscape Performance Evaluation in Socio-ecological Practice: Current Status and Prospects.” By Bo Yang. Vol 2, Pp91-104.
ArchDaily. “Pioneers: 6 Practices Bringing AI into Architecture.” By Andreea Cutieru.
The Guardian. “From Lizarding to Lingering: How We Really Behave in Public Spaces.” August 1.
Landscape Architecture Magazine. “Live and Learn: Algorithms are Bringing New Kinds of Evidence and Predictive Powers to the Shaping of Landscapes” by Mimi Zeiger. cover feature.
ASLA The Dirt Blog/ dirt.asla.org. “Maximizing the Potential of Drones.” by Jared Green.
Mark Magazine. “Anxiety, Advocacy, and Déjà Vu.” By Katya Tylevich. Vol 68.
The Atlantic, CityLab. “The Smells, Sounds, and Tastes of Future Cities.” By John Metcalfe
Landscape Architecture Magazine. “Infinite Mapping: 3-D Scanning and the Holographic Landscape” by Brian Barth
Atlantic CityLab. “The Story of the Great Lakes in 8 Maps.” By Zach Mortice.
Landscape Architecture Magazine. “Thinking Ahead: SWA Group’s XL Lab Has Designs on the Future” by Maggie Zackowitz
Fast Company. FastCoDesign.com. “Could Rising Seas Force the Bay Area to Solve Its Housing Crisis?” by Adele Peters
Built Work
Reuse or Conversions:
Kula Belgrade Plaza/ St. Regis Belgrade. Belgrade, Serbia. Project Manager/Designer
PDX Loop Competition. Portland, OR. Designer
Presidio Land Use Planning. San Francisco, CA. Designer
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Vision Process. San Jose, CA. Designer
Xiangshan Urban Infill. Nanchang, PRC. Designer
The Cannery Urban Farm. Davis, CA. Designer
Bedwell Bayfront Park and Belle Haven Neighborhood Improvements. Menlo Park, CA. Designer
(Monterey Bay Aquarium) Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education and Leadership. Monterey, CA. Designer
Other block scale projects:
Mountain View Cemetery expansion. Oakland, CA. Project Manager/Designer
3170 Porter Drive. Stanford University. Palo Alto, CA. Designer
Brentwood Town Centre, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Project Manager/Designer
Calistoga Hills Resort and Residences. Calistoga, CA. Project Manager/Designer
Suzhou Golden Land, Suzhou, PRC. Designer
Shanghai Forest Park. Shanghai, PRC. Designer
Foshan Greenland Center, Phase 2. Foshan, PRC. Designer
Collaborators
Collaborators
Academic Collaborators
UC Berkeley
Western Sydney University
University of Michigan
Texas A&M
Penn State
Arizona State
UT Arlington
Funders
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Projects
Landscape Architecture Foundation
Environmental Design Research Association
Boston Society of Architects
Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design
SWA Group
Other Collaborators and Contributors
Government
USDA Forest Service
CalTrans (CA State DOT)
South Florida Regional Planning Council
County of Sonoma
County of Santa Clara
Pitkin County Open Space and Trails
City of Chicago
City of El Paso
City of Miami
City of Lynwood
NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
NYC Economic Development Corporation
San Francisco Department of Planning
San Francisco Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure
Waterfront Toronto
Paradise Recreation & Park District
Harris County Flood Control District
Non-profit and Community Orgs
Climate Positive Design
City Parks Alliance
The High Line Network
Atlanta Beltline, Inc
Parks for Downtown Dallas
evOAK
Spatial Informatics Group—Natural Assets Laboratory
Conservation Biology Institute
Katy Prairie Conservancy
Friends of the Katy Trail
California Academy of Sciences
SPUR Urban Center
Municipal Art Society
Golden Triangle BID
National Recreation and Parks Association
Trust for Public Land
Built Environment
Atelier Ten
James Lima JLP+D
HR&A
Community Wildfire Planning Center
Urban Land Institute (ULI)
Tech
Autodesk
IrisVR
ESRI
Google
Design Practice
SCAPE
Sasaki
MVVA
OLIN
Reed Hilderbrand
Design Workshop
WXY
Weiss/Manfredi
EHDD
HNTB
Affiliations
Current
Middlebury College
IPCC
Architecture 2030
American Planning Association
ASLA
Prior
UC Berkeley
Harvard GSD
Boston Architectural College
Urban Land Institute (ULI)
TCLF
AIA
ACSA
CELA
Post-nominals
M.Arch II
MLA
PLA (Professional Landscape Architect, licenced in California)
LEED Green Associate
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