Unknown Studio

About

Unknown Studio is a landscape architecture and urban design practice with a deep belief in the power of the designed landscape to bring joy, wonder, beauty and improved quality of life to all. Through the craft of design and engaged collaboration we create new places and microclimates, tell stories, unearth memories and amplify the culture and ecology of the places in which we live.

Work

We design at all scales and sites, on the spectrum from urban to rural, regional to human scale. Regardless of site, size, or program, we strive to imagine and realize built landscapes that reframe daily experience and promote a sense of immersion that awakens, inspires, and connects. We work with our clients and stakeholders to create cohesive, experientially powerful places that are inclusive of all people.

Approach

Our workspace is equal parts studio and laboratory. Through experimentation and cross-disciplinary study, our practice seeks to understand the craft, history, and traditions of the places in which we work. Through engagement with our clients and stakeholders, we pursue a deep understanding of place and develop designed responses that are durable, resilient, and timeless. On all sites, we bring a passion for the making of landscape that embraces both innovative and time-tested techniques.

Community

Our studio is based in Baltimore, MD, a creative workhorse of the Mid-Atlantic. We are inspired by Baltimore’s dynamic urban environment, vibrant, living arts community, and legacy of ambitious industrialism. Locally, our collaborations seek to enliven and improve the city’s public spaces and promote social and ecological equity. We are a design practice, but also a cultural project that reflects a community of collaborators, mentors, clients, interns and friends.

Equity

We practice in a majority Black city, where we dedicate time and resources towards antiracist work and amplification of Black voices in the profession and in our designs. Additionally, our studio aims to incorporate BIPOC and humanist perspectives into our work as an ongoing process for our team; we continue to seek opportunities for ourselves and our profession to do better.

Certifications

Unknown Studio is a certified Small Business and a woman-owned firm certified MBE by the Maryland Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Office of Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE) and by the City of Baltimore (MWBOO). We are Licensed Landscape Architects in MD, VA, DC, PA, DE, KY, NY, TX, NC, MA, ME, AR, FL, British Columbia and Licensed Architects in MD and CA. We are a Federally certified WBE, SBE, and HUBZone business by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Relationships

Our studio takes great pride in the collaborations we’ve built with a wonderful community of clients, creatives and advisors over the course of decades. We are pleased to cite many of our clients, peers, and colleagues here.

Clients

  • American Communities Trust (Baltimore, MD)
  • Baltimore City Recreation & Parks
  • Boston Planning & Development Agency
  • Brandywine Realty Trust (Philadelphia, PA)
  • City of Miami Beach, Florida
  • City of Toronto
  • CLD Partners (Baltimore, MD)
  • Continental Realty (Baltimore, MD)
  • Duke University (Durham, NC)
  • Environmental Defense Fund (New Orleans, LA)
  • Fort Mason Center (San Francisco, CA)
  • Friends of Patterson Park (Baltimore, MD)
  • Good Neighbor (Baltimore, MD)
  • Greater New Orleans, Inc.
  • Houston Botanic Garden
  • The Inner Arbor Trust (Columbia, MD)
  • Kennett Township
  • Knowlton School of Architecture / OSU (Columbus, Ohio)
  • Knowlton School of Architecture / OSU (Columbus, Ohio)
  • The Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve (Seal Harbor, ME)
  • Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government
  • London Olympics Delivery Authority
  • Longwood Gardens, Inc. (Kennett Square, PA)
  • Mt. Desert Land and Garden Preserve (Seal Harbor, ME)
  • The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
  • Neighborhood Design Center (Baltimore, MD)
  • Nemours Estate (Wilmington, DE)
  • The New World Symphony (Miami Beach, FL)
  • Naples Botanical Garden (Naples, FL)
  • The Organization for Tropical Studies
  • Rails to Trails Conservancy
  • Roland Park Community Foundation
  • Rice University Management Company (Houston, TX)
  • Rose Kennedy Greenway (Boston, MA)
  • The Sixth Branch (Baltimore, MD)
  • Silo City
  • Squashwise
  • Town Branch Fund (Lexington, KY)
  • Trust for Governors Island (New York, NY)
  • United States Golf Association (Liberty Corner, NJ)
  • Waterfront Toronto
  • Weller Development Company (Baltimore, MD)
  • Walt Disney Imagineering (Los Angeles, CA)
  • Workshop Development (Baltimore, MD)
  • Yale University (New Haven, CT)

Collaborators

  • ASK+
  • Akomawt Educational Initiative
  • Beyer Blinder Belle
  • Biohabitats
  • Bionic Landscape
  • Bjarke Ingels Group
  • Casey Trees
  • Clark Condon Associates
  • Diller, Scofidio + Renfro
  • Fluidity Design Consultants
  • Gensler
  • GLMV Architecture
  • Graham Projects
  • Gresham Smith + Partners
  • Grimshaw Architects
  • Hargreaves Jones
  • Harrison Design
  • HGA
  • HOK
  • HR&A
  • John Portman & Associates
  • Kim Wilkie
  • LEVER Architecture
  • Lubrano Ciavarra Architects
  • L’Observatoire International
  • Louisiana State University Coastal Sustainability Studio (LSU CSS)
  • MJMA MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects
  • Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects
  • Moffatt & Nichol Engineers
  • Neighborhood Design Center (Baltimore, MD)
  • OpenBox
  • Overland Partners
  • Pelli Clarke Pelli
  • Pentagram
  • Pickard Chilton
  • PI.KL Studio
  • Reed Hilderbrand
  • Rogers Marvel Architects
  • Sasaki
  • SCAPE
  • SHoP Architects
  • Site Office
  • SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill)
  • Surface Design, Inc.
  • Taylor and Miller Architecture and Design
  • Weiss/Manfredi
  • West 8 urban design & landscape architecture