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 ecosystems of the places in which we live. Our studio seeks to explore the meaning and impact of the American landscape.

Work

We design at all scales and sites, 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 thriving ecosystems and coherent, experientially powerful places that are inclusive of all people.

Studio

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. We commit to leaving place, and this planet, better than we found it.

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 access to nature, recreation, and serenity. 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 anti-racist 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 (SBE) and a woman-owned firm certified (WMBE) 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, PA, DE, KY, NY, TX, NC, MA, ME, VA, AR, FL, Washington, D.C., CT (pending), British Columbia and Licensed Architects in MD and CA. Federally we are a 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 within our project summary pages.