Kathryn Gustafson (born 1951) is an American

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

. Her work includes the Gardens of the Imagination in Terrasson, France; a city square in Évry, France; and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...

. She has won awards and prizes including the Millennium Garden Design Competition. She is known for her ability to create sculptural forms, using earth, grass, stone and water.

Early life

Gustafson was born and grew up in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

in 1951, her father was a general surgeon. The basis of her designs comes from her memories of past settings. The region around Yakima is a desert-like plateau surrounded by mountains. At the age of 18, Gustafson attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, where she studied

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

for about a year. She then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating from the Fashion Institute, Gustafson moved to Paris to be a

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

. Gustafson turned to landscape design. She was educated at the Ecole Nationale Superieure du Paysage in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, where she graduated in 1979.

Design work

Gustafson’s work is predominantly civic, institutional, and corporate, including parks, gardens and community spaces. Her award-winning projects include Westergasfabriek Culture Park in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in London, Bay East and

Gardens by the Bay The Gardens by the Bay (GBTB) is an urban park spanning in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden in Marina South, Bay East ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Recent projects include Valencia Parque Central, the Novartis Campus in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and Marina One in Singapore. She has become known for her creations of sculptural forms. Her work has been compared with the designs of landscape architect

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist, furniture designer and Landscape architecture, landscape architect whose career spanned six decades from the 1920s. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Grah ...

. Gustafson is slated to recreate the area around the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

for the Olympic games in 2024. The total cost of the overhaul would be 72€ million which would be funded by revenue.

Firms

Gustafson Guthrie Nichol was established in Seattle and founded by Gustafson, Jennifer Guthrie, and

Shannon Nichol Shannon Nichol is an American landscape architect and founding principal of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN), located in Seattle. Nichol has led many of GGN's landscape design projects, including the designs for Boston's North End Parks, Seattle ...

. Gustafson Porter + Bowman, founded by Gustafson and Neil Porter in 1997, is situated in London. The firm has international projects in the UK, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Notable works

* Landscaping for Shell Petroleum Headquarters, 1992. * Rights of Man Square, Évry, France, 1991. * LeMay Museum * L'Oreal Factory * Corixa Headquarters * Arthur Ross Terrace,

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

, 2000 *

Lurie Garden Lurie Garden is a garden located at the southern end of Millennium Park in the Chicago Loop, Loop Community areas of Chicago, area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Designed by GGN (landscape architecture firm), GGN (Kathryn Gu ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 2004 * Diana Memorial Fountain, London, 2004 * University of Michigan: Museum of Art * Washington Canal Park,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

* Lakeshore Residence * Esso Headquarters * Garden of Forgiveness

Selected awards

# Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture (2012) # American Society of Landscape Architects Design Medal (2008) # Royal Designer for Industry U.K (RDI: 2005) (RDI: 2001) # Remarkable Garden (2004) # Chrysler Design Award (2001) # Honorary Fellow RIBA (1999) # Jane Drew Prize (1998) #National Design Award in Landscape Architecture, Cooper-Hewitt (2011) #EU Prize for Cultural Heritage in Conservation (2010) #International Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum (2007 and 2009) #AIA/UK Excellence in Design Award (2008) #Medalist, French Academy of Architecture (1993)

Notes

References

* Diedrich, Lisa. "Kathryn Gustafson – Phantasie and Form." ''Topos'' journal. Issue 21, 1997.
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd.
*Levy, Leah (1998). ''Kathryn Gustafson: Sculpting the Land.'' Spacemaker Press. Washington, DC. *Waldheim, Charles (2001). ''Constructed Ground: The Millennium Garden Design Competition.'' University of Illinois Press.
Gustafson Porter + Bowman.

External links

Gustafson Porter + BowmanKathryn Gustafson AwardsGustafson Guthrie Nichol ProjectsKathryn Gustafson: Art of Landscape
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gustafson, Kathryn 1951 births Living people American landscape architects Fashion Institute of Technology alumni People from Yakima, Washington University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design alumni American women landscape architects