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Michael Robert Van Valkenburgh (born September 5, 1951) is an American landscape architect and educator. He has worked on a wide variety of projects in the United States, Canada, Korea, and France, including public parks, college campuses, sculpture gardens, city courtyards, corporate landscapes, private gardens, and urban master plans.


Life and career


Early years and education

Michael
Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
Valkenburgh was born on September 5, 1951, and grew up in
Lexington, New York Lexington is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 770 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census, Lexington town, Greene County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q= ...
, where his family owned a small dairy farm. Van Valkenburgh received a Bachelor of Science from the College of Agriculture at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
in 1973, studied photography at the
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...
, from 1974 to 1975, and earned a Master of Landscape Architecture from the College of Fine Arts at
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universi ...
in 1977. He worked at Carr, Lynch, Associates, Inc., in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, from 1979 until 1982, when he founded his own firm, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. In the early years of his practice, Van Valkenburgh specialized in seasonally dynamic hedge gardens and ice walls. He received a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
which allowed him to experiment with ice as a material in landscape design. In 1988, Van Valkenburgh received the Rome Prize from the
American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects ...
.


Teaching career

Van Valkenburgh is the Charles Eliot Professor of Practice, Emeritus at the
Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...
at Harvard University. His career at the GSD began in 1982; he served as program director from 1987 to 1989, and as Chairman of the Department of Landscape Architecture from 1991 to 1996.


Design approach and inspiration

Van Valkenburgh describes his work as an exploration of the living qualities of the landscape medium and an attempt to emancipate landscape architecture from a its traditionally subsidiary relationship to
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
. His designs are based on a sensitivity to the particular qualities of each project site and thus do not necessarily resemble one another with respect to form, details, or imagery. According to fellow landscape architect
James Corner James Corner (born 1961) is a landscape architect and theorist whose works exhibit a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include Fresh Kills Park on Staten Island and t ...
, Van Valkenburgh's work demonstrates "that the knowledge of a place derives more deeply through experience of material, time, and event, than through visuality alone, and that landscape experience is fuller and more profound when it accrues through inhabitation than through the immediacy of the image or the objectification of the new." As an architect, he has been influenced by his upbringing in an agricultural setting and his education at Cornell University during the 1970s—in particular his exposure to
Ian McHarg Ian L. McHarg (20 November 1920 – 5 March 2001) was a Scottish landscape architect and writer on regional planning using natural systems. McHarg was one of the most influential persons in the environmental movement who brought environmental con ...
's ground-breaking book ''Design with Nature''. Van Valkenburgh has been recognized for his ability to successfully integrate new methods of sustainable design and ecological renewal into the experience of the places he designs, making sustainability part of the beauty of a place that educates visitors and raises environmental awareness. Crediting artist
Robert Smithson Robert Smithson (January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American artist known for sculpture and land art who often used drawing and photography in relation to the spatial arts. His work has been internationally exhibited in galleries and mu ...
's writings on Frederick Law Olmsted and the "landscape dialectic" as a source of inspiration, Van Valkenburgh's landscapes are sometimes completely original explorations of naturalism and the constructed urban landscape (for instance, Teardrop Park and
Brooklyn Bridge Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, un ...
) but he has also completed many sensitive historic landscape restorations including Harvard Yard; Marion Square in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint ...
; and several works at
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...
. According to landscape theorist Anita Berrizbeitia, in her introduction to a book of essays on the work of MVVA, "His parks and public open spaces are based on the conviction that not only can the power of nature and the power of the man-made coexist, but they are the better for doing so." Van Valkenburgh approaches his designs in such a way that the spirit of place is at the forefront and the center of the design. To create a space that reflects the desired future for an area and give it a spirit of hope and progress requires a lot of foresight to the desired effect.  Van Valkenburgh designs his projects in a way that reflect the desired future of the area in the spirit of the place they are striving for. His projects often begin with ordinary places that he is able to rejuvenate into a place that cause people to look past what it was and instead look to the future of the park as well as the surrounding city because of the spirit of the place Michael Van Valkenburgh has instilled in the space with his adaptive reuse of this post industrial wasteland and his intentional intertwining of it with nature.


Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.

Founding Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA) in 1982, he currently leads the firm with five fellow principals: Laura Solano,
Matthew Urbanski Matthew Louis Urbanski (born 1963) is an American landscape architect. He has planned and designed landscapes in the United States, Canada, and France, including waterfronts, parks, college campuses, sculpture gardens, and private gardens. Col ...
, Paul Seck, Gullivar Shepard, and Emily Mueller De Celis. The firm has 100 employees and two offices, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
and Brooklyn, New York. MVVA has completed a broad range of landscape design, construction, and restoration projects in both the public and private realms. To date, MVVA has completed over 350 projects, and has cultivated an expertise in sustainability, soil toxicity, and waterfront infrastructure. The firm collaborates frequently with artists, including
Maya Lin Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor. In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memoria ...
, Ann Hamilton,
Martin Puryear Martin L. Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in wood and bronze, among other media, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries ...
, Mel Bochner, Meg Webster, and Oscar Tuazon.


Awards

His practice has won many national awards for their designs, including 19 from the
American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowshi ...
. These awards include: * For
Allegheny Riverfront Park Allegheny Riverfront Park is a municipal park that runs along the south bank of the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh. It is a parcel of the Three Rivers Park, the city's grand urban waterfront park project along its rivers that will pro ...
, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: ** 1997 Progressive Architecture Awards citation, Architecture Magazine ** 2002 Design Merit Award, ASLA ** 2002 Place-Making Award, Places Magazine/
Environmental Design Research Association The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) is an international, interdisciplinary organization founded in 1968 by design professionals, social scientists, students, educators, and facility managers. The purpose of EDRA is the advancement ...
* For
Brooklyn Bridge Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, un ...
, in Brooklyn, New York: ** 2009 Analysis & Planning Honor Award, ASLA ** 2009 Waterfront Plan Honor Award,
WaterFront Center The WaterFront Center is non-profit organization located in Oyster Bay, New York. The organization provides access to the waters of Oyster Bay Harbor and Long Island Sound History In the late 1980’s a real estate development proposal threatened ...
** 2010 "Designing the Parks" Honor Award, National Park Service ** 2011
Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...
(silver medal), Bruner Foundation * For the master plan for the Lower Don Lands, in Toronto, Ontario: ** 2007 Toronto Urban Design Award, City of Toronto ** 2008 Analysis & Planning Honor Award, ASLA ** 2008 Special Jury Award for Sustainable Development,
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...
** 2009 International Award for Best Futuristic Design, Building Exchange Summit ** 2010 Transportation Achievement Award,
Institute of Transportation Engineers The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. ITE facilitates the application of technology and ...
** 2011 Excellence in Planning Award,
Ontario Professional Planners Institute Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
* For Teardrop Park, in
Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
, New York City, New York: ** 2009 General Design Honor Award, ASLA ** 2010 "Designing the Parks" Honor Award, National Park Service * For the restoration of Harvard Yard, at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts: ** 1993 Planning & Urban Design Merit Award, ASLA ** 1994 Honor Award, National Trust for Historic Preservation * For work at
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...
, in Wellesley, Massachusetts: ** 1999 Planning & Analysis Merit Award, ASLA (for the campus master plan) ** 2006 General Design Award of Excellence, ASLA (for Alumnae Valley) * 1989 Design Honor Award, ASLA, for the Regis Garden, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota * 1990 Design Merit Award, for the Black Granite Garden in Los Angeles, California * 1998 Design Merit Award, ASLA, for the Vera List Courtyard, at The New School in New York City, New York * 2002 Design Merit Award, ASLA, for Spider Island, at the
Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shore ...
in
Glencoe, Illinois Glencoe () is a lakefront village in northeastern Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,849. Glencoe is part of Chicago's North Shore and is located within the New Trier High School District. Glenc ...
* 2004 Design Merit Award, ASLA, for the Garden on Turtle Creek, in Dallas, Texas * 2005 Design Honor Award, ASLA, for the Herman Miller Factory landscape, in Cherokee County, Georgia * 2006 Design Honor Award, ASLA, for Tahari Courtyards, in
Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...
* 2008 Design Honor Award, ASLA, for the Smith Family Waterfront Park, at the
Boston Children's Museum Boston Children's Museum is a children's museum in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the education of children. Located on Children's Wharf along the Fort Point Channel, Boston Children's Museum is the second oldest children's museum in the Un ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
, Massachusetts * 2008 Residential Design Honor Award, ASLA, for the Nomentana Garden, in
Stoneham, Maine Stoneham is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 261 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and is water. Demographics ...
* 2010 Design Honor Award, ASLA, for the Lake Whitney Water Treatment Facility landscape, in New Haven, Connecticut


Recent accomplishments

Michael Van Valkenburgh continues to devote himself to design work and teaching. He has a National Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Board certification and is a registered Landscape Architect in twenty different states. In 2002, he was a speaker in the Spotlight on Design Lecture Series at the National Building Museum. In 2003, Van Valkenburgh served on the selection jury of the
World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition The World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was an open, international memorial contest, initiated by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) according to the specifications of the architect Daniel Libeskind, to design a memorial ...
and won the National Design Award for Environmental Design from the Smithsonian Institution's
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Inst ...
. In November 2004, Van Valkenburgh was personally thanked by First Lady Laura Bush for his design for the renovation of Pennsylvania Avenue in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
In 2007, Van Valkenburgh was asked to present the Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture Margaret O. Cekada Memorial Lecture. In 2010, he was awarded two major prizes: the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, from the American Academy of Arts and letters, for contributions to architecture as an art, and the
Brendan Gill Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) was an American journalist. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' for more than 60 years. Gill also contributed film criticism for ''Film Comment'', wrote about design and architecture for Architectu ...
Prize from the Municipal Arts Society of New York City, which recognized Brooklyn Bridge Park as the work of art that best captured the spirit and energy of New York City.


Publications


Books

*''Designing a Garden: Monk's Garden at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum'', Michael Van Valkenburgh, essay by Laurie Olin, Monacelli Press, 2019 *Foreword, ''Taking Measures Across the American Landscape'' (by James Corner and Alexander S. MacLean), New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996. *''Design with the Land: Landscape Architecture of Michael Van Valkenburgh'', Princeton Architectural Press, 1994 *''Gertrude Jekyll: A Vision of Garden and Wood'' (with Judith B. Tankard), Sagapress, 1989. *''The Flower Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Their Twentieth-Century Transformations'', Design Quarterly 137, MIT Press for the Walker Art Center, 1987. *''Transforming the American Garden: 12 New Landscape Designs'' (with Margaret B. Reeve, and Jory Johnson), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 1986 **''Built Landscapes: Gardens in the Northeast'', Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, 1984


Articles

*"Built Landscapes, Ecologies and Re-defining 'Preservation'", ''CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship'', National Park Service, v.7, n.2, Summer 2010 *"Faculty project: Teardrop Park attery Park City, New York, ''Harvard Design Magazine'', n.12 (Fall 2000), pp. 92–93 *"Ein Hof mit Streifen", ''Garten + Landschaft'', v.106, n.2 (Feb. 1996), pp. 26–28 *"Restoring The Harvard Yard Landscape", ''Arnoldia'', Spring 1994 (with Peter Del Tredici) *"Conceiving a Courtyard", ''Places'', Spring 1990 (with Carol Doyle Van Valkenburgh) *"Best laid plan: Gertrude Jekyll's brilliant planting and Edwin Lutyen's architectural mastery make Hestercombe a superb example of collaborative garden design". ''House & garden'', v.161, n.3 (Mar. 1989), pp. 150–157 (with Carol Doyle Van Valkenburgh) *"The Flower gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and their twentieth-century transformations" ''Design Quarterly'', no.137 (1987), pp. 1–30 *"Notations of nature's process", ''Landscape Architecture'', v.76, no.1 (Jan.-Feb. 1986), pp. 40–45 *"Two Views of Landscape Design: A.E. Bye and Dan Kiley," ''Orion Quarterly'', Spring 1985. *"Built Landscapes at Wave Hill," ''New York Times'', August 11, 1984. *"Ice: To Freeze on Walls," ''Landscape Architecture'', January 1984. *"Illusion of Space," ''Garden Design'', Vol. 1, No. 1 (March 1982). *"Garden Spot for Half a House," ''Landscape Architecture'', March 1981. *"Principles for the Design of a Mixed Use Development in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts," Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, October 1978. *"Grade School Children's Use of and Attitudes about Two Play Areas in Carle Park, Urbana, Illinois," Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the Environmental Design Research Association, Washington, D.C., April 1978.


Publications about Michael Van Valkenburgh and MVVA

*Amidon, J., ''Michael Van Valkenburgh/Allegheny Riverfront Park: Source Books in Landscape Architecture'', Princeton Architectural Press, 2005 *Berrizbeitia, A., ''Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: Reconstructing Urban Landscapes'', Yale University Press, 2009 *Blum, A., "The Active Edge", Metropolis, March 2006 *Gilette, J., "Michael", Landscape Architecture Magazine, Feb. 1998 *Werthmann, C., ''Green Roof - A Case Study: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates' Design for the Headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects'', Princeton Architectural Press, 2007 *Mitani, T., "American Landscape Architecture", ''Space Design'' (Japan), Summer 1998


Notable works


Completed

* Regis Garden, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1988 * Radcliffe Ice Walls, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988 * Garden on Lake Minnetonka,
Wayzata, Minnesota Wayzata ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Wayzata is situated along the northern shore of Lake Minnetonka about west of Minneapolis. Known for its small-town character and lakeside lo ...
, 1989 * Krakow Ice Garden, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, 1990 * Pucker Garden,
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and West ...
, 1990 * General Mills Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1991 (destroyed 2000) * Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France, 1991 * Mill Race Park,
Columbus, Indiana Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissi ...
, 1993 * 50 Avenue Montaigne Courtyard, Paris, France, 1993 * Oakville Park Completion,
Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton. At its 2021 census population of 213,759, it is Ontario's largest town. Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area, one of the ...
, 1993 * Ho-Am Art Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seoul, South Korea, 1993 * Vera List Courtyard, The New School, New York City, New York, 1997 *
Allegheny Riverfront Park Allegheny Riverfront Park is a municipal park that runs along the south bank of the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh. It is a parcel of the Three Rivers Park, the city's grand urban waterfront park project along its rivers that will pro ...
, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1998 * Garden on Turtle Creek,
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, 1999 * Spider Island,
Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shore ...
,
Glencoe, Illinois Glencoe () is a lakefront village in northeastern Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,849. Glencoe is part of Chicago's North Shore and is located within the New Trier High School District. Glenc ...
, 2000 * Herman Miller Factory Landscape, Cherokee County, Georgia, 2001 * Marion Square,
Charleston, SC Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of ...
, 2002 * Straightsview Farm, San Juan Island,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, 2003 * Harvard Yard Restoration, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2003 * Peabody Essex Museum landscape,
Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
, 2003 * Tahari Courtyards,
Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...
, 2003 * Kraus Campo,
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technolog ...
, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2003 * Renovation of Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House,
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, 2004 * Nomentana Garden,
Stoneham, Maine Stoneham is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 261 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and is water. Demographics ...
, 2005 * Alumnae Valley, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2005 * Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant, New Haven, Connecticut, 2005 * Green Roof, ASLA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., 2006 * Bailey Plaza,
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
, Ithaca, New York, 2007 * Smith Family Waterfront Park,
Boston Children's Museum Boston Children's Museum is a children's museum in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the education of children. Located on Children's Wharf along the Fort Point Channel, Boston Children's Museum is the second oldest children's museum in the Un ...
,
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
, Massachusetts, 2007 *
Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...
North End Plaza and Playground, New York City, New York, 2010 * Segment 5 (Piers 62–64),
Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches an ...
, New York City, New York, 2010 * BJC Institute of Health Plaza (with
Maya Lin Maya Ying Lin (born October 5, 1959) is an American designer and sculptor. In 1981, while an undergraduate at Yale University, she achieved national recognition when she won a national design competition for the planned Vietnam Veterans Memoria ...
),
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...
, St. Louis, Missouri, 2010 * Teardrop Park,
Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
, New York City, New York, 2010 *
Corktown Common Corktown Common is a park in the south eastern portion of the West Don Lands neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which opened in 2013. It borders the Don River to the east. It was built on remediated industrial lands to be the centrepiece ...
, Toronto, Ontario, 2011 * Penn Park, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2011 *Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park,
Snite Museum of Art The Snite Museum of Art is the fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. With about 30,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media, the Snite Museum's permanent collection serves as a rich resource ...
, 2013 *
Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mov ...
, St. Louis, Missouri, 2018 *
Gathering Place A gathering place is any place where people are able to congregate. Gathering places may be public; for example, city streets, town squares, and parks; or private; for example, churches, coffee shops, stadiums, and theaters. Examples of gatherin ...
: Tulsa Riverfront Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2018


In progress

* Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn * George W. Bush Presidential Center landscape, Dallas, Texas * York Quay, Toronto, Ontario *
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded in 1910 using land from Mount Prospect Park in central Brooklyn, adjacent to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum. The garden hol ...
renovation, Brooklyn, New York *
Maggie Daley Park Maggie Daley Park is a public park in the Loop community area of Chicago operated by the Chicago Park District. It is near the Lake Michigan shoreline in northeastern Grant Park where Daley Bicentennial Plaza previously stood. Maggie Daley P ...
, Chicago, Illinois * Lower Don Lands, Toronto, Ontario * Waller Creek, Austin, Texas * Hudson Park and Boulevard, New York City, New York * Dorothea Dix Park, Raleigh, North Carolina


Competition Wins

* Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, Washington, D.C., 2002 (completed) * Lower Don Lands Design Competition, Toronto, 2007, (in progress) * The City + The Arch + The River Competition,
Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mov ...
,
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, 2010 (to redesign the grounds around the
Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources conside ...
), (in progress) * ARC Wildlife Crossing Competition (with
HNTB HNTB Corporation is an American infrastructure design firm. Founded in 1914 in Kansas City, Missouri, HNTB began with the partnership made by Ernest Emmanuel Howard with the firm Waddell & Harrington, founded in 1907. Considered as one of the ...
), Denver, Colorado (in progress) * Waller Creek Competition, Austin, Texas, (in progress)


References


External links


MVVA ProfileHarvard GSD Faculty Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Valkenburgh, Michael 1951 births American landscape architects Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts alumni Living people