Kate Orff facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kate Orff
Orff in 2015
Born	1971 (age 53–54)
Education	B.A., University of Virginia, 1993 M.L.A., Harvard University, 1997
Occupation	Landscape architect

Kate Orff (born 1971) is an American landscape architect. She is a leader in designing outdoor spaces. Kate Orff founded SCAPE, a design studio in New York. This studio focuses on landscape architecture and urban design.

She also directs the Urban Design Program at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. She co-directs the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes. Kate Orff was the first landscape architect to receive a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship.

Her work helps landscape architecture adapt to climate change. She also works to create better social spaces for people. She explores these ideas through books, activism, research, and projects. Kate Orff is known for her creative and team-based work. Her projects aim to improve the environment and social life.

What is Landscape Architecture?

Kate Orff's work focuses on how cities and nature can work together. She believes landscape architects should do more than just make places look pretty. They should help fix ecosystems and connect people through shared spaces. These spaces also provide important services for nature.

She thinks that for a long time, landscape architects focused on beautiful gardens. But they sometimes forgot about the health of the planet. Her goal is to bring attention back to Earth's natural systems. She connects these systems with new policies and city plans. This helps create strong landscapes that can handle future environmental threats. These threats include rising sea levels and bigger waves.

SCAPE Studio: Designing for a Better Planet

Kate Orff started her studio, SCAPE, in 2007. SCAPE is famous for its projects that focus on ecology. Ecology is the study of how living things interact with their environment. Her studio takes on many projects that emphasize sustainability. Sustainability means using resources in a way that protects them for the future. This is because she feels a strong responsibility for the environment. At SCAPE, Kate Orff and her team create designs based on science and research. They also use an activist approach to their work.

Kate Orff's Early Life and Education

Kate Orff grew up in Crofton, Maryland. This was a suburban community designed mostly for cars. During her high school years, she had different jobs. One summer, she worked selling fish. Another summer, she worked at a plant nursery. There, she learned about plants and started to enjoy gardening.

Learning at University

Kate Orff went to the University of Virginia. She studied Political and Social Thought. This program allowed her to choose her own learning path. She explored women's studies, environmental sciences, and art. She also studied forest ecology. This connected art and science in her studies.

During this time, she wrote about ecofeminism. This idea connects environmental damage, poverty, and women's issues. She also took a class on landscape architecture history. In this class, she realized that landscape architecture combined many of her passions. It brought together her interests in science, politics, art, and design. While at the University of Virginia, she played and coached lacrosse. She graduated with honors. Before going to Harvard University for her master's degree, she traveled to Chile. There, she worked for a women's health magazine.

Key Projects and Career Highlights

In 2004, Kate Orff moved to New York. She started her own design practice from her apartment. In 2007, she hired employees and officially started her firm, SCAPE.

Oyster-tecture: A Natural Solution

Kate Orff and SCAPE developed a design called "Oyster-tecture." This project uses oyster reefs as natural infrastructure. These reefs help clean polluted water. They also reduce the effects of storm surges and rising sea levels.

After Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, Kate Orff and SCAPE joined a special team. This team helped New York City rebuild and become stronger. SCAPE's job was to use natural systems to reduce risks. They layered different strategies to protect the coast and improve the ecosystem. This project won an award in 2014.

Living Breakwaters: Protecting Communities

In 2014, SCAPE won the Rebuild By Design competition. This competition aimed to help communities recover after Hurricane Sandy. SCAPE's winning project was called "Living Breakwaters." It was inspired by Oyster-tecture. This project aimed to reduce erosion on the shoreline of Brooklyn, New York.

Living Breakwaters is an environmentally friendly, natural oyster reef. It can clean millions of liters of harbor water every day. This project won several awards. These include the Buckminster Fuller Challenge in 2014. The construction of Living Breakwaters was completed in 2024.

Sharing Knowledge and Ideas

Kate Orff has given many talks and presentations. In 2016, she spoke at a summit about the future of landscape architecture. She also wrote an essay called "Urban Ecology as Activism." In 2018, she was a main speaker at an event for energy, environment, and ocean leaders in Rhode Island.

Kate Orff is a licensed landscape architect in many states. These include New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

Awards and Recognition

In 2017, Kate Orff received a "Genius Grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She received this award for her designs of "adaptive and resilient habitats." These designs help nature and cities work together. They also encourage people to care for the natural systems around them.

In 2019, Kate Orff became a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). She was also honored as a Hero of the Harbor by the Waterfront Alliance. In January 2024, she received an honorary doctorate from the Delft University of Technology. This was for her important work in her field. In March 2024, she received the Jefferson Medal for Architecture.

She was chosen to receive the 2025 Gold Medal by the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society. This is a group for architecture and related arts. She was also named a TIME 100 honoree in 2024. She delivered the closing keynote speech at the ACSA's 113th annual conference in New Orleans, which took place from March 20-22, 2025.

Important Books by Kate Orff

In 2011, Princeton University published Gateway, Visions for an Urban National Park. This book was written by Kate Orff. In 2012, the Aperture Foundation published Petrochemical America. This book by Orff won an award in 2013. Petrochemical America included photos by Richard Misrach of the industrialized Mississippi River. It also featured visual stories by Orff and SCAPE.

See also

In Spanish: Kate Orff para niños