The Land is Full: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

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The Land is Full: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Book Talk & Reception
Mon, Oct 27, 5PM
Campbell 153

Exhibition
Fri, Oct 24 – SUN, Nov 30
Campbell Elmaleh Gallery

Join us for a talk with Thomas Woltz, senior principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW), in conjunction with the exhibition The Land Is Full, which highlights work featured in the firm’s recent monograph of the same title. Showcasing twelve major projects, the book celebrates NBW’s practice of revealing the cultural and ecological histories embedded in the land and transforming them into meaningful public spaces.
 
Woltz will share insights into the firm’s collaborative design process and approach to working with sensitive sites—including landscapes shaped by histories of enslavement, Indigenous stewardship, and environmental degradation. Projects featured in the book include Memorial Park in Houston, a reclaimed burial ground near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the Aga Khan Garden in Alberta, Canada. Together, these works illustrate the firm’s wide geographic reach and its commitment to ecological and social resilience through design.
 
Copies of The Land is Full will be available for purchase at the post-lecture reception.

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Memorial Park, Houston, Texas by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. Photos: Nick Hubbard

About Thomas Woltz

Thomas Woltz, FASLA, is Senior Principal and Owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, where for more than two decades he has advanced the design of public parks, cultural landscapes, and ecological restorations that tell powerful stories of place. Under his leadership, NBW has expanded to include scientists and historians as essential collaborators on projects ranging from large urban parks and post-industrial sites to educational campuses.

Woltz holds master’s degrees in landscape architecture and architecture from the University of Virginia, along with an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business” (2017), received the Trust for Public Land’s Land for People Award (2019), and was honored with the 2025 Frederic Church Award. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for The Cultural Landscape Foundation. 

Supported by the Myles H. Thaler Endowment.