Lsa 220 Intro to Landscape Architecture

Jake Mosher

Final Essay
REED HILDERBRAND
Reed Hilderbrand in Watertown, Massachusetts is known for being able to connect
people and the landscape. Founded in 1993 by Douglas Reed and Gary Hildebrand the firms
principals. Gary Hilderbrand is an award winning landscape architect and author. Reed and
Hilderbrand co-authored a monograph for the firm, Visible/Invisible. These two partners had
extensive educational backgrounds from great schools. Reed was a graduate of LSU in 1978
with a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Architecture from Harvard. Gary Hilderbrand
graduated from SUNY ESF with a bachelor of Landscape Architecture and then Harvards
Graduate School of Design. Gary Hilderbrand has been a Professor at Harvard since 1990 where
he has taught seminar classes and many lectures on plants, design, and plant integration. The
two partners Gary and Douglas were both inspired by the modernist and landscape architect
Dan Kiley. Dan Kiley used lines and different elevations of water features to create more
connections between the people and the landscape. Kileys use of plants and order was also
inspiring to the partners of Reed Hilderbrand.
The firms use of order in their design allows connections to be planned ahead of time
between the land scape and the people. These connections are a big thing for Reed Hilderbrand
and their designs. Douglas Reed and Gary Hilderbrand know that landscapes can change how
people feel and interact with each other and they use this align daily life with the visible
phenomenon and the invisible systems of nature, as Gary Hilderbrand said in an interview in
Landscape Architecture Magazine. Reed Hilderbrand uses order and discipline to create
connections with the landscape. One landscape Douglas Reed is famous for designing in the
mid to late ninetys is the Institute for Child and Adolescent Development in Wellesley,
Massachusetts. This design won the American Society of Landscape Architects highest design
honor, the Award of Excellence. This was a great example of a landscape that connected with
the people. The Institute for Child and Adolescent Development was used to treat and
rehabilitate children who had gone through a traumatic experience. A stream of water runs
through the landscape that bring the children through the stages of recovery from trauma. The
landscape was somewhat enclosed making the children feel comfortable and protected. The
water feature guided the children to a ravine with the security of home. Then to a woodland for
exploration and a grass covered mountain to climb. Sloped hills for challenges then a wide open
glade for running and playing. These connections to the landscape are what drive Reed
Hilderbrand. All the connections that the Institute for Child and Adolescent Development had
were demolished in 2006 for residential housing. The firm believes in revisiting every site design
after completion to ensure the site is maintained. Reed and Hilderbrand also believe each site
has its own personal makeup through soil rocks and organisms, and history that need to be
maintained.

Reed Hilderbrand redesigned the Clark Art Institute from 2004-2014. The firm had to
connect and steward a campus to a museum dedicated to art connecting the artist to nature.
Reed Hilderbrand were prepared to create and maintain these connections with the design. The
Clark Art Institute is a one hundred and forty acre campus of hills, streams, ponds, woodlands,
and meadows. The first phase of this design took 4 years and the Lunder center was completed
at the top of Stone Hill. The purpose of the first phase was to develop circulation, arrival, and
parking of people between the Stone Hill Center and the main campus. Phase two of this design
was completed in the summer of 2014 and opened the Clark Visitor Exhibition and Conference
Center. The museum building was renovate by Annabelle Selldorf and incorporates the Clark
Center with a terrace connecting the building to the bottom of Stone Hill. The terrace also
frames a one acre tiered reflecting pool that doubles as a storm water management system.
This is a very beautiful feature that reflects the landscape and the architecture of the institute.
I really enjoy the work of Reed Hilderbrand. The fact that they use landscape to connect
with people and change how they feel is incredible. The Institute for Child and Adolescent
Development was an incredible and highly regarded design. The use of landscapes to guide and
protect children who had been traumatized along the steps of recovery shows exactly how a
Landscape can heal people. I appreciate how Reed Hilderbrand understand each site has its
own makeup and history that they have to preserve. Dirty things dont look very good, so a well
maintained landscape is desired. In order for many of Reed Hilderbrands designs to be
successful in connecting people with the landscape, the landscape must be well thought out
and well maintained. The Institute for Child and Adolescent Development was torn down in
2006 for residential development. This is a crime. The design won the highest award the
American Society of Landscape Architects Awards and it rehabilitated many children who had
been traumatized, so it was torn down for something as boring as suburban housing.
I enjoyed the use of order by Reed Hilderbrand in their designs. This aspect of design
gives the creator the ability to control how people see and interact with the landscape. This is
one of the best parts of being a landscape architect and being able to heal and protect people
through a landscape design. When Reed Hilderbrand says that they align daily life with the
visible phenomenon and the invisible systems of nature, they mean they can change tomorrow
by building and changing the landscapes pf today. Gary Hilderbrand and Douglas Reed are
incredible Partners at this firm with a big group of talented people who all aim to connect and
heal people through landscapes.

1.Saunders, The Inventions of Reed Hilderbrand, Landscape Architecture Magazine,

August, 2012, 33.
2. Douglas Reed, Reed Hilderbrand, Reed Hilderbrand Firm Main Website, accessed
November 17th, 2014. www.ReedHildebrand.com
3. Gerald Clarke, A Bend in the River, Architectural Digest on the Web, June, 2007,
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/AD100/2010/thad_hayes/hayes_article_062007
4. Michael Conforti, Clark Art Institute Homepage, Clark Art, accessed on November
16th, 2014. www.clarkart.edu