MSLA

2 - MOVING THE SPIRIT BY SHAPING THE EARTH by David Meyer David Meyer walks through the redesign of a suburban park where the original retention ponds were eroding and filling with silt, functional in concept but unremarkable in reality. The client wanted something grander, and an artistic approach to climate. Meyer Studio responded with a series of sculpted earthen vessels built from earth and dry-stacked limestone, refined through basswood models at 1:360 scale. At the north end of the Greenway, a linear vessel narrows at one end to fit its site. A row of columnar oaks frames it on axis with an existing cottonwood... The full show is now available on spacemakergallery.com Show Time 19:00 min #spacemakergallery #landart #landscapearchitecture #designgallery #onlinegallery #artanddesign #designarchive #contemporarydesign

2 - MOVING THE SPIRIT BY SHAPING THE EARTH by David Meyer Heartwood Greenways in Omaha, Nebraska, by @meyerstudiola The detention basins were initially conceived by solely as an engineering requirement - as unremarkable ditches pushed against the western boundary of the project. With the landscape architects now at the lead, a new and closely collaborative planning process with the engineers was initiated to process everything from permit drawings to construction documents. Once on board, the landscape team planned for a more integrated approach, a hybrid condition of infrastructure as art, designed to mitigate the potential for flooding while creating a parkland of wonders for the community. The new basin network has a capacity to store an estimated 55 million gallons / 169 acre-feet of stormwater runoff. In doing so, the greenway system prevents erosion, detains water, recharges aquifers and provides flood protection to adjacent properties and farmland. These water basins create new ecologies and in turn generate opportunities for life – migratory birds and other passing animals establish homes and fortify ecological networks. Oaks, cottonwood, eastern redbuds, and sumacs change with the seasons. Native birds such as the Western Meadowlark and Sharptailed Grouse nest in tall meadow grasses. Just a fraction of Nebraska’s original historic ecology remains - it was destroyed for the sake of agricultural production. This ecological loss mirrored the loss of cultural traditions rooted in the land. The project restores historic prairie and wetland ecologies, offering habitat for native animal species. The landscape uses elemental local materials. Limestone, tall and short grass native prairies and woodlands create a dynamic interplay and animate spaces. The landscape is rooted in a specific, powerful and historically particular sense of place. The full show is now available on spacemakergallery.com Show Time 19:00 min #spacemakergallery #landart #landscapearchitecture #designgallery #onlinegallery #artanddesign #designarchive #contemporarydesign

2 - MOVING THE SPIRIT BY SHAPING THE EARTH by David Meyer Heartwood Greenways in Omaha, Nebraska, by @meyerstudiola The Greenway System is a serial sculptural meditation on earthwork. Set within over 150 acres of native prairie and woodlands, 11 retention and detention basins are conceived, each carefully situated within the grading and form of the site. In each basin, monolithic dry-stacked limestone walls mark 2-, 15- and 100-year storms while stabilizing slopes for emergent wetlands. The site comes together to form a monumental public artwork from the engineered necessity of climate adaption. The system is at once practical in mitigation, and a realm for contemplation and recreation. Over time, flooding will weather the stone, and the shifting water lines will leave their mark. The design makes what is invisible, visible. It awakens people to the changing planet-- alternative infrastructure adapted for a climate-resilient world. The city of Omaha encompasses over 140 square miles. Within this large expanse, the site now known as Heartwood Preserve was 500-acres of farmland, an island surrounded by suburban sprawl. In 2015, Applied Underwriters Insurance selected the site for their future headquarters, with the desire to bring a site-specific approach to the property. Although the headquarter building itself will rest on only 39 acres, the company sought to build a sustainable and denser development, one that would honor the agricultural history of the site and benefit the employees, neighbors and residents of Omaha. The full show is now available on spacemakergallery.com Show Time 19:00 min #spacemakergallery #landart #landscapearchitecture #designgallery #onlinegallery #artanddesign #designarchive #contemporarydesign

2 - MOVING THE SPIRIT BY SHAPING THE EARTH by David Meyer Heartwood Greenways in Omaha, Nebraska, by @meyerstudiola In 2019, a series of unprecedented floods ravaged Eastern Nebraska and the greater Omaha metropolitan area. Estimated damages ranged upwards of 1.3 billion dollars: farms were shuttered, families lost homes. Disastrous flooding is becoming the new normal of a changing climate, a problem exacerbated in this region by sprawling urbanization that increases impervious runoff and associated flood-level peak flows. The Heartwood Greenways and Stormwater Masterplan, which anchors a 500-acre development in Omaha, Nebraska, is designed to help protect adjacent communities and farms by mitigating future extreme weather events. The Greenway System is defined by a series of meticulously crafted water detention basins, both functional and beautiful. The project celebrates the process of capturing rainfall and conceives this network of detention basins as a sculpture park. The project explores an expanded role for the design of climate infrastructure, wherein these systems are designed to make legible our changing planet while serving to mitigate the disastrous impacts of these changes. The full show is now available on spacemakergallery.com Show Time 19:00 min #spacemakergallery #landart #landscapearchitecture #designgallery #onlinegallery #artanddesign #designarchive #contemporarydesign

Heartwood Preserve receives Top Honors from Fast Company. We’re proud to celebrate the work of Meyer Studio Land Architects, led by Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning David Meyer and alum Grace Amundson (BA Landscape Architecture 2019). Their Heartwood Preserve Greenway System in Omaha, Nebraska, has been named the 2025 Fast Company Innovation by Design Award winner in the category of Sustainability and Circular Design. Heartwood Preserve reimagines flood-control infrastructure as public art. Fourteen sculptural limestone vessels transform essential stormwater infrastructure into an experience of landscape, ecology, climate resilience, and wonder. Read more: /91388486/sustainability-circular-design-innovation-by-design-2025 Images: 1 – Stone Cairn 2 – Axial Bowl Amphitheater 3 – Heartwood Preserve, Folly Park 4 – Radial Vessel 5 – David Meyer and Grace Amundson @meyerstudiola @fastcompany #UCBerkeley #BuiltEnvironment #LandscapeArchitecture #HeartwoodPreserve #SustainableDesign

So blessed too have David Meyer of MSLA for coming to Omaha and giving the trail tour of Heartwood Preserve to The members of Nebraska Nursery and Landscape Association

Scenes from Alta Laguna ✨ A promenade framed by ginkgo trees. Cascading stairways layered with detail. Jamison tree and trench grates by Urban Accessories, crafted in raw ductile iron, tying it all together. Thoughtful material choices, lasting craftsmanship, and a design by Meyer Studio Land Architects that lets nature and functionality flow side by side. 🌳 #UrbanAccessories #LandscapeArchitecture #SiteFurnishings

Seamless design, lasting function. The Jamison trench grates by Urban Accessories run throughout Alta Laguna in San Francisco, bringing durability and timeless detail to the urban promenade. Made from raw ductile iron, they provide dependable performance while complementing the project’s modern landscape. 📍 Alta Laguna, San Francisco 🌳 Landscape Architect: Meyer Studio Land Architects

Design that seamlessly blends form, function, and nature 🌿✨ At Alta Laguna in San Francisco, every detail tells a story. Designed by Meyer Studio Land Architects, this urban promenade features the timeless Jamison collection by Urban Accessories, crafted from raw ductile iron for durability and elegance. Custom tree grates—some designed to accommodate uplighting—and complementary trench grates bring visual harmony and practical beauty to Waller Park’s dynamic landscape. Swipe through for a dose of design inspiration that proves the smallest details can make the biggest impact. #LandscapeArchitecture #UrbanDesign #PublicSpaces #UrbanAccessories #DesignInspiration #TreeGrates #TrenchGrates #MaterialMatters #SiteFurnishings #SanFranciscoDesign

Situated at the edge of Dianshan Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the Shanghai area, this is a collection of park pavilions that we designed as part of the master plan and landscape design of the Dianshan Lake North Shore Park by MEYER + SILBERBERG LAND ARCHITECTS, with the goal of establishing a unique identity for the township and creating a leisure and recreation destination for the local community as well as tourists from Shanghai, Kunshan, Suzhou, and beyond. In contrast to the pseudo “European” or “Chinese”-style private and public developments that have become popular in this area, the buildings establish a narrative that speaks about place and context rather than resorting to pastiche and historicist clichés. The character of each building is an expression of its function as informed by local conditions in relation to the master plan, while a contemporary architectural language and coordinated materials palette of metal, stone, wood and glass become the unifying elements. The overall style is organized according to various motifs inspired by the natural characteristics of the site, i.e. the interaction of wind and water, and the unique native flora such as the Twin Lotus and Dawn Redwoods that occur along the lakefront and within the wetland areas. Eschewing consumerist architectural trends, our design approach seeks to embrace nature, integrate built form with landscape, reinforce the unique settings created within the park and ultimately create attractive landmark buildings that are relevant to both the regional cultural heritage and the contemporary global social and cultural milieu. #LandscapeArchitecture #urbanarchitecture #ModernDesign #DianshanLake #SustainableArchitecture #CulturalHeritage #modernarchitecturedesign

30 Rock is home to NBC, and its neighbor 50 Rock is home to quite a few QCP planters. In collaboration with @meyerstudiola , we reimagined (and resized) two standard products: the Tambo and Carmen. The custom sizing for these planters complements the site’s unique focal point, a grass-covered crescent. The result? An exquisitely designed New York City rooftop. #qcp #nyc #50rock #50rockefellerplaza #rooftop #nycrooftop #landscapearchitecture #landscape #precastconcrete #concretedesign #concreteplanters #asid #aia #asla

There's some exquisite model making happening in LDARCH 204 with David Meyer. Students have been working on grading the Heartwood Greenways Site in Nebraska.