Dana Brown

I could venture back way too far about getting into Landscape Architecture and Planning, but I will try to be brief. I found out about it in my freshman year of college at LSU, where the #1 undergraduate program and #2 or #3 (varies) graduate program are housed (for many years this has been the case). Talking to the faculty I learned that I could study just about everything I love: history, the environment, drawing, being creative, helping communities. That is how I got into it. I graduated from LSU in 1979 (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture) and from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1981 (Master of Landscape Architecture) and have loved my work ever since. I wake up every morning loving it. I worked for private firms in Boston then New Orleans until I went to teach at LSU, after which I worked in Southern California for 15 years. I came back to Louisiana in 2002 to each again at LSU, started a consulting business while there and went full time into consulting at the end of 2005. Being back in my hometown, I like to focus on public project and community projects -- whether landscape architecture design or community planning. After practicing for 38 years, I am at the point where I mostly want to make a difference. I believe in designing public spaces as rooted in our culture and our natural environment -- having a sense of place and context. I believe strongly in working closely with leaders and residents of communities to plan and design with them - not for them. I hope our clients like to work with me, with us. I believe they do because we are very passionate about our projects and we will go the extra mile to make sure of the best possible outcomes. We primarily design public parks and plazas, and specialize in designing stormwater management systems (green infrastructure) to mitigate localized flooding and improve water quality. I lead the way in the state to incorporate stormwater management -- managing raindrops close to where they fall using native plants -- with the first constructed green infrastructure projects in 2006. We also prepare a number of comprehensive plans and comprehensive zoning codes for towns and parishes. Currently, we are designing the outdoor spaces (at ground level and on roof decks) for the Four Seasons Hotel in New Orleans and are designing green infrastructure for the Broadmoor Hazard Mitigation Project, a $50M construction project to reduce flooding in Broadmoor and Central City.