Summer Young

My passion for landscape architecture is driven by opportunities to create more equitable landscapes for humans and more than human user groups. I am keen to plan interventions that are environmentally and socially sustainable in achievable and maintainable ways, especially over long timescales.

I have a special interest in novel ecosystems, climate change adaptation, diverse accessibility in design, co-design facilitation, and the use of landscape memory to create public spaces that carry meaningful narratives and enable therapeutic engagement. I’ve employed a variety of digital technologies to communicate design outcomes, but still enjoy using hand drawing as a method of understanding landscape design.

I’ve been able to spend quite a bit of time in New Zealand over the last decade but have only been able to call New Zealand home these last four years. I hope to use some of the lessons I learned from my other home, the Pacific Northwest of the United States, to benefit my community in Aotearoa. I feel very fortunate to be introduced to environmental design in New Zealand as a consultant at Boffa Miskell and am keen to continue learning from colleagues in a wide variety of disciplines.

Qualifications
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, University of Oregon
Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Practice, Ara Institute of Canterbury