ABOUT ME
Alison Duncan Landscape Architect
ASLA, RLA
Alison Duncan is a New York City based Landscape Architect with 20 years of professional design experience, cultivated at all scales and typologies within the field: from waterfronts to urban parks and playgrounds, private and institutional gardens, green roofs and green infrastructure, plazas and courtyards, residential developments, streetscapes, urban planning projects, and the design and fabrication of public art installations.
With extensive design and project management experience focused within the public realm, Ms. Duncan has collaborated with large teams on complex projects, and interfaced extensively with an array of NYC agencies, including NYC Department of City Planning , NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Department of Parks + Recreation, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Housing Authority, NYC Department of Design and Construction, and NYC Department of Transportation. Such public projects present unique challenges which require establishing a delicate balance between the hydrological, infrastructural, ecological, civic and financial goals of the community or region the project serves.
At her previous firm, Ms. Duncan managed $100 million of landscape design and construction documents for one of NYC’s largest infrastructure projects, the Croton Water Treatment Plant in the Bronx which is approximately $3 billion in total construction. This high-performance landscape was built across 30 acres and includes an 11 acre green roof driving range, wetland and bio-retention treatment cells, 60 site walls and other water features. This project was a recipient of a 2008 Design Excellence Award from NYC Public Design Commission and a 2017 ASLA Merit Award winner.
RECENTLY MANAGED PROJECTS INCLUDE
Flushing Queens Waterfront on the Flushing Creek, Queens
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North Cove Waterfront on the Harlem River, Manhattan
DOT NYC Public Plaza, Brownsville, Brooklyn
Seagirt Residential Development Open Space + Public Plaza, Rockaways, Queens
Andrew Haswell Green Park on the East River, Manhattan
Inner Courtyard, Residential Development, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
Wakefield Playground, Bronx
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CREDENTIALS
Licensed Landscape Architect, New York
Founder/Principal, Alison Duncan Design: Landscape Architecture + Urbanism, PLLC
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EDUCATION
Master of Landscape Architect, University of Pennsylvania School of Design
Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies + Psychology, Brown University
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ADVOCACY
Fine Arts Federation of New York, Vice President and ASLA-NY liaison, 2014-2020
American Society of Landscape Architects, New York Chapter (ASLA-NY), Board Member, 2010-2014
Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, NYC, Advisory Board, 2011-2012
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OTHER EXPERIENCE
2016-2020, Abel Bainnson Butz, Senior Landscape Architect
2010-2016, Alison Duncan Design, a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) 2011-2017
2013, Adjunct Faculty, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, + Preservation Urban Design Program
2006-2010, Ken Smith Landscape Architect, Project Manager
2000-2006, Abel Bainnson Butz, Project Manager
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AWARDS
ASLA NY Merit Award, East River State Park, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2010
Williamsburg Waterfront Competition, 2006
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INSTALLATIONS
Christo and Jeanne-Claude's, The Gates, Central Park, NYC
Work AC, Public Farm, at PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, Queens
Ken Smith, Wallflowers for the Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial, NYC
W. Gary Smith, Tower Hill Botanic Garden