Ignacio Bunster-Ossa
Vice President, Landscape Urbanism and Resiliency
A hard-working nice guy, Ignacio is one of America’s leading landscape architects and leaders in the field of landscape urbanism, the fusion of localism and green infrastructure applied to the planning and design of new communities, open space systems, parks, greenways, waterfronts, streetscapes and civic places.
A student of Ian McHarg’s, Ignacio served as partner for over two decades in McHarg’s legacy firm, Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC. He is author of Reconsidering Ian McHarg: The Future of Urban Ecology, a book that promotes McHarg’s ecological ethos and practice within in the urban environment, and is co-author of Green Infrastructure: A Landscape Approach, a seminal American Planning Association report about the integration of green infrastructure in the urban landscape. He also recently wrote an essay on the critical importance of ecology in Design with Nature Now, a publication commemorating the 50th anniversary of McHarg’s book published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Prior to joining the Collaborative, Ignacio served as Landscape Architecture Practice Leader for the Americas at AECOM where, among other work, he helped develop a resiliency framework for the Southwest Brooklyn Waterfront, NY; developed land use proposals for the Anacostia waterfront in Washington, D.C.; and led the design of Five Points Plazas in in the historic West End of Charlotte, NC.
A Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Ignacio enjoys wide recognition for design excellence and advocacy. Noted awards include: The Ruddy Brunner Award and ULI Global Award of Excellence for the SteelStacks Arts and Cultural Campus in Bethlehem, PA; the ASLA, PA/DE Chapter Honor and People’s Choice Award for the Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, D.C.; the ASLA, PA/DE Chapter Presidential Award of Excellence for the Nashville Courthouse Square; the APA Outstanding Planning Award for the South Livermore Valley Specific Plan in California; and the ASLA Potomac Chapter’s President’s Award for the design of the South Capitol Street Corridor in Washington, D.C.
Ignacio is a Board Member of the McHarg Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Board Member Emeritus of the Landscape Architecture Foundation, member of the Public Art Committee of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, and Steering Committee Member of PHEAL, an effort by minority planners, designers, and activists promoting planning principles for post-COVID-19 health equity. He has lectured widely on resiliency and design, including at the National Building Museum, multiple ASLA And APA conferences, and leading universities nationally and internationally.
Ignacio is a Harvard Graduate School of Design Loeb Fellow, holds a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami in Florida. He also spent a year abroad studying architecture at the University of Notre Dame’s Rome Studies Program.
