Faye Harwell

Faye Harwell, FASLA, is a director and co-founder of Rhodeside & Harwell. She has designed prominent public open spaces throughout the United States, Canada, and overseas, earning more than 30 awards for excellence in landscape architecture. Harwell is renowned for her innovative concepts in ecological sustainability, and is recognized as a leader in bringing new life to historic urban landscapes. 

Ms. Harwell’s portfolio spans over 30 years of breakthrough work in landscape design, research, and planning. From her early design of Edmonton, Alberta’s Capital City Recreation Park—among North America’s first major river restoration projects—to her current work in creating safe and sustainable U.S embassy campus landscapes throughout the world, Ms. Harwell has demonstrated diverse range and skill with challenging commissions of all sizes. Her recent projects include design of the iconic park at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the restoration of Essex County Branch Brook Park in Newark, New Jersey—a nationally registered historic site originally designed by the Olmsted Brothers as part of America’s first county park system. Harwell holds the rare honor of leading the design of a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Her work on the George Mason National Memorial has earned praise from design critics, awards juries, and visitors to this modest and tranquil public garden.

Ms. Harwell holds a master of landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied with Ian McHarg and later joined the firm of Wallace, McHarg, Roberts & Todd. She holds a bachelor of arts in the history of art from Cornell University. She taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of Calgary, and has lectured at the University of Virginia, Cornell University, Catholic University, and many other institutions. Her work has been published widely in film and print.

A fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Ms. Harwell is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and she serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Association for Olmsted Parks. She is currently working on restoring the landscape at the U.S. Supreme Court and several projects at the U.S. Capitol Grounds.

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