Chris Counts

Chris Counts is a practicing landscape architect. His interests involve the re-making of the urban landscape, public space design, and design representation and communication. His work is informed by a belief that the medium of landscape has a unique capacity to resolve conflicting programmatic and social interests and improve the ecological health and beauty of our cities.

Chris was a senior associate at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc., Landscape Architects (MVVA) in New York, NY from 2001- 2008 where he provided design leadership on a wide range of projects throughout the United States and internationally. Chris was the project designer for the winning proposal for Lower Don Lands International Design Competition in Toronto, ON. This winning proposal for 300 acres of Toronto’s post industrial waterfront was generated by a multidisciplinary integrated approach to ecology, urbanism, park, and infrastructure. This project received the ASLA National Honor Award in Analysis and Planning as well as the Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence.

Chris was the project designer for Bailey Plaza, at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY which received the Building Stone Institute Tucker Design Award and the nationally recognized American Society of Landscape Architects Green Roof which received the NYASLA Honor Award and is recognized in the recently published book Green Roofs a Case Study: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Design of the ASLA Green Roof by Princeton Architectural Press.

Christopher’s work with MVVA also includes the Novartis North American Headquarters Campus Master Plan and the Novartis East Village Landscape in East Hanover, New Jersey, London Olympics White Water Kayak Course, London, UK, and Don River Park, in Toronto, ON, and the Gene Leahy Park Master Plan in Omaha, Nebraska. His collaborative competition work has contributed to a winning proposal for Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House in Washington DC, a finalist proposal for international competitions for Central Artery’s Wharf District Park, in Boston, MA, and Padua International Planning Competition “Research Tower in the Industrial Area” in Padua, Italy with Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners.

Chris has lectured at universities and professional conferences across the United States including the American Society of Landscape Architects National Conference, Green Roofs for Healthy Cites National Conference, Harvard University, University of Georgia, and Clemson University. His drawings have been published by the New York Times, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Garden Design Magazine, Architectural Record, Architect Magazine, and Metropolis. Chris received his Masters in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design and his bachelors in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design.