Walter J. Hood (born 1958), is an American designer, artist, academic administrator, and educator. He is the former chair of
landscape architecture at the
University of California, Berkeley,[2] and principal of Hood Design Studio in
Oakland, California. Hood has worked in a variety of settings including
architecture, landscape architecture, visual art, community leadership, urban design, and in planning and research. He has spent more than 20 years living in
Oakland,
California. He draws on his strong connection to the
Black community in his work. He has chosen to work almost exclusively in the
public realm and
urban environments.[3]
Hood established Hood Design Studio in Oakland, California, in 1992.[citation needed] Hood's work spans the range from local, community-based projects—such as Splash Pad Park, a converted traffic island alongside Interstate 580 in Oakland, California[5]—to large-scale garden designs like the grounds for the new
M. H. de Young Museum in San Francisco with Swiss architects
Herzog & de Meuron (2005). Hood's public spaces embrace the essence of urban environments and their links to urban redevelopment and neighborhood revitalization.[6] He is designing the landscape for the
Autry National Center Southwest Museum in
Los Angeles, designing an archeological garden within the context of the South Lawn Project at the
University of Virginia, and developing a set of monuments and markers for a six-mile waterfront trail in Oakland, California.
Hood's published monographs Urban Diaries (Spacemaker Press, 1997) and Blues & Jazz Landscape Improvisations (Poltroon Press, 1993) illustrate his approach to the design of urban landscapes. These works won an ASLA Research award in 1996. His essay "Macon Memories" is included in Sites of Memory: Perspectives on Architecture and Race (Princeton Architectural Press, 2001).
In 2014, Hood was commissioned by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission to create Witness Walls, a commemorative sculpture celebrating Nashville's civil rights history during the 1950s and 1960s.[11][12] A public dedication event for the project, Nashville's first civil-rights inspired public art, was held April 21, 2017.[13]
Awards and recognition
In 1997, Hood was a fellow at the
American Academy in Rome in Landscape Architecture.[14] His work was featured in the 2006 exhibit "The Good Life: New Public Spaces for Recreation", at the Van Alen Institute in New York.[15] Hood was the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Cooper–Hewitt National Design Award for Landscape Design,[16][17] and has exhibited and lectured on his professional projects and theoretical works nationally and abroad.[18][19][20]
In 2018, The USC School of Architecture's American Academy in China (AAC) selected Hood as that year's research fellow. Hood is to design an installation to be executed using only local artisans and materials in Shanghai and Los Angeles; he will also give lectures in both cities.[21]
Virginia Key Beach Museum Competition, Miami Fl/1st Prize w/Huff and Gooden Architects 2005/Merit Award, ASLA, Northern Chapter[citation needed]
Oakland Waterfront 2005/Top Honor Award, Excellence on the Waterfront[citation needed]
Waterfront Center Award, Oakland Waterfront, October 2004/APWA 2004 Distinguished Project of the Year Award[citation needed]
Splash Pad Park/Mayor's Proclamation, "Walter Hood Day", Pioneering Achievements in Urban Landscape Design, City of Oakland, April 24, 2004/National Award of Honor American Society of Landscape Architecture, 2003[citation needed]
Project: Baldwin Hills Master Plan 2001/Best of the Best, California Park and Recreation Society 2002[citation needed]
Project: Lafayette Square Park/Merit Award, ASLA Southern California Chapter[citation needed]
Project: Baldwin Hills Master Plan 2001/Place Design Award, EDRA/Places, Third Annual Award 1999[citation needed]
Project: Lafayette Square Park. Poplar Street Civic Design Competition, First Prize. Macon, Georgia. Jan. 1998[citation needed]
"Urban Diaries" and "Jazz and Blues Landscape Improvisations", American Society of Landscape Architecture National Award of Merit: Research, 1994[citation needed]
Mount Vernon Riverfront Plan, Community Development Award State of Washington, 1988[citation needed]
University of California Arboretum at Davis/ASLA Certificate For Excellence in the study of Landscape Design, 1987[citation needed]
Thomas Church Design Award for Excellence in Landscape Design/Department of Landscape Architecture at Berkeley, 1987[citation needed]
Publications
Hood, Walter (2016). "The Greenprint". In Mostafavi, Mohsen; Doherty, Gareth (eds.). Ecological Urbanism (2nd ed.). Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers.
ISBN978-3-03778-467-9.
Hood, Walter (2016). "The Consequences of Place". In Ibler, Marianne (ed.). A New Golden Age – Nordic Architecture & Landscape. Aarhus: Archipress M.
ISBN978-8791872129.
Hood, Walter; Basnak, Megan (2015). "Diverse Truths: Unveiling the Hidden Layers of the Shadow Catcher Commemoration". In Tauke, Beth; Smith, Korydon; Davis, Charles (eds.). Diversity and Design: Understanding Hidden Consequences. New York: Routledge.
ISBN978-1-138-02317-8.
Hood, Walter (2014). "Objects in the Field, Photovoltaics in the Landscape". In Scognamiglio, Alessandra (ed.). Photovoltaics, Forms, Landscapes : Beauty and Power of Designed Photovoltaics. Florence: ETA.
ISBN978-8889407110.
Hood, Walter (2012). "Bioline: Activating the Mundane". In Jacob, Mary Jane; Baas, Jacquelynn (eds.). Chicago Makes Modern: How Creative Minds Changed Society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
ISBN978-0-226-38956-1.
Hood, Walter (2010). "Center Street". In Mostafavi, Mohsen; Doherty, Gareth (eds.). Ecological Urbanism. Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers.
ISBN978-3-03778-189-0.
Hood, Walter (15 September 2008).
"Reimagining Center Street"(PDF). Places. 20 (2: Climate Change and Place): 85–87. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
Hood, Walter (2008). "Color Fields". In Treib, Marc (ed.). Representing Landscape Architecture. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
ISBN978-0-415-70043-6.
Hood, Walter (2005). "Landscape as Social Infrastructure". In Raxworthy, Julian; Blood, Jessica (eds.). The MESH Book: Landscape/infrastructure. Melbourne: RMIT University Press.
ISBN978-0-86459-308-5.
Hood, Walter (2004). "Awakening: Quilt Top Patterns in the Third Dimension". In Brown, David; Williams, William (eds.). Row: Trajectories Through the Shotgun House. Houston, TX: Rice University School of Architecture.
ISBN978-1-885232-08-3.
Hood, Walter (2003). "Low Cost House, or the House that Roared". In Bell, Michael (ed.). 16 Houses: Designing the Public's Private House. New York, NY: Monacelli Press.
ISBN978-1-58093-114-4.
Hood, Walter; Erikson, Mellissa (2001). "Macon Memories: Remaking Poplar Street, The Shifting Black Cultural Landscape". In Barton, Craig Evan (ed.). Sites of Memory : Perspectives on Architecture and Race. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press.
ISBN978-1-56898-233-5.
^Blum, Andrew (1 August 2005).
"The Peace Maker". Metropolis. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^Capps, Kriston (6 June 2011).
"Studio Visit: Hood Design". Architect Magazine. Hanley Wood Media. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^"Spring Lecture Series"(PDF). University of Maryland, Landscape Architecture Program. 2007. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2010-12-10.