Christopher Counts is an award-winning Landscape Architect, Educator, and Artist based in Miami.

Christopher Counts is an award-winning Landscape Architect and the Creative Director and Vice President at Chenmoore, a multidisciplinary design and engineering firm. A licensed landscape architect in Florida (#LA6667504) and New York (#002957), he is based in the firm’s Miami office and specializes in the design of public parks, with a focus on the experiential dimension of outdoor places. His work reflects a deep commitment to improving the daily lives of people in cities while advancing the ecological health of natural environments through the medium of landscape design.

Counts began his career with the internationally renowned landscape architecture practice Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates in New York City, where he collaborated on many of the firm’s signature high-profile projects, including Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, NY; the ASLA Green Roof in Washington, DC; Bailey Plaza at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY; and Corktown Common in Toronto, ON.

In 2008, Counts won the prestigious Rome Prize and spent a year at the American Academy in Rome as the Prince Charitable Fellow in Landscape Architecture, developing his project “Drawing and Painting as a Means to Study the Spatial Registration, Movement, and Appropriated Use of the Masterpieces of the Italian Urban Landscape.” Upon returning to the United States, he founded Counts Studio in Brooklyn, NY, where for nearly a decade his creative work was widely published, received numerous design awards, and achieved high-profile competition wins. Signature projects from this period include the award-winning Moore Square Master Plan in Raleigh, NC; 337 Garden in New York, NY; the Beijing International Garden Expo in Beijing, China; and the finalist proposal for the World War I National Memorial in Washington, DC.

Counts’ leadership roles have also included serving as Design Principal at Perkins & Will and as Lead Design Principal at Raymond Jungles Inc. His recent work includes the competition-winning Jacksonville River Plaza in Jacksonville, FL; Huizenga Park in Fort Lauderdale, FL; and the Parkview Promenade at Florida International University in Miami, FL.

A strong believer in the intersection of practice and teaching, Counts has served as the Stuckeman Career Development Professor in Design at Pennsylvania State University and has held numerous visiting professor appointments at the University of Virginia, Clemson University, and others. He has been an invited design critic and speaker at leading universities and professional conferences, including Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Georgia, Parsons School of Design, City College of New York, the University of Hong Kong, Florida International University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Counts earned his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia and his Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University. He lives in the Coconut Grove Neighborhood of Miami with his two sons Hammett (9) and Harry (8).

Please see below for an overview of Christopher’s professional achievements and click here to view a PDF his detailed resume Christopher Counts Full CV. You can also click here to visit Christopher’s Paintings and Drawings website. christopher-counts.com

Awards and Competitions

  • Florida ASLA, Parkview Promenade and Quad, Florida International University, Miami, FL, Design Principal in in collaboration with Perkins and Will, Miami, FL

  • Florida AIA, Huizenga Park, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Design Principal in in collaboration with Perkins and Will, Miami, FL

  • Florida ASLA, 2800 Ponce Plaza, Coral Gables, FL, Design Principal in in collaboration with Perkins and Will, Miami, FL

  • Los Angles AIA, Cortzone Housing, Los Angles, FL, Design Principal in in collaboration with Perkins and Will, Los Angles, CA

  • National ASLA Honor Award in Analysis and Planning, 100-Year Vision for 220-Year-Old Square, Moore Square Raleigh, NC

  • Nominee, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s National Design Award in Landscape Architecture New York, NY

  • Finalist, Off-The-Rails Design Competition, Ft. Collins, Colorado (Anonymous)

  • ASLA National Honor Award, Corktown Common: Flood Protection and Neighborhood Park

    Christopher Counts Senior Associate Project Designer in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh

  • Invited Participant, Olana Summer House Design Exhibition “Follies, Form & Function; Imagining Olana’s Summer House.” Organized by the Olana Partnership with NYAIA and NYASLA, Hudson, NY

  • Finalist,World War One National Memorial Design Competition

    Washington, District of Columbia (1 of 5 selected from 350+ international anonymous entries)

  • Visiting Artist,The American Academy in Rome Rome, Italy

  • International Design Competition First Place Winner, Happy Valley Garden

    Whuhan, China (1st place from 900+ international anonymous entries in from 30 countries)

  • Design Competition Winner, Beijing International Garden Expo, Included in Master’s Garden Expo with leading designers including; Diane Balmori, Peter Latz, Eva Castro, Toru Mitani, and Peter Walker

    Beijing, China

  • National Competition Winner for Moore Square Raleigh, North Carolina (1st place out of 80 entries)

  • Rome Prize Winner, The American Academy in Rome, Rome, ItalyPrince Charitable Fellow in Landscape Architecture. Project: Drawing and Painting as a Means to Study the Movement, Spatial Registration, and Appropriated Use of the Masterpieces of the Italian Urban Landscape 

  • ASLA Honor Award, Green Roof for the American Society of Landscape Architects Project Designer in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh, Washington, DC

  • Building Stone Tucker Design Award, Bailey Plaza Project Designer in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

  • ASLA Honor Award, ASLA National Headquarters Green Roof Project Designer in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh, Washington, DC

  • Finalist for Wharf District Park, Central Artery Park Project Designer in collaboration with Michael Van Valkenburgh and Matthew Urbanski Boston, MA

Teaching Appointments

  • The Pennsylvania State University, Stuckeman Carer Development Professor of Design (Endowed Position), State College, PA

  • University of Virginia, Visiting Lecturer, Charlottesville, VA

  • Clemson University, Visiting Lecturer, Clemson, SC

  • Harvard University, Carer Discovery Drawing Instructor, Cambridge, MA

  • Boston Architectural College, Design Instructor, Boston, MA

Invited Lectures

  • Florida International University, Miami, FL

  • American Society of Landscape Architects National Conference (Multiple)

  • Pennsylvania State Univeristy, State College, PA

  • National Building Museum, Washington, DC

  • Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

  • Auburn University, Auburn, AL

  • Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL

  • Clemson University, Clemson, SC

  • Wisconsin ASLA Conference

  • University of Georgia, Athens, GA

  • North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Invited Design Juries

  • The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

  • Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

  • Florida International University, Miami, FL

  • Clemson University, Clemson, SC

  • Auburn University, Auburn, AL

  • The University of Georgia, Athens, GA

  • Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, China

  • Yale University, New Haven, CT

  • Parsons School of Design, New York, NY

  • Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL

  • City College of New York, New York, NY

  • Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA

  • New York University, New York, NY

  • North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Overview of Notable Project Experience

Developed with Counts Studio, Brooklyn, NY

  • More Square Master Plan, Raleigh, NC

  • World War 1 National Memorial Competition Finalist, Washington, DC

  • Bejing International Masters Garden, Beijing, China

  • 22nd Street Garden, New York, NY

  • Savoy Apartments Master Plan and Garden, New York, NY

  • Happy Valley Garden, Hubei, China

  • Quinshan New City (Multiple Projects), Zhuhai, China

  • ExpoGeorgia, Tblisi, Georgia

Developed with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, New York, NY

  • Bailey Plaza, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

  • American Society of Landscape Architects Headquarters Building Green Roof, Washington, DC

  • Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NY

  • Lower Don Lands, Toronto, ON

  • London Olympics White Water Kayak Corse, London, UK

  • Corktown Common, Toronto, ON

  • Novartis North American Headquarters Campus, East Hanover, NJ

  • Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, Washington, DC

  • Teardrop Park, New York, NY

Developed with Perkins & Will, Miami, FL

  • Jacksonville River Plaza, Jacksonville, FL (Former Site of the Jacksonville Landing)

  • Pedestrian Mall and Quad, Florida International University, Miami, FL

  • Huizenga Park, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

  • Florida Power and Light Headquarters, Palm Beach County, FL

  • Cortzone Housing and Garden, Los Angles, CA

  • Cornell Housing, New York, NY

  • Prudential Visitors Center Landscape, Boston, MA

  • Fair Park Master Plan, Dallas, TX

  • Sunset Boulevard Gateway, Los Angles, CA

Developed with Raymond Jungles, Miami, FL

  • 302 Ocean Drive Condo Development in Collaboration with Terra, Key Biscayne, FL

  • Memorial Garden for Brice Marden, Athens, NY

  • Restoration Hardware, Aventura, FL

  • Private Island, Exhumas, Bahamas

  • Various Residential Landscapes, South Florida