2025 Fellows: Gena Wirth, FASLA, New York Chapter

SCAPE Landscape Architecture, New York City, NY
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Gena Wirth's longstanding commitment to progressive design practice and exemplary idea-driven work has resulted in visionary projects in the public realm, connecting social equity, climate resilience, and ecosystem health. Her dedication to exposing hidden systems of geology, ecology, and hydrology in the urban fabric has made her a leader in large-scale resilience and climate adaptation projects that advance ecological, nature-based design. As Design Principal at SCAPE and through her nonprofit volunteer work, she leads innovative projects at the forefront of climate resilience, adaptation, and urban ecological design, that advance unique forms of landscape storytelling. Public Sediment for Alameda Creek is a watershed-scale climate adaptation vision that addresses sea-level rise, drowning bayland ecosystems, and sediment scarcity in the South Bay. Public Sediment reconnects migratory fish to their historic spawning grounds; introduces a floodable creek corridor; and builds regional stewardship around sediment resources. Gowanus Lowlands in Brooklyn is an award-winning community-based vision for a new public realm, a restored waterfront edge, and open space network centered around the Gowanus Canal and its watershed-a Superfund site currently being cleaned up. The Gowanus Lowlands addresses multiple issues including urban heat island, lack of tree canopy, sea-level rise, coastal flooding, stormwater management and a combined sewer system, and lack of connectivity to open spaces across the neighborhood. Living Breakwaters introduces a layered approach to risk reduction-enhancing physical, ecological, and social resilience along the South Shore of Staten Island. Developed by a large, multidisciplinary team led by SCAPE and widely considered a model for climate-adaptive nature-based infrastructure, the project consists primarily of 2,400 linear feet of near-shore breakwaters that reduce erosion and provide a range of habitat spaces for oysters, fin fish, and other marine species.