2025 Fellows: Matthew Cunningham, FASLA, Boston Chapter

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design, Stoneham, MA
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Matthew Cunningham's award-winning, plant-centric projects embody a rigorous commitment to regionalism, environmental stewardship, and climate adaptation. His work inspires new ways of living and learning by fostering biodiversity, promoting meaningful connections with the land, and drawing people from indoors out. With more than 1,600 acres of built works, Matthew's gardens aim to restore fragmented ecologies. They replace invasive species with drought-and deluge-resistant native plants that sequester carbon, nourish pollinators, reduce maintenance, and integrate practical, site-specific stormwater management solutions. At Le Petit Chalet in Southwest Harbor, Maine, a durable, context-sensitive design restored the hurricane-damaged historic property. New landforms and stormwater management strategies ensure swift drainage while enhancing the property's natural absorption patterns with native plant colonies stabilizing soils and regenerating habitat. In "Suburban Jungle" in Brookline, Massachusetts, with no site soil and limited resources, MCLD transformed the modest north-facing parcel from a stripped lot into a lush, layered ecosystem, merging architecture and nature through the use of pioneer species from New England's successional plant communities. At Berkshire Ridge in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, a year-round retreat perched on a wooded mountain slope, the designers focused on blurring indoor-outdoor boundaries and blending modern architecture with the rugged landscape. The design integrates the home into the mountainside through reclaimed granite terraces, while roof runoff and stormwater are directed into bioretention basins that slowly recharge the surrounding watershed. Through teaching at Harvard, lectures, interviews, and social media, and his research and experimentation farm, MCLD Land Lab, Matthew drives crucial conversations that highlight how a constellation of landscapes can add up to address global challenges.