From left: James van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme. Mr. Oehme passed away in December 2011; Mr. van Sweden passed away in September 2013. The duo launched Oehme, van Sweden Landscape Architects in Washington, D.C. in 1977. Oehme and van Sweden are credited with founding the 'New American Garden' style of landscape architecture, which eschewed formal or artificial planting forms in favor of weaving natural courses or plants throughout the garden.

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., will exhibit from October 17, 2015 through May 2016 the breadth of landscape architectural work of the Oehme, van Sweden (OvS) firm over the last 40 years. On exhibit will be original plans, renderings, photographs and fine art of the founding principals-Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden-and the work of the new generation of team leaders: CEO/principle Lisa Delplace, ASLA, and principles Sheila Brady, FASLA and Eric Groft, FASLA.

The 3.5-acre native plant garden design by OvS at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx offers nearly 100,000 northeastern native plants in shaded woodland, open meadow and wetland settings. Photo: Robert Benson

The National Building Museum, adjacent to the Judiciary Square Metro station, was created by Congress in 1980 as a repository for all things architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning. The Cultural Landscape Foundation's exhibit will present the broad reach of OvS: expansive waterfront estates, urban townhouse gardens, botanical gardens and commercial and institutional spaces. Detailed drawings of intimate spaces, large meadow-like landscapes and restorative civic parks are accompanied by large-scale photography that shows the drama and naturalism that has brought the firm world-wide recognition.

The OvS garden design at the American Psychological Association offers separate garden terraces with intensive green roof plantings, large shrubs and trees. Photo: Lisa Delplace

The firm continues to build on the legacy of innovative self-sustaining garden design that the founders established. OvS stands out as a leader in private residential gardens in places like South and East Hampton, N.Y.; Greenwich, Conn.; Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; Newport, R.I.; Bethesda, M.D.; Washington, D.C.; and Kiawah Island, S.C.

The firm's engaging streetscapes are on view in Manhasset, N.Y.; Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Md. The streetscapes are punctuated by small parks and cafes, and offer such ecological benefits as tree health and stormwater management. "We believe that aesthetics and ecology should equally drive design," explains CEO Lisa Delplace, ASLA.

OvS received the American Society of Landscape Architects' 2014 Landscape Architecture Firm Award.