Critical Conversations: bridging pathways forward to greater understanding and creative solutions.

Walter Hood: The African Ancestors Garden in conversation with Matteo Milani, Pei Cobb Freed + Partners, and Signe Nielsen, MNLA Landscape

February 5, 2025 6:15 PM – 8:00 PM

Higgins Hall Auditorium

Two people embrace under a modern canopy, framed by a view of a marina with sailboats and a distant ship. The foreground features an artistic, reflective ground surface with abstract cutouts holding small pools of water. The scene is serene, with pastel hues of a sunset over the harbor.

Designed to honor the lives and legacies of the African diaspora, the African Ancestors Garden at the International African American Museum integrates cultural symbolism, native plants, and evocative spatial forms. This lecture examines the creative process behind this living memorial, highlighting how history and memory are embedded within the design to foster reflection, healing, and connection. Through its layered narratives and immersive experience, the garden creates a contemplative space that bridges past and present while inspiring dialogue about identity, heritage, and community.

Following his talk, Hood will engage in conversation with Signe Nielsen (MNLA, Pratt Institute) and Matteo Milani (Pei Cobb Freed + Partners).

Walter J. Hood, a multidisciplinary designer from Charlotte, NC, is globally recognized for his contributions in art, landscape architecture, urbanism, and research. Founding Hood Design Studio in Oakland, CA in 1992, he now leads as its creative director. Walter’s academic journey began at North Carolina A&T State University in architectural engineering. He then transitioned to their pioneering landscape architecture program, graduating in its first class in 1981. Further studies led him to the University of California, Berkeley. His passion for landscape and urbanism emerges from its broad, democratic scope, allowing experiences beyond architectural constraints. Infusing African American cultural arts into his philosophy, he established a unique voice, reshaping spaces to reflect contemporary needs without erasing their history. A professor at UC Berkeley and former Harvard educator, Walter penned “Black Landscapes Matter” and has received accolades such as the 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2021 Architectural League’s President’s Medal award, and 2024 Vincent Scully Prize.

Organized by Pratt Master of Landscape Architecture and Pratt Undergraduate Architecture.