Bradley Cantrell

PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
TENURED FACULTY; LEADERSHIP

Education

BSLA, University of Kentucky
MLA, Harvard Graduate School of Design

Licensed Landscape Architect

Biography

Bradley Cantrell is a landscape architect and scholar known for his contributions to the integration of computation, responsive technologies, and ecological infrastructures in the design of the territory. He has held academic appointments at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, The Rhode Island School of Design, and the Louisiana State University Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. As a professor and the current Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Virginia, he has pushed the boundaries of how landscapes are designed, understood, and experienced.

Cantrell’s work bridges the gap between traditional landscape practices and nascent technologies that are transforming the field. His research explores how computation can create responsive, adaptive, and resilient landscapes that address complex environmental challenges. His decade of experience and research in Southern Louisiana points to a series of methodologies that develop modes of modeling, simulation, and embedded computation that express and engage the complexity of overlapping physical, cultural, and economic systems. His approach to landscape architecture is not just theoretical; it is deeply rooted in practical applications that have redefined the capabilities of the discipline.

He is the author of the publication, “Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture,” a seminal text that has become a cornerstone in the education of landscape architects. The book, co-authored with Wes Michaels, provides a comprehensive guide to digital tools and techniques, making it an essential resource for both students and practitioners. Another significant work, “Responsive Landscapes,” co-authored with Justine Holzman, delves into the potentials of interactive systems and adaptive design, offering a forward-thinking perspective on how constructed landscapes can respond to and shape ecological processes.

He is a sought-after lecturer internationally and has been a driving force behind numerous groundbreaking projects that blend ecological sensitivity and computational thinking. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, and his influence is evident in the new generation of landscape architects who are redefining the discipline through innovation and a commitment to procedural and relational design.

Lectures

  • 2024 Adaptive Epistemology, University of New Mexico
  • 2024 Autonomy and Wildness, Keynote Speaker Digital Landscape Architecture Conference, Vienna, Austria
  • 2023 Computational Collaborators, ASLA 2023 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN
  • 2021 Adaptive Epistemology, University of Puerto Rico
  • 2021 Adaptive Epistemology, University of Oslo
  • 2020 Adaptive Epistemology, Digital Futures Keynote Lecture
  • 2020 Failure: On Error, Public Lecture, University of Hawaii
  • 2019 Sediment Choreography and Intelligent Wilds, Beijing Forestry, Beijing China
  • 2017 Sediment Choreography and Intelligent Wilds, UCL Bartlett Cross-Scale Design Group, London, UK
  • 2017 Digital Methods Workshop, ASLA 2017 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2017 The Academy’s Disciplinary Contribution, ASLA 2017 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2017 Creative Visualization of North American Rivers, ASLA 2017 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2017 Sediment Choreography and Intelligent Wilds, Ambiguous Territory Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI
  • 2017 Sediment Choreography, Ambiguous Territory Exhibition, Ann Arbor, MI (traveling)
  • 2017 Responsive Technologies, Digital Landscape Architecture Symposium Keynote Lecture, Bernburg, Germany
  • 2017 Responsive Technologies, RMIT Barcelona Invited Lecture, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2017 Curated Complexity and Responsive Landscapes, University of Kentucky Department of Landscape Architecture, Lexington, KY
  • 2017 Curated Complexity and Responsive Landscapes, Material Interactions Symposium Keynote Lecture, CCNY, New York, NY
  • 2017 Curated Complexity and Responsive Landscapes, University of North Dakota School of Architecture, Fargo, ND
  • 2017 Responsive Technologies, University of Miami School of Architecture, Miami, FL
  • 2016 Realities and Realms Conference, Harvard GSD
  • 2016 Responsive Topographies for Fluvial Landscapes, Harvard GSD Experiments Wall
  • 2016 Fluvial Topograghies, Invited Lectur, IFLA Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia
  • 2016 What is Parametrics?, ASLA Annual Meeting Education Session
  • 2016 Interfacing with Landscape Performance, ASLA Annual Meeting Education Session
  • 2016 Responsive Landscapes, Curate Complexity, Invited Lecture University of Toronto
  • 2016 Responsive Terrain Modeling: Tuning Inderterminate Systems, University of Southern California Landscape as Necessity Conference, Los Angeles, CA
  • 2016 Landscape Choreography, Invited Panelist LaFarge Holcim Conference, Detroit, MI
  • 2016 Responsive Landscapes, Invited Lecture Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
  • 2016 Responsive Landscapes, Invited Lecture University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • 2015 Responsive Landsapes, Invited Keynote at Digital Landscape Architecture Conference, Nanjing, China
  • 2015 Responsive Landsapes, Invited Lecture at Universidad de Desarrollo, Santiago Chile
  • 2015 The Landscape Architecture Media Continuum, American Society of Landscape Architects National Conference, Chicago, IL
  • 2015 Synthetic Ecologies, Invited Lecture at UPenn Simulated Natures Symposium
  • 2015 Responsive Landscapes, Invited Lecture University of Nevada Las Vegas
  • 2015 Sensorscapes, CELA, Panel Presentation
  • 2015 Responsive Landscapes, Invited Lecture Autodesk Labs, Pier 9, San Francisco, CA
  • 2015 Synthetic Ecologies, Invited Lecture at Florida International University
  • 2014 Synthetic Ecologies, Biofabricate Conference, New York, NY
  • 2014 Responsive Landscapes, Invited Lecture University of California Berkeley
  • 2014 Projective Ecologies, American Society of Landscape Architects National Conference, Denver, CO
  • 2014 Synthetic Ecologies: Protocols, Simulation, and Manipulation of Indeterminate Landcapes, ACADIA
  • 2014 Landscpae Computation, TED Global Fellow Presentations, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 2014 Dredgefest Louisiana Workshop Symposium Leader, Sediment Curation Devices
  • 2013 Synthetic Ecologies, Invited Lecture University of Manitoba Department of Landscape Architecture 
  • 2013 Synthetic Ecologies, Invited Lecture Colorado State University Department of Landscape Architecture 
  • 2013 Synthetic Ecologies, Invited Lecture Cornell University Department of Landscape Architecture 
  • 2013 Synthetic Landscapes, Invited Lecture Utah State University Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
  • 2012 Responsive Systems, EAAE/ARCC Conference on Architectural Research: Cities in Transformation, 2012
  • 2012 Ecological Responsibility, ICOHTEC, (International Committee for the History of Technology), Technology, the Arts and Industrial Culture

Brad Cantrell

Contact

BRADLEY CANTRELL
Campbell Hall 230
434-243-2014
bcantrell@virginia.edu

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