Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Bishop.
Scott, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story starts in Michigan, playing in the woods behind my house with my brother, walking in the streams and following them to bigger and bigger streams and creeks until we made it to the Grand River. That is where I learned to appreciate ecology, play and to interact with the landscape. At the same time, I was very interested in saving the whales and the rest of the world. My mother was an educator and my father was a business owner, which I believe also has a role in my story.
I think it was this unusual hybrid of circumstances that brought me to College of the Atlantic to study and provided me with the basis of my inquiries, both professionally and academically, which are focused on how we as a species interact with our environment. Ultimately, I decided to become a landscape architect and attended the University of Pennsylvania.
After earning my master’s degree, I worked to help grow Stoss Landscape Urbanism for ten years, became a leader there and during my tenure there, the firm won the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. My interests in human ecology, landscape architecture and academia ultimately led me to create my own firm, BLD, Bishop Land Design.
I have taught for most of my professional career and currently, I’m the Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University’s Urban Landscape Program in the School of Architecture. This allows me to pursue long range and expansive thinking in human ecology, which may be ahead of the landscape architecture market. It also serves as mechanism of the creation of potential frameworks for change at the scale of cities and regions as we look to redefine our relationship to the environment.
My wife Laurie, whom I’ve been with for 18 years, is also a critical part of my story, as she has always been a supporter of my pursuits and has dealt with a somewhat crazy lifestyle of global travel and design rabbit holes, and has also provided me perspective, advice and sanity throughout my career. Our eight year-old son has also had a major beneficial impact on my life, giving me additional perspective on how we interact with the world.
I still enjoy the outdoors but also need to get away from land on occasion and sailing is an enjoyable escape for me. I pull both the family and the firm into that activity as often as possible. I often ask clients to join me for meetings on the boat. BLD Racing participated in its first regatta this summer and we are hoping to improve on our record next year.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One learns how to have a certain resiliency as struggles present themselves often in this line of work. On the other hand, I deal with the same struggles that every business does, money issues, crazy hours and keeping momentum going. I do believe though that landscape architects have specific issues that we have to deal with, which is about how we convince people that what we do matters.
We, as humans, have historically looked to the landscape as something to take from or get rid of, rather than understanding it as a critical resource that we need to nurture and support. It’s not just about parks, yards and plazas, it’s about creating a beneficial relationship with the landscape. Educating people on landscape and garnering support for it will continue to be a struggle but one that we must continue for everyone’s sake.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Bishop Land Design, BLD – what should we know?
I’m the founder and leader of Bishop Land Design, LLC but the firm itself is made up of a group of talented and optimistic individuals. We all design with the intent to make the world a better place through human ecology, the study of how our species interacts with our environment.
Research does not simply live in the academic realm. At BLD, we focus our research on finding ways to increase productivity and create a positive gain for the entire system. We are interested in not only the idea but the execution, of an applied human ecology that utilizes the practice of landscape architecture to design hybridized living systems, infrastructures and places that have multi-functional uses and agendas over time.
We look to expand collaboration outside the studio, we are interested in working with governments, communities, institutions, developers, economists, scientists, engineers, planners, architects, designers, artists and like-minded individuals to design elegant solutions and build a productive future.
What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
I was curious and outgoing as a child, which is why the living world was so fascinating to me. Besides, sports like swimming, scuba diving and sailing, I was interested in science and biology. I also enjoyed playing with my Aunt’s art materials, she’s an artist and lived right next to my father’s store. As I mentioned before, I loved to just mess around in dirt, streams and forests but also had kind of a mad scientist workshop in our basement where I would take apart almost anything; blenders, scissors, radios, etc. and try to make interesting creations with them. Ultimately, I found design to be a great amalgam of my interests. As generalists, we must be able to assimilate and apply knowledge from all sectors of our world to create responsible spaces for the planet.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bld.partners
- Phone: 617-302-3408
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