Director of Program

Educational Credentials :

• M. Arch., Princeton University, 1996
• B. Arch., The Cooper Union, 1994
• B.S. in Landscape Architecture, City College of New York, 2007
• B.S., University of Michigan, 1991

Teaching Experience :

• Professor, City College of New York, 2020-present
• Associate Professor, City College of New York, 2011-2020
• Lecturer, Princeton University, 2003-2011
• Adjunct Professor, City College of New York, 2009-2010
• Visiting Professor, University of Virginia, 2009
• Visiting Professor, Parsons the New School for Design, 2007
• Adjunct Professor, The Cooper Union, 2000-2006
• Visiting Lecturer, Harvard University, 2002-2003

Professional Experience :

• Principal, Catherine Seavitt Studio, New York, NY, 2003-present
• Associate, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, New York, NY, 1998-2001
• Associate, RFR Ingenieurs, Paris, France, 1996-1997
• Associate, Atelier Raimund Abraham, New York, NY, 1993-1994

Licenses/Registration :

• Registered Architect: New York State
• Registered Landscape Architect: New York State

Selected Publications and Recent Research :

• Books:
• Four Corridors: Design Initiative for RPA’s Fourth Regional Plan. Co-authored with Paul Lewis and Guy Nordenson. Stuttgart, Germany: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2019.
• Depositions: Roberto Burle Marx and Public Landscapes under Dictatorship. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2018.
• Structures of Coastal Resilience. Co-authored with Guy Nordenson and Julia Chapman. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2018.
• Waterproofing New York. Co-edited with Denise Hoffman Brandt. New York, NY: UR / Urban Research Press, 2016.
• On the Water: Palisade Bay. Co-authored with Guy Nordenson and Adam Yarinsky. Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2010.
• Book Chapters:
• “Roberto Burle Marx and the Modern Gardens of Brazilian Social Housing.” In Landscapes as Housing: Design and Planning in the History of Environmental Thought, ed. Jeanne Haffner. London and New York: Routledge Press, 2022.
• “A Vast Demographic Void: Infrastructure, Ecology, and the Amazon.” In Infrastructure Design: Global Perspectives from Architectural History, ed. Joseph Heathcott. London and New York: Routledge Press, 2022.
• “Head of Bay Coastal Resilience: Adaptive Design for Jamaica Bay, New York.” In A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation, eds. Carolyn Kousky, Billy Fleming, and Alan Berger. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2021.
• “The Adventive Species.” In Expansions: How Will We Live Together?, eds. Hashim Sarkis and Ala Tannir. Venice, Italy: La Biennale di Venezia, 2021.
• “Forest Politics: Positioning the Amazon.” In Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx, edited by Edward Sullivan and Joanna Groarke. New York, NY: New York Botanical Garden, 2019.
• “Dump-Heap Naturalists.” In Design with Nature Now, edited by Frederick Steiner, Richard Weller, et al. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2019.
• “Queer Ecologies: Ballast Plants in the New World.” In Landscape Conflicts/ Landschafts Konflikte: RaumFragen, edited by Erik Aschenbrand, Karsten Berr, and Corinna Jenal. Berlin, Germany: Springer Verlag, 2019.
• “Shifting Sands: Sedimentary Cycles for Jamaica Bay.” In Sustainable Coastal Design and Planning, edited by Elizabeth Mossop. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press / Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.
• “The Magical Ecology of Laudato Si’.” In Climates: Architecture and the Planetary Imaginary, edited by James Graham. Zurich, Switzerland: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City / Lars Müller Publishers, 2016.
• “FOREX.” In Waterproofing New York, edited by Denise Hoffman Brandt and Catherine Seavitt Nordenson. UR: Urban Research Press, 2016.
• “De-domestication and the Wild.” In Finding Center: Landscape and Values, edited by M. Elen Deming. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 2015.
• “High Stakes: Soft Infrastructure for the Rising Seas.” In Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront, edited by Barry Bergdoll. The Museum of Modern Art, 2011.
• “Palisade Bay.” In Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice at the U.S. Pavilion for La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale Architettura 2010, edited by Jonathan Solomon. 306090 Inc. with Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.
• Journal Articles:
• “Reputations: Roberto Burle Marx (1909–1994).” The Architectural Review: Garden, Issue 1478 (February 2021): 36–39.
• “O Aleijadinho e a Arquitetura Tradicional / The Little Cripple and Everyday Architecture.” Platform, February 27, 2020, www.platformspace.net.
• “Amazon Fire: Who Owns the Amazon?” Landscape Architecture Magazine, Volume 110, No. 2 (February 2020): 68–75.
• “On Brazil’s Behalf.” Landscape Architecture Magazine, Volume 108, No. 10 (October 2018): 194-207.
• “Retrench / Rise Up.” LA+ / Landscape Architecture Plus: Risk, Issue 06 (2017): 42-47. Co-authored with Guy Nordenson.
• “The Miasmist: George E. Waring, Jr. and the Evolution of Modern Public Health.” Landscape Research Record: Dilemma-Debate, No. 5, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (2016): 116-126.
• “The Counselor: Roberto Burle Marx and the Ecological Modern.” Avery Review, Issue 17 (September 2016).
• “Roberto Burle Marx and the Conservation of the Brazilian Forest.” Landscape Research Record: Incite-Change-Insite, No. 4, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (2015): 111-118.
• “Natural Protection,” TOPOS 93: Fragile Landscapes / International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. Munich, Germany, Fall 2015.
• “Structures of Coastal Resilience: Designs for Climate Change,” in Social Research: An International Quarterly, Vol. 82, No. 3, Fall 2015. Co-authored with Guy Nordenson.

Professional Memberships :

• American Society of Landscape Architects, Fellow
• American Institute of Architects
• Society of Architectural Historians