John Swanson, landscape architect
Diversity, visioning, facilitating and connecting are key words that describe the strengths of John Swanson’s thirty-plus years of experience. His work throughout North America demonstrates a visionary response to client directives and community interests and has earned him a national reputation for innovation. His breadth of project types, including parks, arboreta, urban places, nature centers, zoos, aquaria, and resorts bring people and the environment together through public informal learning venues. Each expresses John’s inner drive to create interactive experiences that inform, excite and engage the user, and which strengthen our connections to the land, to the places where we live, learn and play, and to each other.
Always fascinated by the design process and intuitively creative, John adds a special insight and sees each project as an opportunity to engage in a dynamic merger of highly skilled individuals selected specifically to respond to the challenges inherent to the site, program and messages being addressed. In this spirit, John is a facilitator drawing on his years of experience to build consensus among diverse interests. His public speaking skills and humor and his ability to “think on his feet” are invaluable assets to guide projects through the intricacies of public review and the planning process.
As a designer, John’s goal on every project is to translate vision into practical and buildable solutions that draw on his depth of construction knowledge to get it built. He is responsive to client aspirations, cognizant of time and budget allocations and thorough in his investigation of the conditions of the site that ultimately enable dreams to become reality.
John is a hands-on designer, artist and technician. He is well versed in preparing production and presentation materials, whether by hand or utilizing electronic programs, including: AutoCAD, In-design, Illustrator, Photoshop, PowerPoint, Sketch-up, WordPress, LinkedIn and the MS Office suite applications.
Education:
- 1973 B.LArch, Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota
- 2012 Sustainable Building Advisor, Seattle Central Community College
Registration:
- 2007 Landscape Architect, State of Washington
- 1977 Landscape Architect, State of Minnesota
Practice:
- 2003-present Principal John Swanson Design Studio, llc
- 1985 Principal The Portico Group
- 1981 Owner Design Exchange
- 1976 Senior Associate Jones & Jones
- 1975 Branch Office Partner Land Design & Research
- 1973 Designer/Office Manager Maas & Grassli
- 1972 Head Landscape Architect Minnesota Experimental Cities
john SWANSON 