Signe Nielsen

Signe Nielsen is a landscape architect and a founding principal at Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects in New York City, US.[1][2] She is also a professor of urban design and landscape architecture at Pratt Institute and an active participant in New York City design policy and approvals.[3] Her work focuses on the areas of green design, sustainability, and public space design.

Signe Nielsen
EducationSmith College, City College of New York, Pratt Institute
Occupation(s)landscape architect, academic
TitleFounding Principal of Mathew Nielsen Landscape Architects, Professor of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture at Pratt Institute

Early life and education

Nielsen is a native of Paris, France, and she has degrees across several disciplines. She has a degree in urban planning from Smith College, a degree in landscape architecture from City College of New York, and a degree in construction management from the Pratt Institute.[4]

Career

Nielsen's work in landscape architecture focuses on both creating a policy environment that supports good design and on creating spaces that are good for people and the environment. Her career involves more than 400 projects around the world.[5] She was nominated for and featured in the 2015 Built by Women exhibition at the Center for Architecture in New York City, an event supported by the American Institute of Architects New York chapter.[6]

Along with Thomas Heatherwick, she was a lead designer for Pier 55 in Hudson River Park, a rebuild of Pier 54. The goal of the design was to provide recreation and walking space as well as cultural and educational space, and the design allows these activities to coexist.[7] She also utilized tactical urbanism to create a greenspace at Freeman Plaza in Hudson Square in Manhattan, described as an unlikely space for a park. The park is part of a broader effort to make the streetscape in Hudson Square more sustainable through the addition of trees, greenspace, and water drainage systems and an effort to reclaim urban spaces that are currently dominated by cars.[8]

Her firm has contributed to knowledge and practice of environmental design. The firm is a cited source on the use of lightweight soil for green roofs.[9] The firm contributed to the New York City manual, "DDC Cool and Green Roofing Manual."[10]

Beyond her design work, Nielsen is active in supporting design with a public purpose, particularly in New York. She has stated that she believes strong policy is an important partner to design.[11] She has written books on sustainable and green design for the New York City Department of Design and Construction.[5] She has also been a member of the New York City Public Design Commission and served as its president.[4] She presided over decisions on some controversial topics, such as the removal of the statue of J. Marion Sims from Central Park.[12] Nielsen is also a professor, having taught at the Pratt Institute for thirty years.[4]

Lowline Lab - a full-scale mock-up of the future Lowline park. Architect: James Ramsey, RAAD Studio; Landscape Architect: Signe Nielsen, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, with John Mini Distinctive Landscapes Lower East Side, Manhattan

Select built works

Major publications
  • DDC, 2007. “DDC Cool and Green Roofing Manual.” Prepared for New York City Department of Design & Construction Office of Sustainable Design, by Gruzen Samton Architects LLP with Amis Inc., Flack & Kurtz Inc., Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects P.C., and SHADE Consulting, LLC.
  • Nielsen, Signe, "Guerilla Resilience." Brandt, Denise Hoffman, Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Bernard Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, and City University of New York. City College. Waterproofing New York. Urban Research 02. New York City: Terreform, 2016.

Recent awards
  • 2018 American Institute of Architects George S. Lewis Award
  • 2012 Public Design Commission Design Awards Special Recognition
  • 2012 American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Merit Award for Unbuilt Project
  • 2012 Municipal Art Society MASterworks Best Neighborhood Catalyst Award
  • 2011 American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Urban Design Honor Award
  • 2011 American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Award of Merit
  • 2011 American Society of Landscape Architects New York Chapter Merit Award
  • 2011 Building Brooklyn Educational Design Award[14]

References
  1. "People - Signe Nielsen, RLA, FASLA - Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects". www.mnlandscape.com. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  2. "Meet Signe Nielsen, one of Fast Company's Most Creative People". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  3. "Signe Nielsen - Design Commission". www1.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  4. "Signe Nielsen". National Association of City Transportation Officials. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  5. "Signe Nielsen | Principal, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects |". World Landscape Architecture. 2015-03-08. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  6. "EXHIBITION | BxW Built by Women NYC | Opens March 2 |". World Landscape Architecture. 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  7. "Pier 55 to start construction in the summer |". World Landscape Architecture. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  8. Franklin, Sydney (2018-10-23). "Freeman Plaza West creates islands of green amid torrents of New York traffic". The Architects Newspaper. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  9. Strom, Steven; Nathan, Kurt; Woland, Jake (2013-02-11). Site Engineering for Landscape Architects. John Wiley & Sons. pp. xiii. ISBN 9781118090862.
  10. Vijayaraghavan, K., and Franklin D. Raja. (2014). "Design and development of green roof substrate to improve runoff water quality: Plant growth experiments and adsorption". Water Research. 63: 94–101. Bibcode:2014WatRe..63...94V. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.06.012. PMID 24981747.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Signe Nielsen | Landscape Architecture Magazine". Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  12. Neuman, William (2018-04-16). "City Orders Sims Statue Removed From Central Park". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  13. Nevins, Jake (2019-04-06). "The upside down: inside Manhattan's Lowline subterranean park". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  14. "Design Trust for Public Space". Design Trust for Public Space. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
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