Background

Brian Higley was born and raised in rural Vermont, where he developed a deep respect for nature. He is the son of a builder, and so at a very early age developed a thorough understanding of the construction process as well. He received a degree in Architectural and Building Engineering from Vermont Technical College, and worked for architectural and engineering firms around the country before returning to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for his training in landscape architecture.

Professionally, with the office of Dean Cardasis & Associates, Higley received the profession's highest Honor Award in 1995 from The American Society of Landscape Architects for his role in the design of the Durfee Gardens project in Amherst, Massachusetts (Landscape Architecture Magazine, awards issue November 1995). The project also received the 1994 Urban Landscape Award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

In 1993 Higley became the first recipient of the James C. Rose Fellowship, and went on to serve as Assistant Director of The James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research and Design in Ridgewood, New Jersey, home of one of the pioneers in the Modernistic movement in landscape architecture. For four years he designed residential gardens in New Jersey while absorbing the rich legacy of this important historical designer. Higley also worked for the internationally recognized firm of Oehme Van Sweden and Associates before returning to practice on his own in 1998.

Higley strives for integration of landscape and architecture in all his work. He has a keen interest in architecture and has built works to his credit. He also designs and builds furniture and other special projects as a hobby.

Brian Higley's practice is now based in Beacon, New York, a Hudson River town about one hour north of New York City, home of the Dia Art Center and a growing community of artists and creative thinkers. Higley is a licensed Landscape Architect in the State of New York and has a broad base of landscape design and site planning experience. His projects to date have ranged from as far south as Princeton, New Jersey, to eastern Long Island, west to New Paltz, New York, and north to Stanfordville, NY, Massachusetts, and Vermont.

Function, Integration, Unity Less is More

My designs are contemporary in nature. I feel that a simple approach is usually best, and leads to a more pleasing and beautiful design, and also helps the project to be more functional, coherent, and cost effective.

I believe that the landscape should be strongly integrated with existing and proposed architecture. Whenever possible they must be thought out together. A whole host of landscape elements are carefully considered, and arranged in a way that ultimately shapes the overall "floor plan" of a site. When architecture and its various functions are also connected to this overall floor plan in an intimate way, something rare is achieved that gives personality and uniqueness to a place. When devoting a significant amount of energy and resources to a project, it is worth starting with a complete picture. Especially in an age where landscape considerations are becoming increasingly more valuable. Using this approach, one can take advantage of a very brief moment in time, when landscape and architecture can be made to fit each other.

I am most influenced by the philosophies of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and landscape architect James C. Rose.