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Mar 2011 LANDGARDEN was awarded a Merit Award from the NY Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for the NYRP
Target Community Garden Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY.
Jan 2011 LANDGARDEN's 5 Penn Plaza Project is featured on the cover of the 2011 Tournesol Siteworks Catalog.
Dec 2010 LANDGARDEN's Green Roof for the Salk School of Science was featured in an Educational Green Roof Seminar, sponsored by
the Manhattan's Bureau President's Office.
Sep 2010 LANDGARDEN's becomes a Pre-qualified Consultant with the NYC School Construction Authority.
Feb 2010 LANDGARDEN was awarded a Gold Award from the Long Island Nursery and Landscape Association for the design of a Single
Family Residence less then ½ acre for the Singer Residence.
Feb 2010 LANDGARDEN was awarded a Bronze Award from the Long Island Nursery and Landscape Association for Passive Use Area for
the design of the Kurz residence.
Dec 2009 LANDGARDEN was awarded a Honor Award from the NY Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for the NYRP
Target East Harlem Community.
July 2009 Michael E Spitzer gains his LEEP AP accreditation.
Dec 2008 LANDGARDEN was awarded a Merit Award from the NY Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for the design
of the Good Samaritan Pediatric Terrace.
of the ONeil Memorial Rose Garden.
http://www.nydailynews.com/services/realestate/2007/08/03/2007-08-03_dreamscapers.html
LANDGARDEN Landscape Architects Provides Landscape Architectural Design Services for a Variety of Project Types, Including:
Michael E Spitzer, RLA, LEED AP
mspitzer_landgarden.com
Managing Principal
Managing director and co-founder of LANDGARDEN, Michael received his Bachelors of Landscape Architecture from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Michael spent part of his studies in Italy developing a thorough knowledge of classical garden design and horticultural practices. His projects reflect his extensive knowledge of garden and horticultural design.
During more than 25 years of leading LANDGARDEN, Michael has established a broad client base working on a range of commercial, institutional and residential projects, with many repeat clients. Michael has developed a keen sense for integrating new site developments and plantings into the fabric of existing sites. Michael's residential designs have won much acclaim and have received multiple design awards. His work has been highlighted in various lifestyle and design publications.
Michael is a LEED accredited professional, and serves as an adjunct professor at City College of New York in the Landscape Architecture Program. Michael's commitment to the profession includes serving in various positions for the American Society of Landscape Architects, including President of the New York Downstate Chapter. He also assists fellow professionals in preparing for the ASLA Professional licensing exam.
Jeff Dragan, RLA
jdragan_landgarden.com
Principal
Jeff's joined LANDGARDEN as Principal in 2008. Jeff graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree. Prior to joining LANDGARDEN, Jeff spent his entire career working in New York City for a variety of firm types and sizes, working on a broad spectrum of projects.
Jeff's wide ranging experience across all aspects of the profession includes planning studies, master plans, waterfronts, campus planning, office parks, urban plazas, interiors, rooftops, parks and playgrounds. Jeff's extensive experience in governmental work includes Federal, State and City agencies, working on waterfronts, parks, playgrounds, security enhancements and general site development. His educational experience includes campus master planning new landscape development, and rehabilitation of existing landscapes for colleges, elementary, junior and senior high schools. Jeff's development portfolio consists of corporate campuses, multi-family housing, senior centers and housing complexes in both urban and suburban settings. Jeffs designs have incorporated sustainable elements including green roofs, wind turbines, solar panels, and rain water harvesting.
Though the majority of Jeff's work experience has been local, his portfolio includes projects throughout the country and in the Middle and Far East. Mr. Dragans work has been featured in a variety of publications and he has won multiple design awards.
LANDGARDEN, located in New York City, was formed in 1991 by combining the award-winning landscape architecture offices of ENGEL/GGP and Michael Spitzer & Associates, merging professional experience dating back to the 1960’s. In 2008 the company merged with the landscape architectural firm Vonder.
In more than 18 years of operation, the company has grown to successfully serve our residential, commercial, institutional, corporate, and educational clients. LANDGARDEN's portfolio includes local, national and international projects with a concentration of work in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic regions.
LANDGARDEN's efforts have won multiple design awards and have been published in a variety of lifestyle and professional publications.
LANDGARDEN is a full service Landscape Architecture firm committed to personal client service. Our innovative, design-oriented approach delivers Landscape Architecture solutions that:
Educational/Institutional Corporate
Shelter Rock Library, Albertson, NY New Songdo City Civic Plaza, Seoul, South Korea
PS 40M, Salk School of Science Greenroof, New York, NY 5 Penn Plaza Terrace, Manhattan, NY
NYIT Student Activities Center, Old Westbury, NY Acuity Lighting Terrace, Manhattan, NY
Target House Courtyard, Memphis, TN 177 Broad Street, Stamford, CT
Queens College Dorm, Queens, NY Canterbury Green, Stamford, CT
Good Samaritan Pediatric Terrace, W Islip, NY Stamford Plaza, Stamford, CT
All Souls Unitarian Church, New York, NY 300 Atlantic Avenue, Stamford, CT
First Presbyterian Church, East Hampton, NY Phillips Club, New York, NY
East Hampton Library, East Hampton NY Glory China Plaza, New York, NY
Port Washington Library, Port Washington, NY AT&T Plaza, New York, NY
Friends Seminary, New York, NY 60 Wall Street, New York, NY
PS 4 Manhattan, New York, NY 222 Bloomingdale Road, While Plains. NY
PS 5 Manhattan, New York, NY 2900 Westchester Avenue, Harrison, NY
PS 176 Manhattan, New York, NY Orban Building, Wayne, NJ
PS 600C Manhattan, New York, NY Fort Lee Executive Park, Fort Lee, NJ
PS 17 Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY Public Service Center, Newark, NJ
PS 92 Queens, Corona, NY The Sembler Company Headquarters, St. Petersburg, FL
PS 161 Queens, Corona, NY Gulf States Paper Headquarters, Tuscaloosa, AL
United Presbyterian Home, Syosset, NY Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Rockville, MD
Theobald Smith Hall Annex, Rockefeller University, New York, NY Cherry Valley Lodge, Newark, OH
Mendelsohn Quad, SUNY, Stonybrook, NY 1250 H Street, Washington, DC
Ronald McDonald House, New York, NY Nikko Hotel, Chicago, IL
Anchor House for Men, Brooklyn, NY Huron Shores Hotel, Ypsilanti, MI
Anchor House for Women, Brooklyn, NY Park Garden Building, Tempe, AZ
Issan House/Maitri Center, Yonkers, NY Park Bridge Building, Tempe, AZ
NY Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, NY Mazda Headquarters, Hiroshima, Japan
Columbia Memorial Hospital, Columbia, NY
Irvington General Hospital, Irvington, NJ
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ
Elm Street Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Commercial Parks, Plazas and Community Gardens
New Songdo City Retail Block A1, Seoul,South Korea NYRP Target Community Garden, South Bronx, NY
Pointer Ridge Shopping Center, Annapolis, MD NYRP Target Community Garden, East Harlem, NY
Aspen Hill Shopping Center, Wheaton, MD NYRP Target Community Garden, Bed Sty, NY
Blair Shopping Center, Silver Spring, MD Rivergate Park, New York, NY
Cameron Chase, Ashburn, VA Inwood Hill Park Rehabilitation, New York, NY
Mt. Airy Shopping Center, Mt. Airy, MD Isham Park Rehabilitation, New York, NY
Penn Mar Shopping Center, Forestville, MD Lindsay Park, Brooklyn, NY
Braddock Lee Shopping Center, Alexandria, VA Clason Point Park, Bronx, NY
Vienna Shopping Center, Vienna, VA Soundview Park, Bronx, NY
Penn Station Shopping Center, Forestville, MD Atlantic Golf Club, Bridgehampton, NY
Davis Ford Crossing Shopping Center, Manassas, VA North River Country Club, Tuscaloosa, AL
World Gate Shopping Center, Herndon, VA Tennessee Botanical Gardens, Nashville, TN
Center Stage Shopping Center, High Point, NC Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham, AL
Center Stage Shopping Center, Jonestown, NC
Central Park Shopping Center, Fredericksburg, VA
Multi-family Housing Luxury Housing
New Songdo City Residential Blocks 13, 14, 15, 20 & 21, Seoul SK 88 Greenwich Street, New York, NY
Our Lady or Loreto, Brooklyn, NY Rivergate, New York NY
Target House, Memphis TN Soho Court, New York, NY
Williamsburg Terrace, Brooklyn NY The Future, New York, NY
The York, Manhattan NY UNICEF House, New York, NY
Salem Houses, Brooklyn NY Scholars Residence, Rockefeller University, New York NY
110 Amity Street, Brooklyn NY Cathedral Gardens, Banard College, New York, NY
Cornerstone, Brooklyn NY The Belgravia, New York, NY
North Park, New York NY The Mandarin, New York, NY
Lower East Side Housing, New York NY Honto 88, New York, NY
PSS Grandparent Housing, Bronx NY The Concorde, New York, NY
Noonan Plaza, Bronx NY The Churchill, New York, NY
Union Avenue Housing, Bronx NY The Paladin, New York, NY
West End Gardens, Brooklyn NY Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY
Phipps House, New York NY Memphis Uptown, New York, NY
Rye Manor, Rye NY
Maple House, Ossining NY
Highland Falls Housing, Highland Falls NY
Monastery Manor, Yonkers NY
Danish Village, Avon MI
Maple Knoll Village, Springdale OH
Single Family Residential Terraces and Greenroofs
Silverstein, Port Washington, NY NY PS 40M, Salk School of Science Greenroof, Manhattan, NY
Koondel, Kings Point, NY 5 Penn Plaza Terrace, Manhattan, NY
Donaldson, Laurel Hollow NY Acuity Lighting Terrace, Manhattan, NY
Ertegun, Katonah NY Good Samaritan Pediatric Terrace, W Islip, NY
Chabra, Sands Point NY Friedman Terrace, Scarsdale, NY
Greenfield, Old Wesbury, NY Webster Terrace, Brooklyn NY
Theisen, Edgemont NY
Feingold, Syosset, NY
Singer, Sands Point,NY
Albert, New York, NY
Templesman, New York, NY
Wright, New York NY
Kotsonis, New York, NY
Singer, New York, NY
Kean, New York City and Millbrook, NY
Joel, Amagansett, NY
Richard, Bayshore, NY
Corrado, Bayshore,NY
Zucker, Center Island, Old Westbury,E. Hampton and Sands Point
Weiss, Oyster Bay Cove, NY
Stine, Noyack, NY
Tisch, Harrison, NY
Tisch, Purchase, NY
Graves, Scarsdale and Sag Harbor, NY
Pinkerton, Bedford, NY
Bluhdorn, Bedford Hills, NY
Geller, Chappaqua, NY
Ruggles, Ridgefield, CT
Stern, Greenwich, CT
Larsen, Granville, OH
Summers, Westhampton Beach NY and Palm Beach, FL
Burrell, Dallas and Whitesboro TX and Palm Beach, FL
This project takes its place among the impressive list of community gardens for Bette Midlers New York Restoration Project. Target funded the transformation of this vacant lot into a popular community amenity. The community defined program includes gathering, gardening and getting a little piece of nature is this dense Bed-Sty neighborhood.
This small lot contains an inviting front entry court, a raised sheltered patio in the rear and a central lawn panel in between. Plantings include privacy hedges, fruit trees, a rose border and garden plots for the neighborhood green thumbs.
LANDGARDENs design conveys Bette Midlers New York Restoration Project commitment to renovate vacant city lots into sustainable community gardens. With funding by Target, this East Harlem community has defined the garden as a center for community activities. The front plaza, center lawn and rear raised deck allow local residents the flexibility to have large community events, small gatherings or just to enjoy the outdoors.
This garden has become a model of sustainable design practices. Irrigation water is harvested from an adjacent roof and storm water is recharged on site. The garden pioneers the use of wind turbines and solar panels in a NYC public open space.
This 15,500 sf community garden, the largest owned by Bette Midlers non profit organization the New York Restoration Project, serves its South Bronx community in many diverse ways.
This Target funded garden renovation maximizes the needs for the wide variety of users. The dedicated groups of community gardeners now have raised beds to continue growing local produce. New pear and peach trees and a berry patch adds to the locally grown produce. An outdoor kitchen allows the residents to enjoy their harvest on site. The rich biodiversity in native plant material provides excellent multi-educational opportunities for the elementary school across the street
This public open space, the site of a failed ice skating rink, was reprogrammed to provide active play spaces and passive areas for the open space starved densely populated neighborhood.
Active play includes a play structure and basketball courts. Seating areas set in among planting bed provide a less urban, pastoral oasis for eating, sitting and sunning. The generous amounts of planting beds contain hardy, low maintenance plant material providing a rich variety of interest throughout the year. The park is intensively used at all times of the day, in all seasons, and has held up well since its reopening in 2002
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LANDGARDENs renovation of this mid town penthouse terrace transforms this barren rooftop into a green, usable space. The employees of the adjacent office spaces now look out onto a grove of cherry trees set in planters, shared with grasses and annual planting for seasonal color. Additional planters with evergreen shrubs soften the parapet edge and furniture was selected for eating or lounging.
Tourist telescopes and lifeguard chairs were included to add some whimsy, a small patch of lawn was incorporated to allow this dog friendly company a convenient place for relief. The terrace development was undertaken with severe weight restrictions and limits to material delivery through the freight elevator.
LANDGARDEN provides design services for new commercial spaces along with yearly site assessments for a variety of shopping centers. The site assessments include an inventory of the existing plant material, their condition and relationship to the overall landscape. The site assessment also includes analysis of view corridors, circulation, drainage patterns, climatic conditions and maintenance requirements.
From this assessment, LANDGARDEN presents the owner with a detailed, phased recommendation report to improve the aesthetics and reduce the overall maintenance. These targeted improvements result in a positive change to the shoppers experience and increased traffic to the site.
Songdo is a new Free Trade City with a proposed residential population of 200,000, developed on landfill in the Sea of Korea. This premier regional shopping center designed by the office of Daniel Libeskind is located at the geographic and cultural center of the city.
LANDGARDEN created a dynamic, flexible landscape to accommodate the mix of pedestrian and vehicular circulation patterns leading to the multiple entry points around this retail superblock. Mondrians paintings were the inspiration for a site organizing grid, to contrast and settle the angularity of the architecture to the site.
LANDGARDEN transformed this once barren, hot and windy third floor terrace into a controlled, accessible environment for Good Samaritans Pediatric wing.
This backyard retreat provides a welcome change from the patients hospital room. The flexible design attracts a diversity of age groups and activities. Non-toxic plant materials soften the space, screen adjacent mechanical equipment and provide horticultural therapy for the patients.
The colorful site elements help stir the imagination and enhance the play environment. This award winning, sustainable project, on a tight budget, has become an extremely successful component of the hospitals Child Life Program.
The Hudson River Museum collects 19th- and 20th-c. American art and cultural, social and historical material related to the River and the wider Westchester County/Hudson River Valley region.
LANDGARDENs renovation of their underutilized cloistered courtyard provides a multifunctional space for the museum to provide cueing space for school groups, hold fundraising events and host temporary exhibitions. The renovation incorporates native plant material reinforcing the mission of the museum to celebrate the Hudson Valley.
This 506 bed dorm boasts a LEED silver certification is Queens Colleges first on campus residence hall. LANDGARDENs sustainable site design includes a green roof, use of native plant material to reduce watering requirements and sheltered bicycle racks. Flexible outdoor spaces were designed for student gathering, recreation and study. Well lit pedestrian pathways provide safe and efficient flow through the space and onto the campus beyond.
LANDGARDEN developed the landscape architecture program and design for five apartment blocks within Songdo City, a new Free Trade City with a proposed residential population of 200,000, developed on landfill in the Sea of Korea.
These densely populated blocks, in an urban setting, required landscapes that meet the varying outdoor needs of the many residents. Each landscape was designed using distinctive design themes to create a sense of identity for each block. These designs successfully integrate the architecture and landscape into a stimulating outdoor environment for the enjoyment of the residents.
LANDGARDEN designed a series of outdoor rooms for a variety of resident activities on this rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Manhattan.
Stucco and teak planters were used to define the spaces. An overhead trellis shades the dining area containing a large communal table. Lounge chairs line up in the open sunning area and comfortable sofas and chairs define an intimate conversation space. The plant palate provides color, texture and interest throughout the year.
This urban escape meets the programmatic goals in a well designed, cost effective solution.
This contemporary mixed-use development comprises half a city block in the upscaling Williamsburg neighborhood. Six story apartment buildings with ground level commercial, bookend the corners of the property with twelve townhouses in-between. LANDGARDEN created flexible outdoor spaces serving a diversity of activities for the residents including lobby courtyards, a cabana area, townhouse rear gardens and streetscape. A variety of ornamental cherry trees populate each outdoor space to bring continuity to the sites landscape.
Target House is 96 apartments in two buildings for families whose children are undergoing lifesaving treatment at St. Jude Children Research Hospital.
The shared courtyard between Target House I and II was in need of renovation to better serve the needs of the patients, their families and the residents of the adjoining nursing homes. Seating areas surrounded by lush plantings invite the residents to out to a comforting, natural, toxin free environment, a large lawn area allows open play and a gazebo was transformed into an outdoor teen area.
In a difficult time, the Target House courtyard is a place to help the patients and families live and heal.
