The Urban Landscape Lab is an interdisciplinary applied research group at Columbia University in the City of New York. We focus on the role of design in the analysis and transformation of the joint built-natural environment, and study ecological processes and urban systems as hybrid phenomenon through targeted pilot projects, practical strategies, and experiments. This landscape/ecology-based approach to urbanism brings together a wide range of disciplines such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, preservation, civil engineering, conservation biology, economics, climate, and public health, to focus on specific environment & development issues as they relate to built form. Our teaching and research interests share common objectives: to effect positive change in the urban landscape in terms of biodiversity, climate change, water quality and access, waste, and sanitation. We focus on the physical design of infrastructures, landscapes, and dense urban fabrics as change agents in a collaborative, interdisciplinary working model that involves feedback, exchange, and monitoring efforts with scientists and engineers.

Kate Orff, Founder and Director, and Janette Kim, Director