Natural Forces: W's Barbara Wilks on Creating Her Own Space and Embedding People in Their Landscapes

By Julia Gamolina

Barbara Wilks, founder of W Architecture and Landscape Architecture, is a leader in the field of design. Beginning her career as an architect and obtaining prominence for her design skills, she soon realized that her interests in public space linked with the profession of landscape architecture.

Now as an architect and landscape architect, Barbara uses her leadership skills to realign nature and communities to create a comprehensive connection between the fundamental ecology of the site, its historical and cultural legacy, and its current iteration. In her conversation with Julia, Barbara talks about practicing both architecture and landscape architecture in various cities and developing a deep understanding of both cities and people, advising young architects to believe in themselves.

JG: You first studied architecture - how did your interest in architecture develop?

BW: It’s not a very sexy story [laughs] - basically, my guidance counselor recommended it. I was really good in math and physics, and then I did set design in high school, as well as art. I didn’t want to go to school to be an artist though, so they suggested architecture. I didn’t know anything about architecture, and I didn’t know any architects, but I thought it was a good idea since I wanted to do something meaningful in the world. I looked into schools that had art and architecture, since I was still very interested in art, and Cornell fit the bill.

St. Patrick’s Island, courtesy of W Architecture & Landscape Architecture

How did you get your start in the field?

I loved architecture and I loved learning about it - it was all brand new and wonderful, and really engrossed me for a long time. I then moved to Baltimore to start working. It was a beautiful town and city, and I was fascinated by it - the fabric of it was really intense and continuous, there were a lot of 18th century buildings, and they were just rediscovering their waterfront, in 1974. Waterfronts were really brand new, as industry was leaving them. And this was after the demonstrations in the late 60’s, so a lot of the city needed a lot of attention, and this is why it seemed like a great city to move to and learn from.

I moved there, and got involved, and started a firm after working for my requisite three years or so. There was a classmate of mine, Diane Cho, who also went to Baltimore after we graduated, and we started the firm together, calling it Cho Wilks. The city was literally giving away houses for a dollar to try and attract people back, providing a lot of small work that we could begin and experiment with, and we began there. That led to twenty years in Baltimore, practicing architecture!

When did your focus on landscape architecture eventually evolve?

Then in the early 90s, there was a recession, and by that time we were Cho Wilks & Benn, with David Benn who was Diane’s husband. We had nothing to do because we were in a recession! I talked about taking a little time off - there wasn’t a lot of work, we had twenty people or so working for us, and the three of us were essentially twiddling our thumbs. We really didn’t need three principals.

I went up to the University of Pennsylvania, to get a degree in landscape architecture! Working in Baltimore I had gotten very involved in public space, and we did a lot of urban design, and since Cornell was so context-focused, I realized landscape was always an interest of mine and I wanted to learn more about it. I believe I had the last year of Ian McHarg’s classic intro class! I loved understanding the science together with things I learned about in architecture—the people systems.

“As an architect, you develop a strong understanding of what people need - you interview them, you understand their needs for movement, gathering, rhythm, and you choreograph around that.”

— Barbara Wilks

How did W Architecture & Landscape Architecture come about?

Soon after I graduated and came back, in 1999 when my firm, Cho Wilks & Ben, was twenty years old, my kids were going off to college, and I realized it was time for something else. I decided that I wanted to go to New York and start an office there. I had thought about starting a Cho Wilks branch in New York, but they didn’t want to do that, so I started the firm and focused it mainly on landscape, and that’s how W started!

Take me through your years with W, and the significant moments throughout.

Well before W started, I already had a lot of experience - twenty years’ worth of experience, in architecture. So coming up to New York, even though we were a brand new firm, I was used to running large projects and large teams. I started the firm with a large project in Baltimore, Tide Point, which was part of my negotiation in leaving my first firm. That was a waterfront project, the old Procter & Gamble site that had been vacant for five years, so we started with that. At that point, Enrique Norten had also come up to New York, and he became a partner of mine then. We worked on that project together. I learned a lot from Enrique.

As we started these landscape projects, I had a predilection for working on renovated buildings in the past, deciding what to edit and keep, and I was very interested thinking about sites this way and in bringing in natural forces. As an architect, you develop a strong understanding of what people need - you interview them, you understand their needs for movement, gathering, rhythm, and you choreograph around that. And then with landscape, I’d try to incorporate other forces as well that they can notice and focus on, and for me that became water. We worked on a lot of waterfronts. So in the first part of my career as a landscape architect, Tide Point and the West Harlem Piers Park were significant, and then The Edge and a series of other waterfronts where we designed all kinds of ways for people to interact with and experience the water, all which were very rewarding.

The Edge, courtesy of W Architecture & Landscape Architecture

West Harlem Piers Park, courtesy of Barbara Wilks

What have you learned in working within different cities?

I realized as we worked in all of these different cities, the horrible feeling that you’re often times called in to repair something that went wrong during urban renewal—not that they called it that. There is this terrible history in the United States of tearing out the heart of so many black communities. Thank goodness it’s finally being recognized. Going in, and meeting with people that experienced this, over and over again,-- it gets pretty depressing! Luckily I’m an optimist, and you hope that as a designer, you’re not making those same kinds of mistakes. You listen and try and make amends how you can, whatever is within your power. That’s always the interesting part, when you become advocates for the community of users, who are not necessarily your clients since the clients are typically agencies that commission the works, but these people use and live around the space, and those are the people you design for. That was the second phase of my career with W - how can we look for ways to hear those stories and really understand what the project is about. Sometimes it’s not what the client thinks that it’s about [laughs].

Where are you in your career today?

What I’m interested in now is giving more agency to nature. Landscapes are dynamic and always changing, and most of the things we design are static, and will have to be replaced. What we design nowadays is not meant to regenerate itself. I’m interested in regenerative landscapes, landscapes where we let nature have some agency - we need to let the systems work, the soils develop, the trees seed themselves and grow, the animals help with that, and for us to find our part in that.

We just came out with a book, and that took a lot of reflection. After that, this year, trying to get work is really where my head has been at [laughs].

“I’m interested in regenerative landscapes, landscapes where we let nature have some agency - we need to let the systems work, the soils develop, the trees seed themselves and grow, the animals help with that, and for us to find our part in that.”

— Barbara Wilks

[Laughs] Aren’t we all.

We were quite lucky though, to recently win The Riverline project in Buffalo, which combines a lot of the post-industrial traces we’ve worked with in Tide Point and in the West Harlem project with a lot of the themes we care about - regeneration, nature, people’s many different stories. So now we’re learning all of those stories, and I’m excited about this project as an opportunity and a place to use everything I’ve just discussed with you together. I love these projects which combine so many different pieces of the puzzle, and I feel like being a landscape architect gives you a lot of flexibility in seeing how the systems and stories can fit together.

Looking back at everything, what have been some of the biggest challenges for you?

Figuring out what the project is! They tell you what the project is, but that’s usually not what it really is. Getting a project on the right trajectory that meets all the project needs, spoken and unspoken. And once you figure that out, it’s just about massaging it into shape and checking in with people.

There’s always, at the beginning, a lot of time taken to really think about how to move forward. Even if we have an idea that we really like at the beginning, we always say, “No, let’s wait and see if we can think of it another way,” and, “What else could it be? Are we doing the right thing?” Taking that kind of time at the very beginning is good, and then eventually, when you feel confident and most people really like the direction, you feel consensus building and you can latch onto it and develop it. Then things unfold, and you learn more as you go along.

St. Petersburg Pier Approach, courtesy of W Architecture & Landscape Architecture

You’re describing life! At least in my experience. Taking things slowly and checking in often is always good in any beginning. What is the impact you’d like to have? On the industry, and on the world, really?

In a simple way, I really just want people to be embedded in nature in a better way. I think right now most people still think of themselves as being separate, and that nature is over there, in the national parks, and we live in cities. But we’re nature ourselves! No matter how we’re living, we’re a part of it.

Divorcing ourselves has brought great devastation. We no longer even see it. I would really just like everyone to look around, understand that relationship, and how improving it can give us a better world. Improving it individually, with your community, on a citywide scale – so many levels. I am enjoying working with the people on the Riverline - so many do feel embedded in the evolving wild before them. I also want to make sure that our forests can regenerate, and not die off. Trees give us air and we are not noticing how unhappy they are!

With that in mind, who are you admiring right now?

Suzanne Simard, the person that discovered that trees talk to each other in a forest and share resources. I really admire and respect her. She caught a lot of flack for that idea at first. There’s also Sarah Charlop-Powers, who I’ve never met and I’d love to, and she’s the one that takes care of the natural areas for the NYC Parks Department. Natural Areas Conservancy is a separate group she started, thinking that maybe some parts of the parks should be taken care of by people who are thinking about things a little differently, more attune to the forest ecology. Thinking about maintenance is really important, and resiliency. I also really respect Walter Hood, and his bringing art into the landscape and empathy. And finally, architects Yvonne Farrell and Shelley MacNamara of course.

“...right now most people still think of themselves as being separate, and that nature is over there, in the national parks, and we live in cities. But we’re nature ourselves! No matter how we’re living, we’re a part of it.”

— Barbara Wilks

Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their careers in the field? Would your advice be any different for women?

The important thing is to believe in yourself. Listen and believe what you see, and don’t be afraid to try and don’t assume you’re wrong. On so many levels, there are ways that you’re told how you’re supposed to do things, but don’t think that that’s the only way – it’s important to think about things and have some integrity and do it your way! Not that you’re not attuned to the community and things around you, but just have faith in yourself. I’m going back to Suanne Simard – people made fun of her in the beginning, trees not only talking, but sharing! Darwin said we all compete, and she could have said, “Oh yea, this is a silly idea after all, isn’t it,” but she didn’t! She kept going. Persistence is really important. There are so many times I’ve been tested in my career, but you just have to believe in yourself and keep going and I think that’s the key to success. Persistence and patience – things do take time, and you stick with it.

For women, I should first say that I was the first woman hired at the first firm that I worked for, and was the only woman, which was uncomfortable. So starting my own firm was for that reason – to create my own space, and a space to make other women feel comfortable, and to give people what they needed in terms of time and flexibility. I always try to be very flexible with people at my office – the culture is changing, and all workplaces are changing, and it’s a little easier now. So for women, I would say don’t let firm culture get in the way of the things you want.