We are proud to begin our Women of Kiss Series with Anne Whiston Spirn. Anne has been a patron of Kiss of the Wolf for more than 30 years. She is a landscape architect, designer, author, photographer, teacher, community organizer and lecturer. She travels extensively and is witty, kind and generous.

Pictured above: Anne Spirn (right) and Marilyn Taylor (left) come to see Kiss of the Wolf designer Lori Bacigalupi each year at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.

Wonderful News!

Anne comes to see us each year at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. Last fall, we were thrilled to learn that she had received two awards for her work in 2018. In addition, we feel honored she chose to accept the 2018 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Design Mind wearing Kiss of the Wolf.

I chose Kiss of the Wolf for the awards gala because it suits my style. Elegant design, supremely comfortable, and it comes out of the suitcase with no wrinkles. ~Anne Whiston Spirn

Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Design Mind

The Cooper Hewitt writes that Spirn’s “writings and action research have brought forth a new state of mind among designers and the general public—provoking the integration of city and nature, advancing design theory and practice, and transforming how people see and act.”

The National Design Awards were conceived by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to honor lasting achievement in American design. Design Mind is given to recognize a visionary who has had a profound effect on design theory, practice, or public awareness.

Design is for me a frame of mind, a habit of looking for opportunities where others see problems and then devising solutions that combine function, form, poetry and justice. ~Anne Whiston Spirn

Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award

The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), which represents the worldwide profession of Landscape Architecture, announced at their World Congress in Singapore July 18 that Anne Whiston Spirn was selected as the winner of the 2018 Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award.

More Awards and Fellowships

• 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship, Architecture, Planning and Design
• 2001 International Cosmos Prize, Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind, Japan
• 1984 President’s Award of Excellence, American Society of Landscape Architects

A Woman for All Seasons

Author, Landscape Photographer, Educator

Anne is a prolific author and photographer. Her first book, The Granite Garden (1984) was named one of the 100 most important books of the 20th century by the American Planning Association. In addition to her books, she has published many articles, as well as ebooks and websites.

Other Books

• The Eye is a Door: Landscape, Photography, and the Art of Discovery (2014)
• Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange’s Photographs and Reports from the Field (2008)
• The Language of Landscape (1998)

Anne is the Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to MIT, she taught at Harvard University, where she was director of the Landscape Architecture Program, and at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning and Director of the Urban Studies Program.

Anne believes that landscape literacy is a cornerstone of community development. She has worked with her students to establish K-12 academic curriculum and after school programs. She travels extensively giving lectures and teaching classes on landscape design and planning, environment, photography and community engagement.

Director, West Philadelphia Landscape Project (1987-Present)

Flooding, sinkholes and urban decline have long plagued the Mill Creek district of Philadelphia. Anne helped create the West Philadelphia Landscape Project (WPLP) to address these problems. Their mission is to restore nature and rebuild community through strategic design, planning, and education. The White House Millennium Council cited the West Philadelphia Landscape Project as a model of best practice.

To See the Invisible from Anne Whiston Spirn on Vimeo.

Anne’s homepage is a gateway to her work and activities: www.annewhistonspirn.com