theodore hoerr

FOUNDING PRINCIPAL, RLA

Theodore Hoerr is the founder of Terrain Work and leads the design and direction of all projects the office undertakes. He is a licensed landscape architect, urban designer, and artist who has led the design and implementation of a diverse range of projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Theodore's body of work ranges from large scale urban strategies to reshape the future of cities to landscapes and public art installations that emphasize the craft of building. His professional and academic work explores how landscape’s innate ability to change creates new emergent forms and experiences that synthesize culture, nature, and the built environment.

Theodore’s work has garnered awards internationally and has been widely published in places such as the New York Times, Architectural Digest, Fast Company, Good Morning America, Dezeen, Design Boom, World Landscape Architect, and Landscape Architecture Magazine. Theodore was part of the faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Department of Landscape Architecture from 2015 - 2025 where he taught design studios, seminars, and thesis advisement. He has also taught design studios at Yale, University of Illinois, and, University of Arkansas where he recently served as the Verna C. Garvan Distinguished Visiting Professor in Landscape Architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Theodore received his Masters in Urban Design with distinction (MLAUD) and Masters in Landscape Architecture (MLA II) from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Previous to founding Terrain Work Theodore worked in several leading international design practices. He was a Principal at Balmori Associates in New York City where he led the design of large scale urban projects in New York, Bogota, Colombia, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, and an award-winning master plan for the University of Iowa Art Campus. Prior to this Theodore was a Senior Associate at EDAW/AECOM and a designer at Richard Haag Associates in Seattle, Washington.