Ben Barsotti Scott, PLA

I’m a landscape architect licensed in the state of New York. I also curate exhibitions, primarily through a collaborative project called Bad Little Brother. And I’m a student of historical geography, currently researching a series of civilian-led blockades of US Navy terminals in the final years of the Vietnam War.

Occasionally, I’m  also a teacher and critic at schools of art and architecture: see the syllabus for my 2022 undergraduate course on contemporary architectural theory here. Even more occasionally, I write for architecture and urban geography titles like the the New York Review of Architecture, Critical Planning Journal, and the Journal of Landscape Architecture. You can see my full CV here.


I live and work in New York City and commute every once in a while to New Jersey. I post some of my recent and ongoing work on this site. If you’re interested in working together, you can contact me here.

Ben Barsotti Scott, PLA

I’m a landscape architect licensed in the state of New York. I also curate exhibitions, primarily through a collaborative project called Bad Little Brother. And I’m a student of historical geography, currently researching a series of civilian-led blockades of US Navy terminals in the final years of the Vietnam War.

Occasionally, I’m  also a teacher and critic at schools of art and architecture: see the syllabus for my course on contemporary architectural theory here. Even more occasionally, my writing appears in architecture and urban geography outlets like the the New York Review of Architecture, Critical Planning Journal, and the Journal of Landscape Architecture. You can see my full CV here.


I live and work in New York City and commute every once in a while to New Jersey. I post some of my recent and ongoing work on this site. If you’re interested in working together, you can contact me here.






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CURRICULUM VITAE

BEN BARSOTTI SCOTT, PLA


EDUCATION

Fall 2023–present. PhD student, Department of Geography. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Expected to advance to candidacy May, 2025.

Master of Landscape Architecture, 2017. University of Virginia School of Architecture, Charlottesville, VA.

Bachelor of Arts in Art History, 2010, Magna cum Laude with Honors. Knox College, Galesburg, IL.



RESEARCH INTERESTS

Urban infrastructure, militancy and nonviolence in social movements, 20th century environmental histories of war, contemporary landscape photography, queer theory in architecture.



PUBLICATIONS

“Book Review: Lindsey Dillon, Toxic City: Redevelopment and Environmental Justice in San Francisco,” forthcoming in Critical Planning Journal.

“Anti-Assimilationist Landscape: Becoming Illegible as Queer Resistance to State Power.” Journal of Landscape Architecture 19 (1): 20–33. doi:10.1080/18626033.2024.2408908.

“Skyline” Contributor, New York Review of Architecture, 2023–present.



EXHIBITIONS & PROGRAMS

Exhibition Curator and Designer (as Bad Little Brother), “Unrestrooms, An Unfinished Survey of Gender and Public Space” March 2-April 5, 2018, Front/Space, Kansas City, MO.

Panel Organizer (as Bad Little Brother), “Best Practices in Inclusive Restroom Design,” March 31, 2018. Kansas City Center for Inclusion, Kansas City, MO. A panel discussion with architects and activists working in trans rights and gender-inclusive restroom design.

Exhibition Curator and Designer, “Yes, It Can Be Done: US National Park Service Expanding, 1950–1980.“ Spring 2016, East Gallery, University of Virginia School of Architecture.



TEACHING & CRITIQUE

Spring 2025, Guest Critic, LAR 332/432, “Design After Capitalism” Studio, Rutgers University. Gave two rounds of desk crits for an undergraduate landscape architecture studio on socially-engaged design.

Fall 2024-Spring 2025, Teaching Assistant, Introduction To International And Global Studies, Rutgers University.

Fall 2023, Guest Critic, LAR 63100 Advanced Landscape Architecture Studio, Spitzer School of Architecture, CCNY. Acted as outside critic for final review for a graduate studio on landscape technologies.

Spring 2023, Guest Critic, ARCH 704: “Integrated Contexts & Mediums,” Pratt Institute School of Architecture. Acted as outside critic for mid-review for two sections of a core graduate architecture studio.

Winter 2022, Guest Critic, “Gulf Coast Climate Futures,” Tulane School of Architecture. Acted as outside critic for the final review of an NAS-funded graduate research studio on coastal adaptation in Louisiana.

2022, Adjunct Instructor in History of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art. Developed syllabus for and taught an undergraduate seminar on architectural theory of the past thirty years: AH-379 Contemporary Architectural Theory and Criticism, Spring 2022.

Winter 2018, Guest Critic, “Queer Space” graduate seminar. School of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design. Acted as outside juror for the final review of a multidisciplinary seminar on queer spatial practices.



TALKS

“Direct Action Landscape,” Rutgers University Department of Landscape Architecture, October 25, 2023.

“Direct Action Landscape,” Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning, April 20, 2023.

“Type and Regulatory Type” Invited talk for AH-250 World Architecture at MICA, October 15, 2021.

“After the Hyperprofessional,” University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Department of Architecture, March 2021.

“Altering the Landscape a Little Bit: Queer space-making in Collier Schorr’s Blumen,” at Senses and Spaces, Annual Graduate History Symposium, University of Toronto, May 11, 2018. Panel: “Moving through Landscapes.”




FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS

2024, University of Michigan Libraries, William P. Heidrich Research Fellowship. $2,000. Funded research project “Block Space: human-powered watercraft in contemporary urban blockades.”

2024, Garden Club of America, Douglas Dockery Thomas Fellowship. $4,000. Funded research project, “Welcome to the most polluted waterway in America: Reclaiming small sites in the New York-New Jersey Harbor.”

2024, Times Square Alliance, Arts Engagement Fellowship. Supported research on the history of socially-engaged art in Times Square, the Theater District, and along West 42nd Street.

Summer 2017, Dumbarton Oaks Graduate Workshop in Garden and Landscape Studies. Developed paper, “Altering the Landscape a Little Bit: Queer Space-Making in Collier Schorr’s Blumen.”

Summer–Fall 2015, Ecological Society of America, Earth Stewardship Initiative Fellowship. Developed design guidelines for bird habitat in a large public park in Baltimore. Facilitated design charrettes with members of east Baltimore communities and other stakeholders.

Summer 2013, Poplar Forest Architectural Restoration Field School. Prepared drawings, historical analysis, and narrative for Historic Building Report on Ivy Cliff, an 18th-Century plantation in central Virginia.

2009, Knox College, Hari Ramanan Grant. $1000. Awarded by the departments of Economics and Art History to fund field research for honors thesis, “Constable Spaces: Flatford Mill in Two and Three Dimensions.”




PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2017–present: Bad Little Brother. Founding Collaborator. New York, NY, and Baltimore, MD. Curates exhibitions and public programs on queer and feminist spatial practices. Manages budget, purchases, and grant proposals. Organizes and contributes to design competition entries. Co-authors essays and program proposals.

2019–2023: SCAPE Landscape Architecture. Associate, 2022-3; Senior Designer 2019-22. New York, NY.  Designed and managed landscape architecture projects across scales and phases. Trained staff on graphic standards, CAD, and drawing set management. Project Manager: New Stapleton Waterfront, Staten Island, NY; a new park along Newtown Creek, Queens, NY; Neal Place Park, Washington DC; Red Hook Branch Library renovation, Brooklyn, NY; a new park along the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY; a new public park in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY.

2017–2019: Ken Smith Workshop. Designer. New York, NY. Contributed design and prepared drawings for landscape architecture and urban design projects across scales and phases. Project Designer, concept through schematic design: Meatpacking District West 14th Streetscape Improvements, New York, NY.

2016–2017: University of Virginia School of Architecture. Research Assistant, Theories of Modern Landscape Architecture. Under Elizabeth K. Meyer, developed the syllabus for a graduate seminar on contemporary theories of landscape architecture.

2015–2016: University of Virginia School of Architecture. Research Manager, Benjamin C. Howland Papers. Cataloged, researched, and facilitated donation of drawings from twentieth-century US National Parks and National Capital Planning Commission projects. Provided research for Historic American Landscape Survey entry on Barboursville (HALS-VA-67).

2014–2016: Arctic Design Group (ADG). Research Assistant. Organized 2015 Arctic States symposium and exhibition. Provided editorial and design support for ADG publications. Assisted with grant proposals.

2012–2014: Art Institute of Chicago. Assistant to the Curator, Department of American Art. Chicago, IL. Under Judith A. Barter, provided administrative and research support for exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, grant proposals, and museum programs on American Art before 1945. Provided administrative and research support for the collection’s advisory committee and a museum-wide review of holdings from architecture and design.



AWARDS & HONORS

2024, Honor Award for Neal Place Park (under SCAPE Landscape Architecture DPC), Potomac ASLA.

2018, (as Bad Little Brother with Peggy Noland) honorable mention for proposed installation “Simple Made-Up Machines.” Materials and Applications, Los Angeles, CA.

2017, Allison Ingraham Memorial Award. Awarded to a graduate student at the University of Virginia School of Architecture for original contributions to the field of landscape architecture.



MEMBERSHIPS

American Association of Geographers.

The Architecture Lobby. Member, New York Chapter.

College Art Association.

Society of Architectural Historians.



LICENSURE & SERVICE

2024–present, Licensed Landscape Architect, New York State. 

2024–present, Geography Department Representative to Rutgers AAUP-AFT.

2019–2023, Member, Reclaim Pride Coalition. New York, NY. Volunteer, food and first aid distribution, 2022 and 2023 Queer Liberation Marches. Marshaled at 2020 and 2021 Queer Liberation Marches.

2020–2022, Chair, SCAPE Mentor Committee. New York, NY. Supported mentorship for emerging designers within SCAPE Landscape Architecture. Organized and facilitated in-office workshops and feedback sessions.

2020–2021, Volunteer, West Brooklyn Waterfront Mutual Aid. New York, NY. Distributed free food.



TECHNICAL SKILLS

Proficient at AutoCAD, Rhino, Adobe Creative Suite. Proficient at landscape construction documentation including site layout, grading, construction detailing and writing and editing landscape construction specifications. Intermediate proficiency at ArcGIS, Civil3D, and HEC-HMS. Familiar with best practices for historic building preservation, soils testing, and historic materials testing. Conversationally fluent in Spanish.



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