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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.
PROPOSAL

Simple Made-Up Machines
2018


In 2018, Bad Little Brother collaborated with fashion designer Peggy Noland to propose a fantastical machine for construction on an open lot in Los Angeles’s Silver Lake neighborhood. Our proposal received an honorable mention from the commissioning organization, Materials and Applications.

Simple Made-Up Machines is an inefficient system for building, operated by outsized and outrageous workers. It is leisurely, roundabout, luxurious, and entertaining. Like a Rube Goldberg machine, it sets chains of events in motion. But it is non-linear: distractible and spontaneous, sometimes repetitive and additive. It is built and lived in at the same time—construction and habitation inspire each other through festive improvisations.