New Hollander Design awards go to Spitzer School first-year students

Dana Ladd and Musa Matiwane are winners of the 2023 Hollander Design Fellowship awards presented to students in the in T九色视频's . Ladd was awarded the Fellowship, which includes $4,000 for each of the three years of the program, and Matiwane was awarded a one-time scholarship of $4,000. The students are in their first years, as per the eligibility requirements, as the fellowship is meant to support incoming students.
 
was cofounded by , FASLA, president of the firm. While Hollander has committed to a Fellowship per year since 2020, the additional one-time awards are due to the firm鈥檚 generosity, the belief in its mission to diversify the industry, and the strength of the applicant pool. Hollander Design is one of few landscape architecture firms on list.
 
"Spitzer is indebted to Edmund Hollander and his colleagues at the Hollander Design Landscape Architects for renewing The Hollander Design Fellowship at the architecture school," said Dean . "The firm鈥檚 generosity sustains landscape architecture students, recognizing their design intelligence and alleviating their needs."
 
Hollander Design Landscape Architects established the fellowship in 2020 to encourage and support New York City students from demographics and communities that are historically underrepresented in landscape architecture to pursue the field. Awarded the Fellowship in 2020, Matthew Brown Velasquez MLA 鈥23 was the first recipient to graduate with the assistance of the Fellowship鈥檚 full three years, and Ga毛l Oriol MLA 鈥24 will be the second.
 
Ladd, in her application for the award, wrote of her cultural background, 鈥渁s a woman of Puerto Rican and Chinese heritage,鈥 which has significantly influenced her 鈥減assion for pursuing a career in landscape architecture.鈥 She grew up with a 鈥渦nique mix of cultures鈥 that has shaped her perspective on the built environment and the role it plays in society. 鈥淎s a Puerto Rican and Chinese individual, I鈥檝e developed a profound sensitivity to cultural diversity. This sensitivity has instilled in me the importance of respecting and incorporating various cultural elements into landscape design. I firmly believe that landscapes should reflect the communities they serve, celebrating their cultural richness and promoting inclusivity.鈥 Ladd received her B.A. in Urban Studies and Public Policy with minors in Spanish and Sustainability from Rutgers University in 2020.
 
Matiwane received his degree from Oberlin College in Environmental Studies and Urban Sustainability in 2019. Until recently, he worked in Brooklyn as an environmental educator and led the 2023 Urban Heat Island summer research fellowship. Born and bred in Brooklyn, Matiwane is 鈥淪outh African-American.鈥 He said that while at Oberlin, he 鈥渂ecame interested in the composition of cities鈥 and the fascinating transformation that they undertake. As a baseball player, his love for the outdoors forced him to 鈥渞ealize the gravity of city design,鈥 and its impact. One day, he hopes to utilize both his 鈥渓eadership skills and MLA degree to motivate others like him to pursue careers in public design.鈥

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Thea Klapwald
e:  tklapwald@ccny.cuny.edu