Elysian Landscapes — landscape architecture in Los Angeles
Public
-
CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE WATTS -
SELECTED FASHION HOUSES -
CHINATOWN TOWER + HOTEL -
PLATFORM -
PARKER PALM SPRINGS -
SPRING STREET LOT -
SECOND HOME HOLLYWOOD -
URBAN CONFLUENCE -
THE WASHBOW -
THE STANDARD, HOLLYWOOD -
SANTA MONICA PROPER HOTEL -
SINAI TEMPLE -
ROW DTLA -
ISABEL MARANT -
LOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER -
BIG SERPENTINE PAVILION -
BLUM + POE
We treat landscape as the primary medium of the contemporary city. Across hundreds of projects — public and private, intimate and civic — we imagine a continuous habitat unfolding through Los Angeles. Since 2021 the city has been recognized as a Certified Community Wildlife Habitat, a designation that echoes a commitment embedded in our studio since its founding: to work with the ecological realities of one of the largest and most complex cities in the United States.
Our point of departure is the idea of an elysian landscape — an Eden not as nostalgia, but as a living system. In a region where fragments of native habitat survive under increasing protection, we design landscapes that extend and reconnect them.
Our work is grounded in dialogue with the land. Every project begins with close attention to climate, soil, hydrology, and the native plants, animals, and insects that define a place. Design becomes an act of reciprocity — creating environments where urban life and ecological life intensify each other rather than compete.
The practice moves beyond the limits of any single discipline. Our team of designers, architects, builders, and horticulturalists collaborates to test materials, construction methods, and emerging technologies. We prioritize ethically sourced and sustainable systems while remaining open to experimentation — treating each project as a laboratory for new forms of ecological design.
Art runs through the studio’s DNA. It fuels a creative approach to both concept and construction, where aesthetic ambition meets technical precision. The result is landscape as experience: exuberant, immersive environments that invite exploration, stewardship, and delight — wildness threaded through the urban fabric.
We approach landscape as choreography over time. Spaces evolve, communities adapt, and ecosystems mature. What begins as a garden becomes a relationship — between clients, neighbors, climate, and culture.
Even the most private landscapes can ripple outward. Every project participates in a larger conversation about how cities live with nature, and how design can expand the ways we inhabit the world.
A dynamic and joyful collaboration between artist and builder Judy Kameon and architect Dana Bauer fuels Los Angeles landscape design practice, Elysian Landscapes. Our approach is equal parts complex environmental problem solving and artistic expression.
Since our inception in 1996, we have been hands-on in our design process throughout construction, exploring building materials, techniques, and an expansive plant palette that prioritizes site and climate conditions. Our early work centered on residential projects that interrogate mid-century California outdoor living, and radical high fashion boutiques and hotels that challenged the conventions of our discipline. Our work continues to evolve in its scale and impact through a commitment to social and ecological value.
Recent projects include permanent housing for veterans and a family therapy center for the community of Watts, both in collaboration with Gehry Partners and a series of towers, with Studio Gang, that explores the relationship between elevation change and habitat.
Dana Bauer
An unexpected opportunity to work with Judy in 2012 on a Hollywood Masterplan initiated an exciting and lasting cross-disciplinary collaboration that ultimately led to their robust partnership. As an architect, Dana’s work has always focused on the ground as the greatest opportunity for unstructured urban experience and the meeting place of the natural and the constructed realms. Entrenched in the design community for over 20 years, Dana previously worked at Michael Maltzan Architecture, Graft and Gensler NY and has a long history of collaborative work across the arts, spanning fine art, theater, television, and dance. Dana holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture with distinction from the University of London, The Bartlett School of Architecture. A full-time design faculty member at SCI- Arc for many years, she continues to actively serve as a guest critic and lecturer at numerous schools of architecture and art. Her work has been selected for exhibition most recently at the Landscape Biennial in Barcelona and the Landscape Institute in London.
Judy Kameon
Judy Kameon is the founding partner of Elysian Landscapes. Her work in landscape design and construction has spanned over 25 years and has resulted in the making of hundreds of gardens. Raised in Santa Monica, California, Judy graduated from UCLA with a focus on painting, a study fundamental to her expressive designs. Soon after graduation, she purchased a property with an adjacent empty dirt lot and the transformation of that space became an obsession, and then a career. With her growing team, Judy continues to explore and embrace sustainable landscape practices. Elysian’s clients run the gamut, from filmmakers, artists, and writers to fashion houses, designers and developers. In tandem with her built work, Judy and her husband, the artist Erik Otsea, launched Plain Air, a collection of outdoor furniture inspired by mid-century modern design. In 2014, they again collaborated on Kameon’s first book “Gardens Are For Living”, published by Rizzoli. Kameon also regularly lectures about her unique design process and experiences as an artist and designer.
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los Angeles
Iconic Stahl House, a Midcentury Modern Stunner, Up for Sale
This One Type of Plant Can Actually Protect Your Home from a Wildfire
Sustainable Materials in Urban Construction: Transatlantic Lessons from Austria and the U.S.
L.A. Nonprofit the Children’s Institute Unveils Frank Gehry–Designed Campus in Watts
Inside Architect Chet Callahan's Spirited Revamp of his Historic Los Angeles Home
Studio Gang Will Build Timber Tree Fort Workspace 'Arbor' at Westbank Campus in San Jose
Frank Gehry Creates "Welcoming Building" for Children's Institute in LA
Architect William T. Georgis Lists Midcentury Masterpiece for $5.5 Million
Studio Gang unveils its first Los Angeles project: A wavy, 26-story tower in Chinatown
He Rescued a Mid-Century La Jolla Home. Now It’s a Super-Lush Garden Retreat.
Midcentury dreamin': Inside an architect's knockout home in San Diego
William T. Georgis Reimagines a La Jolla Landmark as a Design-Forward Restaurant
How David Zwirner Turned a Forgotten Block in LA Into Prime Real Estate
Montalba Architects’ Vertical Courtyard House Mixes Fine Finishes With an Efficient Layout
See How Los Angeles Design Firm Commune Created Domestic Bliss
Narrow Garden Ideas - Top Designers on 10 Ways to Plan the Perfect Rooftop Terrace or Backyard
