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.