Elliot Rhodeside

Elliot Rhodeside, FASLA had a dream over 30 years ago of establishing a noteworthy multi-disciplinary landscape architecture, planning and urban design practice. Through collaboration with his founding partners, Deana Rhodeside and Faye Harwell, he has realized his goal: the creation of a talented, respected firm with an outstanding staff doing creative and carefully considered work locally, nationally and internationally. Elliot is passionate about landscape architecture. He grew up wanting to be an architect initially, then evolved that dream into fine arts and industrial design. After hearing a lecture by Ian McHarg when he was a sophomore at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), however, he was inspired to pursue a different career in “the arts” — a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Following more than 15 years of practice in Philadelphia, London, Boston and Washington, DC, he and his partners established Rhodeside & Harwell in 1986. Following his life-long interest in the diverse challenges presented by different scales of work, Elliot currently leads design and planning projects ranging from gardens to regions. He is happiest when the projects are complex, the stakeholders are many and the assignments are full of challenges. He loves mentoring staff and maintaining a high creative bar from which each project is measured. He is currently engaged in the following projects: various projects at the University of Virginia including improvements on The Lawn; expansion of the Halprin designed Downtown Mall up West Main Street to the University of Virginia; expansion of Arlington National Cemetery; a memorial to a demolished African American community in Greenville, NC and master planning of numerous National Parks from New Jersey to California.