What Studio Zewde does

Studio Zewde is a landscape architecture, urban design, and public art practice founded by Sara Zewde and headquartered at 218 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, New York. The firm provides commissioned landscape design, urban design, and public art services to municipal governments, universities and educational institutions, cultural institutions, community land trusts, and select private commercial clients. Its active portfolio includes approximately 13 named projects spanning municipal park master plans (Tulsa's Chamberlain Park and Berry Park, Pittsburgh's Homewood Park, Tacoma's First Creek Park, Philadelphia's Graffiti Pier), national park master planning (Cuyahoga Valley National Park's 220-acre newly acquired land), campus landscapes (Georgetown Law, Germantown Friends School, Camden Prep), cultural commemoration (Watts Towers Art Center Campus, Barbara Jordan Rising, Bethel Burying Ground Memorial), and one international residential commission in Gstaad, Switzerland.

The firm's methodology combines site interpretation and cultural narrative with construction craft, delivered through a multi-disciplinary team whose backgrounds span landscape design, city planning, urban design, sociology, statistics, community organizing, and public art. The practice is differentiated by an explicit emphasis on community-engaged design processes (design ciphers, charrettes) and on illuminating the cultural and ecological specificity of each place. Sara Zewde holds master's degrees from Harvard GSD and MIT, is a registered landscape architect in nine U.S. states and Ontario, and concurrently serves as Associate Professor of Practice at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Studio Zewde generates revenue exclusively through project-based professional services contracts, typically acting as prime consultant or collaborating with architecture firms such as DIGSAU, Kéré Architecture, and Lot-EK. The firm has no public pricing, no digital product, and no e-commerce distribution. New commissions are driven almost entirely by thought leadership and earned visibility rather than paid marketing: the founding principal delivers an active lecture circuit spanning more than 80 universities and institutions, keynotes at industry conferences including ASLA and the National Conference of Olmsted Parks, and earned media recognition including Architectural Digest's AD100 (with a 2025 cover feature), TIME Magazine's TIME 100 Next, Wallpaper*, and ArchDaily.

Name

Studio Zewde

Legal name

Studio Zewde

Website

https://studio-zewde.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Studio Zewde is a Harlem-based landscape architecture, urban design, and public art practice founded by Sara Zewde. It provides commissioned design services to municipal governments, educational institutions, cultural organizations, and community land trusts across the United States and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Landscape Architecture Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

Keywords

• Landscape architecture services
• Urban design
• Public art commissions
• Park master planning
• Cultural landscape design

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Services: Studio Zewde generates revenue through commissioned landscape design, urban design, and public art projects for institutional, governmental, and private clients. Projects are delivered through professional services contracts, typically as prime consultant or in collaboration with architecture and engineering firms.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Studio Zewde is a professional services practice providing landscape architecture, urban design, and public art services. The firm delivers commissioned design projects for parks, public spaces, campuses, streetscapes, cultural memorials, and residential landscapes, working through direct client engagements with government agencies, universities, cultural institutions, community organizations, and private developers. Services span concept design through construction documentation and administration, often delivered in collaboration with architecture, engineering, and community engagement partners.

Product overview

Studio Zewde is a landscape design, urban design, and public art practice offering professional design services. The firm provides landscape design services for parks, public spaces, residential projects, and institutional campuses; urban design services addressing city-scale planning and neighborhood revitalization; and public art installations and commemorative landscapes. The portfolio includes diverse project types ranging from park master plans, cultural memorials, public plazas, school campuses, residential landscapes, and temporary installations. The firm is led by Founding Principal Sara Zewde and has been recognized as an Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York, named to the AD100 by Architectural Digest, and featured as one of ArchDaily's Best New Practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Landscape Design Services
• Urban Design Services
• Public Art

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio of 13+ completed and ongoing projects across the United States and one international commission (Swiss Alps)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DIGSAUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture firm serving as project partner on Chamberlain Park (architect), Camden Prep (architect), and Strawberry Mansion Reservoir (architecture), working alongside Studio Zewde's landscape design.
• BiohabitatscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEcological consulting partner on the Cuyahoga Valley National Park master plan project, contributing ecological expertise for designing accessible and ecologically vibrant water's edge.
• Chagrin Valley EngineeringcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCivil engineering partner on the Cuyahoga Valley National Park master plan, designing alternate routes for heavily trafficked roads to benefit community and environment.
• Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust (LANLT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLANLT has engaged in over a decade of project development for the Watts Towers Art Center Campus, commissioning Studio Zewde to create a cohesive campus design that expands public open space.
• Leslie Gill, ArchitectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead architect on the Germantown Friends School All School Commons project, collaborating with Studio Zewde on the entry plaza and courtyard landscape design.
• Amber Art+DesigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt and community engagement partner on the Strawberry Mansion Reservoir project and Mander Rec Center Campus, bringing community engagement expertise alongside Studio Zewde's landscape design.
• The Trust for Public LandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient and strategic partner on the First Creek Park project in Tacoma, working with Metro Parks Tacoma and the North Face Foundation to deliver a half-acre catalytic gathering space at a community confluence.
• Africatown Community Land Trust (ACLT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerACLT commissioned Studio Zewde in 2017 to design the Africatown Activation Project—a community-built concrete plaza on a 2.4-acre parcel—serving as a proof-of-concept for Black community-led development.
• Kéré ArchitecturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture partner on the Chalet African Residence project in Gstaad, Switzerland, working with Studio Zewde to integrate African and Swiss Alpine landscape vernaculars. The project was a cover feature in Architectural Digest's 2025 AD100 Issue.
• Chaletbau MattiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture firm serving as architecture partner alongside Kéré Architecture on the Chalet African Residence project in the Swiss Alps.
• CyntergycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCivil, structural, MEP, and FP engineering partner on Chamberlain Park and architect of record with electrical engineering on Berry Park, working with Studio Zewde's landscape design.
• Delta FountainsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWater feature design consultant on Berry Park's landscape design, contributing to the celebration of North Tulsa's yard spatial tradition.
• Sherwood Design EngineerscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCivil engineering partner on the Graffiti Pier project, developing a sensitive concept design that elevates access and legibility while protecting the site's unique qualities.
• The Discovery Center (Audubon Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Outward Bound School)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture of Audubon Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Outward Bound School, serving as client and operational partner for the Strawberry Mansion Reservoir landscape redesign, commissioned in 2021.
• Lot-EK ArchitecturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture partner with Studio Zewde on the Bal Harbour Shops Mobile project, designing a mobile landscape experience traveling across the southeastern United States.
• Asakura RobinsonminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLandscape architect of record for the Genesee Street streetscape design proposal in Houston's Freedmen's Town, with Sara Zewde as landscape designer.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/studio-zewde

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Studio Zewde