Claire Agre
Claire Agre PLA ASLA
Claire is a Partner and Cofounder of Unknown Studio. Broadening landscape practice with a background in painting and ecology, Claire seeks to link care, beauty, and collective action, in the hope of leaving our world better than we found it. Across all scales, Claire’s work puts physical and social connectivity at the forefront.
She has led design and implementation for a diverse portfolio of projects, including Governors Island, Druid Lake, North Meadow on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Baltimore's internationally-renowned Harborplace, Portland Museum of Art, Miami Beach Soundscape Park, multiple Plans for Longwood Gardens and its award-winning Main Fountain Garden Revitalization, The Nasher Haemisegger Family Sculpture Garden at Duke University, planning at The Land and Garden Preserve on Mount Desert Island, Maine, and at the largest scale, the winning entry for Changing Course—an interdisciplinary, international design competition seeking solutions for the disappearing Lower Mississippi Delta.
Claire turned to landscape architecture after studying tropical ecology at the renowned Roberto Burle Marx-designed Wilson Botanical Garden and Las Cruces Research Station. Her experience there instilled a belief that Botanical Gardens are uniquely suited to bridge the gap between basic research, applied science, wonder, beauty, and environmental stewardship; a belief she considers a moral imperative. She has led the multidisciplinary design teams responsible for The Houston Botanic Garden, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, and Naples Botanical Garden.
She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University. She is a licensed Landscape Architect in Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, New York, Maine and Pennsylvania. A clear and compelling speaker, she has lectured and taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, University of Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, University of Texas, University of Oregon, University of British Columbia and the Rhode Island School of Design.
Claire is an avid outdoorswoman and traveler, finding inspiration in both the backcountry and global wanders. Closest to home, she is the mother of three girls, one dog, and assorted cats and chickens. She is an active presence in the ongoing uplift of public space in her hometown of Baltimore. A lover of teams and the hard-won magic created therein, she derives immense joy coaching the beautiful game of soccer alongside her girls.