Gary Hilderbrand (MLA ’85), Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), has been elected a National Academician in the National Academy of Design’s Class of 2026. He is among 12 artists and architects recognized this year for their contributions to contemporary American art and architecture. The class also includes GSD alumna Amale Andraos (MArch ’99), cofounder of the New York architecture firm WORKac.
Hilderbrand is a founding principal of Reed Hilderbrand, whose projects include landscapes for the Clark Art Institute and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. The firm—recently named design lead for the revitalization of the Christopher Columbus Park and Long Wharf in Boston—has received more than 100 regional and national awards and was named the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Firm of the Year in 2013. Hilderbrand received the society’s Design Medal in 2017. A fellow of the American Academy in Rome, he has written extensively on landscape architecture and taught at the GSD since 1990.
Founded in 1825 as the nation’s first organization led by artists and architects, the National Academy elects new members through nominations and votes by current Academicians. “The Class of 2026 beautifully reflects the energy and promise of the Academy’s future,” said executive director Gregory Wessner.
The class will be inducted in late October at the New Museum in New York. Work by the 2025 and 2026 classes will be on view at the Academy’s gallery, at 519 West 26th Street, from February 18 through May 15, 2027.
