/ Our Office
op.AL is an award winning cross disciplinary design practice located in New York City, formed between an Architect, and a Landscape Architect. The office approaches design problems by exploring the oppositions established by the vantage points conventionally isolated within the two disciplines, resulting in design solutions that strive to disintegrate the subject-object relationship conventionally established between Landscape + Building.
Our projects and investigations range in scale from regional planning and infrastructural design solutions to the creative domestic and interior solutions. Our past clients have included the City of Salem, Circle Acres Nature Preserve in Austin, New York State Council of the Arts and New York Parks and Recreation.
/ Jonathan A. Scelsa, AIA FAAR
Jonathan is an Architect, Urbanist, and an educator. Prior to the founding of op.AL Jonathan had worked in several international offices including Foreign Office Architects, Hashim Sarkis Studios, Smith-Miller + Hawkinson and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.
As an educator and researcher, Jonathan is an Professor of Architectural Design + Technology with Tenure at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Prior to joining the faculty at Pratt, Jonathan held teaching appointments at The University of Pennsylvania School of Design, Harvard University Northeastern University, Rhode Island School of Design, The Boston Architectural College, Spitzer School of Architecture and Parsons the New School.
Jonathan is a Licensed Architect in the state of New York. He received his Master of Architecture in Urban Design with Distinction from Harvard University. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University.
/ Jennifer Birkeland, PLA FAAR
Jennifer Birkeland is currently an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a licensed landscape architect in the state of New York and a LEED accredited professional. Jennifer received her Master of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University and has a Bachelors of Science in Landscape Architecture from California Polytechnic State University Pomona.
Jennifer has worked with internationally renowned offices such as West 8, OLIN, and Ken Smith Workshop. Working on a wide range of projects including several national design competitions for the National Parks Service, including the winning design entry for the Washington Monument Grounds at Sylvan Theater in Washington DC, as well as the Presidio Parklands Competition in San Francisco.
/ Team Present + Past
Vector Gato, Meow Officer
Elizabeth Bobyr, Chai Eun Hwang, Romain D’Incau, Yeonkyu Andy Kim, Fangge Wang, Sophie Chien, Andrea Kelly, Giaocomo Sartorelli, Alessandra Carreno, Hamza Hamdeh, Massi Surratt, Juan Gomez, Danielle Serigano, Bernard Chiang, Sage Taber, Lyuxiao Liu + Haanbee Choi
/ Collaborators + Friends
HiJAC Creative
RISD
Parabox Labs
CBT
Pixel Parlor
West 8
AKT II
Harvard GSD
Shelby Doyle
SMLA
Green Shield Ecology
Cinescapes