The “Design Mind” award at Cooper Hewitt’s National Design Awards recognizes a visionary who has profoundly impacted design theory, practice, or public awareness. Anne Whiston Spirn had been nominated in this category for several years before but never won. As a scholar, photographer, and landscape architect, her work merges natural environment restoration with inner-city community development, making it difficult to put in a box.
Realizing that we needed to tap into the spirit of investigation that motivates all of her work, we captured video of Anne “in her element,” such as navigating the shores of her home in Nahant, Massachusetts and working in her studio. We also aimed to evoke a sense of curiosity and spontaneity in her narration.
Anne won the award. In a conversation with the sponsors, she learned that “it was the video” that clinched it. The video is now displayed in various venues featuring her work, including the International Federation of Landscape Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Activitiesnarrative strategy
video production
video editing
TeamAnne Whiston Spirn
Date2018
LocationBoston, Massachusetts
StudioInvisible Cities Studio