In September 2024, the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., announced its third cohort for the LAF Ignite program. This initiative is a multi-year scholarship, internship, and mentorship program designed for landscape architecture students in the United States who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Brendan Hall, a student at Illinois Tech in his fourth year of the MLA/M.Arch. program, was one of five students selected nationwide to join this group.
Participants in the Ignite program receive an annual $10,000 scholarship, a paid summer internship, and various forms of mentorship throughout their degree programs. Hall expressed his enthusiasm for the opportunity to connect with fellow landscape architects who share similar backgrounds and aspirations. “The program affords me the opportunity to interact with other landscape architects who look like me, [as well as] other up-and-coming landscape architects in programs across the nation,” Hall said. “It’s encouraging to be able to see that we’re all trying to head in the same direction.”
Hall's journey into landscape architecture began after he graduated with a degree in political science from Governors State University in 2018. He then worked as a crime policy analyst at the University of Chicago. During this time, he became involved with the Strategic Decision Support Centers project aimed at reducing crime in Chicago's most violent districts. While working there, Hall encountered architect Jeanne Gang’s Polis Station design, which influenced his career path by integrating his interests in political science and landscape architecture.
“I thought the utilization of the built environment to create opportunities for people who normally wouldn’t have positive interactions [in that setting] was incredibly intriguing,” says Hall.
His research into transforming blighted lots into sustainable spaces further fueled his decision to enroll at IIT for an MLA/M.Arch. degree. Hall aims to acquire vacant properties across Chicago and implement design interventions to measure their impact on communities. “Essentially, I’m trying to combine my background in political science and public policy with my architecture and landscape architecture experience,” he says.
Through Ignite, Hall has gained new connections and learning experiences. He participated in an internship that took him to Kansas City for the United States Conference of Mayors and Detroit for the Mayors’ Institute on City Design. Last year, he interned with Chartier Dalix in Paris where he observed urban design solutions firsthand.
“The scholarship affords me an opportunity to continue to inform the design philosophy I plan to carry into my career,” says Hall. “I want to eventually create my own [multidisciplinary] studio, with an aspect of research, to inform policy that can create frameworks for cities, neighborhoods, and villages to create more inclusive design.”