V Owen Bush interviewed Eric Rains, founder of Eric Rains Landscape Architecture, about their career, design philosophy, and various projects. Eric Rains highlighted the significance of their childhood experiences in New Orleans, the importance of restraint and clear communication in design, and the critical role of seasonality in landscape architecture. They also discussed scaling intimacy in large-scale projects like the District Galleria, navigating the civic approval process, and the necessity of accurate as-built documentation and resilient design, as exemplified by the Sono project, where ecology functions as infrastructure.

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Today on Practice Forward, we’re joined by Eric Rains, founder and principal of Eric Rains Landscape Architecture—a Connecticut-based studio known for weaving understated, resilient landscapes into some of the region’s most complex redevelopments. From award-winning adaptive reuse at Ironworks in South Norwalk, to climate-resilient pocket parks, to shaping the public realm of White Plains’ $2.5 billion District Galleria, Eric has spent three decades proving that the landscape isn’t just the backdrop—it’s the frame, the infrastructure, and the public invitation. With a “quiet, simple, intuitive” ethos, deep experience in permitting, and leadership roles from the Norwalk Parking Authority to CT-ASLA, his work bridges ecology, regulation, and community value.