Larissa is the founder and principal designer of Land of the Living. She has a decade of experience in landscape architecture, starting with earning her Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Jersey born-and-raised, Larissa has a deep love for the strange and wild landscapes of North Jersey. She grew up at the edge of the Meadowlands, and learned early on to appreciate the area’s unique urban-industrial-wilderness cocktail. After years studying, traveling, and working elsewhere, she returned to New Jersey ready to marry her work as a landscape practitioner with her home.

Larissa has worked with firms such as OFICINAA, Melillo Bauer & Carman, TerreformONE, and Ryan Associates. She is also engaged with moving the field of landscape architecture forward through her work in academia, having taught advanced design studios at Columbia University, Rhode Island School of Design, and University of Pennsylvania.

Together with Michelle Shofet, Larissa is the Co-Founder of Nocturnal Medicine, a non-profit studio devoted to bringing healing to the most difficult cultural-environmental challenges of our time. Their work is boundary-pushing and defies disciplinary constraints, with its roots in landscape architecture, and has been celebrated in publications such as the New York Times and Canada’s Global News.

Since relocating to Jersey City in 2019, Larissa has been devoted to grassroots social practice that weaves connection between people and nature through the arts and design. She regularly collaborates with local artists, activists, and organizations to produce experiential art and cultural events.