The Andy Warhol Museum's Pop District debuts!

The Andy Warhol Museum’s Pop District debuted this week, complete with Merritt Chase’s Silver Streets installation! In the near future, The Pop District will be home to a six-block expansion of the museum. Merritt Chase has been working with The Andy Warhol Museum to build momentum for this long-term vision by conceptualizing the short-term design and activation of the Pop District’s public realm.

Merritt Chase’s Silver Streets concept takes inspiration from the silver surfaces and furniture in The Factory, Andy Warhol's infamous New York City studio. The Factory’s silver walls, tin foil ceiling, and spray-painted furniture were the backdrop to the colorful art and people in Andy Warhol’s orbit. Today, the public realm of the Pop District becomes a new, outdoor backdrop for the colorful art of The Andy Warhol Museum and the people of Pittsburgh. The Museum’s adjacent streets, alley, and parking lots have been temporarily transformed with silver paint, silver chairs, and silver scaffolding into a series of outdoor galleries and gathering spaces.

The Pop District is now home to two new public art installations, Michael Loveland’s Social Sculpture and Typoe’s Over The Rainbow mural. More installations will be populating the silver streets soon!

Read more about the Pop District in the New York Times here.

Landscape Architecture Magazine features Dunham Tavern Master Plan

Landscape Architecture Magazine’s April issue features the Dunham Tavern Master Plan in “Tavern on the Scene: A Socially Isolated Historic Site Challenges Merritt Chase to Break Down Fences” by Timothy Schuler.

“‘There are more stories to tell…’ says Lauren Hansgen, the museum’s executive director, describing Dunham Tavern and its landscape as a witness to nearly every pivotal period in Cleveland’s history. A new master plan for the museum’s five-acre campus could help tell those stories, intentionally taking a broader, more inclusive approach to the tavern’s history…’let’s expand our period of interpretation, ‘ Hangsen says.”

Read the recap of the article here.

Merritt Chase Welcomes Andy Polefrone

Merritt Chase is pleased to welcome Andy Polefrone to our team.

Before joining Merritt Chase, Andy was a designer at GGN in Seattle and DC, where he worked on various public, cultural, and institutional landscape projects.

Read Andy’s bio and learn more about our full team on our About page here.

Emerald View Park Master Plan and Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park win PA-DE ASLA Awards

©2022 Christian Phillips Photography

This week, Emerald View Park Regional Park Master Plan and Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park were awarded 2022 PA-DE Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Awards.

Thank you to the PA-DE Chapter of ASLA and the awards jury. Congratulations our clients, communities and design teams team!

Check out all the 2022 Award Winners here.

Alexandra Mei promoted to Associate

Alexandra Mei is a licensed landscape architect at Merritt Chase and was recently promoted to Associate. Alexandra’s current projects include the University School Lower School landscape in Cleveland, OH, and the South Downtown Indianapolis Connectivity Vision Plan in Indianapolis, IN. Alexandra was an integral partner in recent projects including the Dunham Tavern Master Plan in Cleveland, OH, and Emerald View Park Regional Park Master Plan in Pittsburgh, PA.

Learn more about Alexandra’s interests and background here.

Join Our Team

Merritt Chase is currently seeking a landscape designer with 3-5 years of experience to join our team. We are looking for a thoughtful landscape designer who is collaborative and has excellent design skills. The ideal applicant will be located in our Indianapolis office, with the potential of a flexible, remote work option.

Candidates should have:

  • Interest in a variety of project types, scales, and phases of project development

  • Strong design skills and aesthetic sensibilities

  • Comfort with collaboration, idea generation, and design iteration

  • Clear, consistent, and thorough communication skills

  • Interest in landscapes and urban development across Middle America

  • Interest in working with diverse populations

  • Experience producing technical drawing sets

  • Rigorous attention to detail

  • Proficiency in AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, and SketchUp

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in landscape architecture

The position will include a range of tasks including:

  • Designing landscapes that balance form, program, historic significance, storytelling, social and cultural identity, ecology, and infrastructure integration

  • Renderings including illustrative plans and perspectives

  • Diagrams including plans and perspectives that convey design intent

  • Preparation of client presentations

  • Preparation of construction documents

Merritt Chase is a women-owned business and values a diverse workplace. We strongly encourage BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, people with disabilities, and members of ethnic minorities to apply. Merritt Chase is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

If interested, please send a cover letter, resume, and portfolio as a single PDF (under 10mb) to info@merrittchase.com.

Dunham Tavern Museum Master Plan featured in The Architect's Newspaper

This month’s issue of The Architect’s Newspaper features the Dunham Tavern Museum Master Plan.

“To aid Dunham in the repositioning of its campus into a school trip-popular historic site and inclusive community asset, the museum tapped Merritt Chase, a landscape architecture and urban design practice based in Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, and LAND studio, a Cleveland-based nonprofit developer of urban parks and public art. Together, Merritt Chase and LAND studio worked with the museum to develop a campus master plan that serves as a ‘framework to facilitate practical day-to-day decisions as well as communicate Dunham’s vision for the future’ as an ‘inspiring, welcoming 21st-century public space.’ Informed by workshops, presentations, and listening and learning sessions attended by community stakeholders and Hough residents over an 18-month period, the recently completed master plan is centered around five key objectives: History, Education, Nature, and Community. It also proposes a range of interventions that preserve and enhance existing elements while creating new spaces that ‘allow Dunham to build upon its cultural significance and community presence.’”

Read the full article here.

Nina Chase presents "building momentum" as the Ohio ASLA Fall Conference Keynote Speaker

Birch Street Pop-up Plaza, Boston, MA

Nina joined landscape architects in Ohio as the keynote speaker for the Ohio ASLA Fall Conference on October 20th. The presentation entitled “Building Momentum” included a range of Merritt Chase short-term and long-term landscape projects that build momentum for the transformation of public space.

Nina Chase gives Mayfield Lecture at Fairmont State University

Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park, Morgantown, WV

The Fairmont State University Mayfield Lecture, named for Jeffrey Mayfield, Fairmont State alumnus, and architecture professor honors the “spirit and dedication” Professor Mayfield exhibited toward the exploration, craft and profession of architecture. The mission of the Mayfield Lecture is to encourage a sense of community between architectural education, the profession, and the public by influencing the educational, economic, and cultural well-being of our region through the dissemination of architectural knowledge. Fairmont State University is located in Fairmont, West Virginia.

Nina’s lecture featured the firm’s work throughout Appalachia, including the renovation of the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park in Morgantown, WV and Appalachia Rising, Merritt Chase’s report for the Architectural League of New York’s American Roundtable project.