About

Delaney
Hopen

Landscape designer.
D1 athlete.
Problem solver.
Based in Los Angeles.
I came to this field the long way — and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Delaney Hopen
The Story

One final away from a different life

I was one final exam away from completing my geology degree at the University of Idaho when I discovered landscape architecture. It stopped me in my tracks. Here was a field that combined everything I loved — the science of how the earth works, the creativity of design, and the chance to actually build something meaningful in the world.

I finished that geology degree, then went straight to the University of Oregon for my Master of Landscape Architecture. The geology background turned out to be anything but a detour. Understanding bedrock, hydrology, and subsurface conditions gives me a lens on site design that most designers simply don't have. It's the foundation everything else is built on.

Today I work as a landscape designer at an engineering firm in Los Angeles, where I get to bring that rare combination of scientific grounding and creative thinking to every project I touch.

D1 Beach + Indoor Volleyball

The Athlete Mindset

Competing at the D1 level taught me things no classroom could. How to perform under pressure. How to be a teammate. How to lose, reset, and come back sharper. How to push through when everything in you wants to stop.

Those lessons show up in my work every day — in how I approach a complex site problem, how I collaborate with engineers and architects, and how I keep going when a design isn't working yet. Discipline and creativity aren't opposites. The best athletes and the best designers know how to be both.

What Drives Me

The ideas I keep coming back to

✦
Problem Solving
I'm drawn to constraints. The harder the site conditions, the program, or the budget — the more interesting the solution tends to be.
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Creative Reuse
The best design often starts with what's already there. I love finding new life in existing materials, structures, and landscapes.
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Sustainability
Not as a checkbox — as a starting point. Climate-intelligent design that works with natural systems, not against them.
⊞
Urban Complexity
Cities are endlessly fascinating. The layered ecology, infrastructure, culture, and community of urban spaces is where I do my best thinking.
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Uniqueness
Every site, client, and community has its own identity. I design toward that specificity — never generic, always rooted in place.
→
Education
Sharing knowledge openly — with students, young designers, and anyone curious about landscape architecture and the built environment.
Education

Where it all started

M.L.A
Master of Landscape Architecture
University of Oregon · 3 Years
Graduate studies in landscape architecture — site design, ecological systems, grading, planting, urban design, and advanced digital fabrication and representation.
B.S.
Bachelor of Science, Geological Sciences
University of Idaho · 4 Years
Four years studying how the earth works — subsurface systems, hydrology, geomorphology, and the forces that shape the landscapes we design in. Also competed as a D1 beach and indoor volleyball athlete for all four years.
Landscape Architecture Geological Sciences GIS + AI Rhino + Grasshopper Ecological Design Grading + Terrain Climate Resilience Vectorworks Urban Design
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