Barbara Swift

Barbara Swift is the founder of Swift Company LLC.  Her practice presumes that the development and use of the environment involves all aspects of culture, ecology and life and that a generous public environment is central to civic life. Barbara has consistently pressed for solutions and explorations that result in wholly innovative strategies – all of which are connected to their specific place. The result is a diverse practice with work ranging from land and ecological restoration to urban design and artist collaboration.  In addition to building a landscape architecture/urban design practice, Barbara has been consistently active in the Northwest community lecturing, teaching, writing, and serving on boards and commissions including the ARCADE Editorial Committee and the Seattle Design and Arts Commissions. She was instrumental in establishing City Design, a Seattle city agency focused on urban design and the built environment. Her leadership has been acknowledged in one of a series of articles in the Seattle Times called “Looking for Leaders.” Barbara’s work has resulted in artist residencies focusing on the interaction of the senses and the development of a building cladding system which increases evapotranspiration and grows vegetation at the European Ceramic Work Centre in the Netherlands.  Barbara was a 2015 University of Washington Runstad Department of Real Estate Affiliate Fellow and is currently leading a Bullitt Foundation grant associated with future thinking and the urban public right of way.