Barbara Wilks

Principal and Founder W Architecture and Landscape Architect LLC.

Barbara Wilks is a leader in the field of design. Barbara uses her skills to realign nature and the city with a focus on waterfront environments. Having worked on over 50 waterfronts, and having won almost 100 design awards, both in planning and design, she is astutely knowledgeable about the specific requirements and characteristics of these unique places. This synthesis creates a comprehensive connection between the fundamental ecology of the site, its historical and cultural legacy, and its current iteration.

Barbara is one of the few professionals elected to both the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (in 1999) and to the College of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects (in 2010).  Her projects range from urban public spaces, to infrastructure, to architecture, to parks, with her goal being to use design to create access and a means of participation—a public route to discovery, engagement, and stewardship.

In addition to opening her projects for participation, during the design process Barbara continues the spirit of inclusion to the surrounding communities, government agencies and professional collaborators. Projects include award winning projects in seven countries and many cities including NYC, Calgary, AB, Dubai, UAE, Tampa and St Petersburg FL, Baltimore MD, and others.

Barbara serves on the Design Advisory Committee of Cornell University and on the Planning Committee of the Municipal Art Society, NYC.

She is a past board member of the National Association of Olmsted Parks, the Maryland Institute Advisory Board, and the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and she is currently a board member at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, the Design Trust for Public Space, and the McHarg Center at University of Pennsylvania.

She has served several times on the Mayor’s Institute for City Design and has been on many juries for various institutions including the ULI, AIA, and ASLA.