Walter Hood is the founder of Hood Design in Oakland, California, and a professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning at the University of California, Berkeley. His commissions in the Bay Area include the gardens surrounding the De Young Museum and Oakland's Lafayette and Splash Pad Parks. In the 5-1/2 years since Splash Pad opened, Walter has received numerous awards and has been featured (along with the park, itself) in a stunning array of publications.

Here's a partial list:

  • March 2004 New York Times.

  • April 2, 2004 article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Patrick Hoge.

  • The July 2004 issue of California, the UC Berkeley alumni magazine.

  • The August 2005 issue of Metropolis.

  • Excerpt from May 2006 article by George Hazelrigg in Landscape Architecture Magazine.

  • Dwell Magazine

  • Most recently, Walter Hood is the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum's 2009 honoree for Landscape Architecture.