Terra Brava
Welcome to Terra Brava Landscape Architecture
About Us
We are collaborators. We work with people and nature to create harmonious, healthy, beautiful landscapes. Our studio is modular; we work together and collaborate with other studios to accommodate the needs of larger projects for parks, commercial spaces, multi-residential housing, hospitality and schools as well as smaller parks or pro bono projects. We also work individually; one on one with our clients on bespoke private gardens, ranches, wineries, and pro bono projects.
We are nature lovers. Our approach is climate positive. We seek to support the unique biodiversity of California, reduce carbon emissions, and increase carbon sequestration by using low-impact materials, improving soil health, treating and reusing stormwater on site, planting natives and climate adapted plants, and protecting trees. We are dedicated to creating sustainable outdoor environments that harmonize with nature and to ensuring that every project enhances both the community, individuals, and the land.
We are plant lovers and take advantage of microclimates to express the heritage, culture, and travel experiences of the people we work with.
We are researchers, learners, educators, and advocates. We are multi-diciplinarian creatives. We engage in our community through ASLA to support our local endeavors and to support community resilience. We select passion projects to contribute our time and attention and promote our values.
Terra Brava is certified WBE and SBE. We are trained in CPTED. We are certified and experienced in Fire Resilient landscapes.
Our Team.
About Alyssa.
It all started in my early years when I fell in love with the spaces designed by Burle Marx in my mother's hometown, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Along the way, I studied languages, philosophy, and international affairs at Columbia University, worked as a producer and NY correspondent for Vogue Paris, and went on to work as a stylist and market editor for Vanity Fair. In Los Angeles, I worked as a photographer, a school garden organizer and educator before I delved into the formal study of landscape architecture at night while raising my sons in Venice. After a few years at Arcadia Studio, I founded Terra Brava Landscape Architecture. Through my years of immersion in the California wilds at our family ranch in Santa Barbara County, I have studied permaculture and regenerative land management, both formally and informally. As an urbanist, I believe in the importance and the power of communities and the power of landowners' power to regenerate their lands and their neighborhoods, and to build robust social ecosystems. I love community, and I believe in the importance of giving back to the land and to people through pro bono endeavors. I speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese and proficient French and Italian.
About Roberto.
After 25 years in software design/development and industrial design, developing a designer's eye and lateral thinking skills, I joined the UCLA Extension Landscape Architecture program, sparking a love of the California native plant biome and a passion for transforming underused spaces into equitable environments for communities.
These passions have informed my work: from co-founding a landscape studio that celebrates California's botanical heritage; to my role as Project Manager at the Watershed Conservation Authority, overseeing the transformation of a former industrial farm into a native-plant-focused regional park as well as a tribal land conservancy collaboration centered on cultural preservation, habitat restoration, and fire resilience; to my work as a landscape designer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Turf Replacement Program, developing more than 160 residential planting plans to help homeowners across the city transition from grass lawns to water-wise landscapes.
Throughout my work, I've always valued a collaborative approach that balances aesthetic appeal with ecological functionality.
About Clayton.
Originally from the farm and college town of Normal, Illinois, I hold a BFA in Film from Watkins College of Art & Design in Nashville, Tennessee, where I studied cinematography, photography, and fine art. I then spent nearly two decades working as a union camera technician on the sets of numerous motion pictures and television shows.
In September 2024, I completed my graduate certificate in Landscape Architecture at UCLA Extension - awarded with distinction. My Capstone design project was honored with a Merit Award at the 2025 Southern California ASLA Quality of Life Awards.
My lifelong interest in the outdoors, art, design, architecture, science, restoration ecology, sustainability, and climate resilience led me to Landscape Architecture, which I believe is a fusion of all of these disciplines. I am excited to dedicate my second career to designing and implementing solutions for a more beautiful and sustainable world that all can access and enjoy.
Recognitions & Awards
ASLA National Awards -Honors Urban Design 2022
