Years: 

1913–2005

Year Hutchinson Medal awarded:

1979

Landscape architect, planner, and environmentalist

Simonds was a modernist landscape architect, influenced by his education at Harvard under Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus movement; he co-founded Simonds and Simonds, later known as Environmental Planning and Design Partnership.

Simonds played a foundational role in the creation of the Chicago Botanic Garden. In the 1960s, he was commissioned to transform a 300-acre site—formerly a marshy, degraded area—into what would become one of the most celebrated public gardens in the U.S. Simonds emphasized human interaction with nature, creating spaces that were both educational and experiential. His design allowed visitors to touch, learn about, and engage with plants, reflecting his belief in gardens as places of connection and contemplation.

Other career highlights:

• Authored influential texts like Landscape Architecture: The Shaping of Man’s Natural Environment and Earthscape: A Manual of Environmental Planning
• Other notable projects include Mellon Square in Pittsburgh and Pelican Bay in Florida