Students and professionals will explore how designers can transform ideas into meaningful public spaces through collaboration, community engagement and inclusive design at the next Hyde Lecture, "Designing the Conditions for Impact." The lecture will be presented by Matthew Macchietto, a 2024 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Alumni Master and principal landscape architect at Hoerr Schaudt, at 4 p.m. Feb. 18 in Architecture Hall West, Room 127.
Macchietto’s talk reflects on a career shaped by the tension between ambition and reality in civic landscape architecture. Drawing from early professional lessons and projects that were frequently delayed or reduced, he traces a personal shift from reactionary practice toward a more intentional and generative approach to public work.
Through parks, play spaces and waterfront projects across the United States, the lecture will explore how initiative, partnership-building, fundraising and storytelling can function as design tools alongside drawing and craft. Emphasis will be placed on inclusive play and community-driven processes as evidence that egoless design can create both social impact and durable, built outcomes.
The lecture concludes with a forward-looking perspective on the expanded role of designers as stewards, advocates and authors of the systems that make public landscapes possible — offering students insight into how they can shape not only projects, but the conditions that allow meaningful work to happen.
Macchietto is a principal landscape architect at Hoerr Schaudt, where he leads the firm’s civic practice and shapes complex public landscapes at the intersection of ecology, culture and technology. His work focuses on inclusive design, environmental performance and translating community values into durable, legible systems in the built environment
Over the past 15 years, Macchietto has led more than $300 million in public realm projects across the United States, including Exploration Place in Wichita, Sarasota Bay Park (2024 ASLA National Honor Award), River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs and East Side Park in Birmingham, with ongoing work in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Asheville and San Antonio.
He holds a Master of Landscape Architecture with distinction from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he was awarded the Peter Walker and Partners Fellowship. In 2024, he was named an Alumni Master at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln — the first landscape architect to receive the honor. He is a frequent lecturer and critic, contributing to national conversations on public space, inclusive play and ecological design.
The Hyde Lecture Series is an endowed public program hosted by the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Each year, the series invites leading experts from architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and planning to present on topics that inspire thought-provoking discussion.
