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People • Faculty

Derek Hoeferlin

Derek Hoeferlin, AIA, affiliate ASLA, is principal of [dhd] derek hoeferlin design, an award-winning architecture, landscape, and urban design practice based in St. Louis. He is an associate professor and chair of landscape architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Hoeferlin is principal investigator of Way Beyond Bigness: The Need for a Watershed Architecture, which is the title of his book (Applied Research + Design Publishing, 2023), where he collaboratively researches integrated water-based design strategies across the Mississippi, Mekong, and Rhine river basins. He is co-principal investigator of Bio-diversity Farms in the Paramo de Sumapaz, Colombia (2021-present, with Ivan Jimenez/Missouri Botanical Garden/WashU Living Earth Collaborative); is a team member on two WashU Divided Cities Initiative grants (with Gavin Kroeber and others, 2019-present); was co-principal investigator on the water-based design research projects MISI-ZIIBI: Living with the Great Rivers, Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Midwest River Basins (2013-2016, with John Hoal and Dale Morris;) and was co-principal investigator on Gutter to Gulf: Legible Water Infrastructure for New Orleans (2008-2012, with Jane Wolff and Elise Shelley).

Hoeferlin lectures on his work internationally, and his designs, photography, teachings, and writings have been published and exhibited widely, including in Chasing the City, New Orleans Under Reconstruction, Designing Suburban Futures, the Journal of Architectural Education, The Anthropocene Review, Dwell, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Wallpaper, Metropolis, ‘scape, Scenario Journal, Archinect, Places Journal, Exhibit Columbus, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

Hoeferlin has led AIA and ASLA award-winning projects and jury recognized competitions, including Designing Resilience International Open Competition (first prize), Chouteau Greenway Competition (with TLS Landscape Architecture and Object Territories), and with his colleague Ian Caine: Rising Tides Competition (first prize), Dry Futures Competition (honorable mention), and Build a Better Burb Competition (finalist). Hoeferlin earned Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees from Tulane University and a post-professional Master of Architecture degree from Yale University, graduating institutions with multiple honors.

Hoeferlin headshot
Derek Hoeferlin
Professor and Chair, Landscape Architecture
Academic programs
Master of Landscape Architecture
Master of Architecture
Master of Urban Design
Bachelor of Science in Architecture
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture
Doctor of Sustainable Urbanism
Email
hoeferlin@wustl.edu
Office
Weil 306
Box
1079-131-105

Select Articles, Chapters, and Publications

The book repositions both meanings of the word “watershed” by providing an understanding of designing with water to integrate with the built environment, as well as by keeping contemporary tipping point events top of mind. The three rivers were studied in-depth by Hoeferlin via multiple field-research trips over the last 15 years, along with WashU research assistants and students.

Drawing on Hoeferlin’s field work, community-based collaborations, and design-research, the book proposes a three-part methodology, which he defines as “Watershed Architecture.” “Appreciate + Analyze” chronicles ecological and infrastructural transformation of the river basins through Hoeferlin’s multi-scaled, comprehensive atlases and photography, as well as guest essays from a multi-disciplinary group of experts conducting work in each river basin. “Speculate + Synthesize” aims to start discussions and nurture big ideas through a series of trans-boundary speculative design-futures. Finally, “Collaborate + Catalyze” inviting a variety of perspectives through innovative community-engaged projects and venues.

Select Articles, Chapters, and Publications

  • “Looking Upstream: The Case for a Watershed Architecture,” in Frameworks for Coastal Change in Landscape Architecture, edited by Kees Lokman (Routledge, forthcoming 2025).

  • “Nature-Based Solutions to Landscape-Architecture Challenges,” EWN – Engineering with Nature Podcast (with Kotch Voraakhom, 2022)

  • “Houses We Love,” in Dwell Magazine, by Daisy Zuckerman (2022)

  • “In Critical Condition,” Terrain Magazine, by Eric Berger (2022)

  • “The Watershed Architecture of the Mississippi River Basin,” in The Anthropocene Journal: The Mississippi Papers (Sage Publishing, 2021)

  • “The Mississippi Watershed is Big, Big, Big,” in New Middles, edited by Mimi Zeiger, Iker Gil, Jamie Goldsborough (2021)

Select Exhibitions

  • “Buoyancy,” Lemp Brewery Complex, St. Louis, MO (2023)

  • “Lot 49,” The Luminary, St. Louis, MO (2022)

  • “Grounding the New Deal Superstudio: A Summit on Design, Policy and Advocacy,” National Building Museum, Washington D.C. (2021)

  • “New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis,” Landmark Columbus Foundation, Columbus, IN (2021)

Select Awards and Grants

  • 2023-24 — $20,000 Office of the Provost Here & Next Tier 1 Spark Funding: Proposal Development Grant for “Environmental Arts & Humanities Working Group”

  • 2022-23 — “STLr City / Indigenous STL: The STLr Working Group,” The Divided City initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation, team member.

  • 2020-21 — University Design Research Fellow, Exhibit Columbus

  • 2020-21 — $13,000 Landmark Columbus Foundation for “Tracing Our Mississippi,” University Design Research Fellowship (PI)