AHS LIVE: The African Ancestors Garden
with Paul Peters, principal, Hood Design Studio
Thursday, March 12, 2026 from 7-8 p.m. ET
Virtual
$15 AHS members/$20 non-members
Paul Peters, principal at Hood Design Studio, will share about the studio’s landscape design process for the African Ancestors Garden, part of the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. The garden draws inspiration from both the Lowcountry landscape and the broader African diaspora to create a tranquil environment for reflection, learning, and remembrance. Organized as a series of sub-gardens, the design celebrates the artistry, craftsmanship, and labor of African Americans through botanical and material narratives. The African Origins Garden highlights the botanical diaspora by featuring plants commonly found throughout Southern landscapes that trace their origins to regions across Africa, symbolizing how plant migration parallels the historical displacement and movement of people. Complementing this, the Lowcountry Garden is rooted in the ecology of local marshlands, incorporating native reeds, a circular arrangement of concrete benches inspired by the contours of coastal mudflats, and a gentle ground depression that gathers site runoff. Together, these spaces form a contemplative memorial landscape that honors ancestral memory and offers visitors a profound connection to the enduring heritage of the African diaspora.
Hood Design Studio is a landscape architecture and social art practice based in Oakland, California and founded by visionary landscape architect, Walter Hood. Paul Peters, a Principal at Hood Design Studio, is renowned for spotlighting the intricate ties between nature and culture in his landscape designs. He transforms expansive sites into intimate spaces, designing with sensitivity to personal memories and experiences. He is deeply invested in the conceptual phase, seamlessly weaving broad perspectives, conceptual thinking, and research throughout his projects, ultimately influencing societal perspectives. Earning his master’s in landscape architecture from the University of British Columbia, Paul managed his own design-build firm in Vancouver for seven years. Since joining Hood Design Studio in 2016, he’s pioneered several groundbreaking projects. Notably, he’s contributed to the International African American Museum in Charleston, SC, the historic Oakland Museum of California’s renovation, and Nvidia’s state-of-the-art campus in Silicon Valley.