Patricia Algara

Patricia Algara grew up in Central Mexico. One of her grandfathers was an acclaimed architect, and the other was a rancher on whose farm she spent much of her childhood. From here springs her passion and appreciation for beautifully designed food-productive landscapes. She calls this art foodscaping. Patricia is a native Spanish speaker who plays an invaluable role in engaging Spanish-speaking community in projects. After working for a women’s rights organization on community empowerment projects, she earned a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture in order to bring together participation and the built environment. Along with her public outreach, facilitation and graphic recording skills, Patricia has worked on projects ranging from learning environments, to urban parks, schools, zoos, farms and streetscapes. A major interest for Patricia is connecting people to nature through food. She is a strong believer that all children should have the right to experience nature and learn from it; through this exposure they will connect to the larger environment. Children spend most of their time in schools, so it is crucial to create nature habitats for children and youth to learn and connect with nature in schools. Patricia teaches “Designing for Difference” at UC Berkeley and UC Berkeley Extension which focuses on social factors that influence the design of public spaces. Patricia’s design, outreach, and leadership work has been national recognized through a national ASLA awards, the 10 Women Campaign and many other organizations and publications. Patricia is an avid beekeeper who strives to apply values that she has learned from the bees in her designs: Beauty, function, structure, and communication can intersect sweetly.