PROOF develops new ways to work with large living and constructed landscape systems so that practices of sediment management, forestry, maintenance, wetland restoration, and construction become the generative means for design goals. We are offer research and design services to industry, public agencies, community organizations, and academic partners. We deliver innovative approaches, produce new knowledge, and help implement experimental proposals.
We are a small, agile company that likes to collaborate with community groups, state agencies, engineers, architects and landscape architects, field scientists, and land managers.
What we do
We help clients by providing high-quality, affordable design research into cultural, natural, and technical processes of ecosystem management and construction pertaining to coastal, urban, riparian, and forestry environments. We work with public, private, and non-profit clients to resolve complex issues in wetlands, coasts, forests, and floodplains. We have expertise in the creation of natural and nature-based features, materials research, and public space design to improve human and ecosystem health over time. We offer:
- archival research
- precedent research
- landscape monitoring and analysis
- development of maintenance and management agendas
- prototyping
- RFQ and RFP concepts
- form-based research and development
Our work is rooted in a historical and ecological approach that synthesizes technological, cultural, ecological, infrastructural, and architectural issues and can help guide capital projects, sediment management projects for public or ecological benefit, forest plantation and city tree canopy management plans, artist and community engagement, and maintenance protocols and manuals. Often our projects emphasize how ongoing maintenance practices can be leveraged in large constructed and natural systems to minimize capital costs and improve performance over time.
Our design research services help clients address regulatory, technological, and economic roadblocks to have successful projects that create great public spaces and landscapes that benefit human and ecosystem health over time.
Who We Are
Brian Davis, PLA, FAAR

Brian is a landscape architect and professor of landscape architecture at the University of Virginia, where he co-directs the Natural Infrastructure Lab. He works with the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop innovative natural infrastructure, and was a primary investigator for Healthy Port Futures.
Erin Putalik, PhD, RA

Erin is a historian and architect, and professor of landscape architecture at the University of Virginia, where she leads the Bay Migrations project through the Environmental Resilience Institute. Her expertise is on forestry practices and the role resource limits in cultural landscapes.
Sean Burkholder

Sean is a landscape designer and a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is co-director of the Environmental Modeling Lab. He works with the US Army Corps of Engineers to describe and analyze coastal systems and develop site-specific responses to cultural and ecological needs using natural processes. He was the lead primary investigator for Healthy Port Futures.
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