About LASD Studio

Crafting Timeless Landscapes with Sustainable Innovation

LASD Studio is a boutique landscape architecture studio with roots in San Diego, California, and Spain — and a multinational team in the US, Denmark, Spain, and Ukraine. Together, we design landscapes that balance artistry, ecology, and technology.

Our portfolio ranges from private gardens and estates to community parks, cultural institutions, and ecological restorations. Across all scales, we bring a holistic approach — blending creativity with sustainability, and tradition with innovation.

We draw inspiration from diverse styles — Spanish Colonial Revival, Moorish, Baroque, Classicism, Modernism, and Contemporary — while always adapting to the unique character of each site. Every project reflects our core philosophy: landscapes are living, evolving systems. That means we design not just for today, but for generations to come.

LASD Studio did not start in a boardroom — it began in a garden, long before the studio had a name.

As a child growing up in Ukraine, I often watched my grandfather at work. He was a geodesist, soil scientist, and garden planner — a man who blended scientific precision with artistic vision. On large A2 and A1 sheets, he would draft masterplans by hand, using ink pens with a patience and skill that turned technical drawings into works of art. His plans reflected a deep knowledge of land, soil, and life itself.

Beyond his profession, his own garden was a living classroom. Blooming fruit trees, rows of berry shrubs, and forty humming beehives created a thriving ecosystem. The bees pollinated freely, linking everything together in a cycle of abundance and resilience.

I remember sitting beside him as he carefully sketched orchards and plantations, shaping the land as if it were a canvas. For me, that garden was more than just a place — it was an early lesson in ecology, beauty, and the quiet intelligence of nature.

Those memories became the foundation of my own journey. They led me to landscape architecture, where science, art, and ecology come together to create meaningful places.

Today, LASD Studio carries that legacy forward. We design landscapes not as static spaces, but as living, evolving systems. Each project — from private gardens to community landscapes and ecological restorations — is guided by the same spirit I first felt in my grandfather’s garden: to create environments where life flourishes, where people and nature coexist, and where care for the land becomes an enduring story.

The Visionary Behind LASD Studio

Behind this vision stands Yura Lotonenko — founder and principal of LASD Studio. With dual Master’s degrees in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, and more than 17 years of international experience, Yura is the creative force behind the studio’s Evolutionary Approach: a philosophy of designing landscapes as living, evolving systems that connect art, ecology, and human experience.

Explore Yura’s thought leadership and writings here: Publications