As a child growing up on Chicago’s Northwest side, Conor O’Shea would regularly travel to Ireland to spend time with his extended family and roam the wild land of his family’s farm in County Fermanagh. He may not have realized it at the time, but those visits planted a seed – pardon the pun – for his career in landscape architecture; a career that has culminated with Hinterlands, the Chicago-based firm that he founded and leads today.
In between those childhood visits and the successful launch of his firm, Conor, the second of three children and a proud native of Chicago’s Mayfair neighborhood, was immersed in Irish culture from an early age. He was very close with his Irish grandmother Bridget O’Shea, whose family farm he would visit, and both of his parents were involved in the arts, his mother as an Irish harpist and singer and father within the local Irish theatre community. Young Conor would take Irish dance lessons and music classes at the Irish American Heritage Center, where he now takes his two sons Kabir and Kieran.
“Growing up, I figured being involved in Irish culture was normal,” Conor reflects. “It wasn’t until I was an adult when I realized that this culture was distinct. Not everyone was so immersed in their heritage. My grandmother lived with us, and she played a big role in building that connection to Ireland for me and my family.”
As a teenager, Conor saw that the University of Illinois – which he would attend – offered landscape architecture as a major, and he was immediately hooked. After all, he had already developed a passion for creating biodiverse ecosystems, spending time in high school creating terrariums filled with native plants and small creatures at his home.
Upon graduating from the University of Illinois, Conor took a job with Hoerr-Schaudt, a design firm where he had the chance to work under Peter Schaudt, whose body of work includes designing the landscape for the revamped Soldier Field public grounds.
“Peter is a champion of the public realm. He wanted to create public plazas and spaces along the lines of Daniel Burnham,” Conor recalls of his time spent at Hoerr-Schaudt.
Conor would continue his educational studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, which he describes as a “turning point in his life,” as he not only earned two valuable master’s degrees but also met his wife Aneesha during his time in Cambridge.
Armed with his diplomas, Conor went on to hold teaching positions at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois, and he earned his “big professional break” by winning first place award in a competition to design the Springdale, Arkansas Veteran’s Memorial. Along the way, he founded what would become his signature firm, Hinterlands, in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood.
“I knew I wanted to start my own practice, and I needed two things: a lot of clients and a philosophy to guide it,” Conor says of this time period. “My teaching positions allowed me to experiment and give me time to develop that philosophy.”
That guiding philosophy of Hinterlands emphasizes two principles: the importance of biodiversity and the aesthetics of the landscapes that he helps to shape.
“Hinterlands is not your standard landscape architecture company. Our work is guided by a desire to create more biodiversity in urban and suburban settings. My position is that any piece of land can be a home to valuable and beautiful butterflies, June bugs, and these other small creature things that are declining. These insects are the foundation for biodiversity.”
From an aesthetics perspective, Conor intentionally designs landscapes of all sizes that are wilder, richer, and more hospitable for both humans and wildlife.
“We’re not super crisp,” Conor acknowledges of his design strategy. “This came from time on the land in Ireland. I was struck by how quickly things grew in Ireland. I have a vision of Chicago that is messier, wilder, and more biodiverse.”
This connection with Ireland is reflected in the name of his corporate newsletter – Foiseach – which is a Gaelic word that describes grass inaccessible to mowing machines, or grass growing along the margins of a field.
Conor also embraces technology, providing 3D modeling for his designs and testing ways to use augmented reality to test designs and show clients.
The client base of Hinterlands includes homeowners in Chicago and the suburbs, as well as small businesses and restaurants, where he can provide landscape design work to maximize the beauty and efficiency of their square footage. He also manages larger scale projects for sprawling vacation estates.
In addition to leading these private projects, Conor dreams of designing public spaces – he would love to take the reins of the “Cap the Kennedy” idea to build a park over the Kennedy Expressway – at a greater scale and make a lasting impact on the entire metropolitan area.
Safe to say, Conor has embraced his Irish identity as a core component of Hinterlands. He entered a float in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and regularly hosts traditional music sessions in his storefront, where he plays the pipes and welcomes neighbors and families to enjoy Irish culture.
“I’m conscious about my Irish-ness,” Conor reflects. “I am more deliberate and intentional about it than I ever was as a child or young adult, and I’ve tried to incorporate that into my work. I feel some responsibility for perpetuating that culture in my own way.”
Looking forward, Conor does not lack for ambition in measuring the success of Hinterlands – he wants it to be known as the “go-to landscape architecture company in the Midwest” - or in choosing a Chicago architect to emulate: none other than Louis Sullivan, the “father of skyscrapers” and mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. Conor describes Sullivan as the “last big Irish American architect to leave an enduring legacy.”
With a nod to his ancestry and connection with his homeland, Conor O’Shea appears to be on the path to cementing his own legacy in that pantheon of Irish arts, culture, and, in his world, landscape architecture and design.
Hinterlands is located at 916 N Damen Ave in Chicago. More information about Conor and his firm can be found at www.hinterlands-ul.net
Landscape Architect Conor O'Shea Embraces his Irish Heritage With Hinterlands
