Our Team
Meet Dani alexander
PRINCIPAL
Dani Alexander is founding principal of Studio AKA. Her work is imbued with the belief that putting people in touch with nature brings about a deep sense of well-being. She is passionate about transforming the public realm to be more equitable, resilient, and compelling.
Before founding Studio AKA, Danielle worked at Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects, Verzone Woods Architects, and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. While at Reed Hilderbrand, Dani contributed to the implementation of multiple projects set forth in Harvard University’s Allston Institutional Master Plan. She was also on the design team for the American Museum of Natural History’s Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, contributing to the design and preliminary construction documentation. For the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Dani helped to develop a planting design for a tricky ravine site, as well as re-imagined access in a site of difficult topography and flooding. In all of these projects, she enjoyed collaborative relationships with architects, engineers, naturalists, and stakeholders.
Dani’s commitment to communicating the impacts of design, climate change, and resilience efforts is additionally supported through volunteering, teaching, and writing.
As a trained Climate Reality Leader through Former Vice President Al Gore's Climate Reality Project, she works to communicate the impacts of climate change on landscape and public health. She manages the Shifting Latitudes project, a communications platform covering these issues. She served as adjunct faculty at the Boston Architectural College, teaching in both the Architecture and Practice Departments, and has sat on numerous student design juries.
Dani’s writing has appeared in various print and digital publications. Most recently, she served as Editor and Contributor for the book Food Urbanism by Craig Verzone and Cristina Woods, published 2021. In 2019, she was the Urban Wild Writer in Residence for Freshkills Park.
Dani earned her Bachelor of Arts at Harvard University and her Master of Landscape Architecture from University of Virginia, where she was a William R. Kenan Fellow and Editor of the design publication lunch.
Meet Kezia Ofiesh
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Kezia Ofiesh is a Landscape Architect who is passionate about designing beautiful and resilient spaces that tell the story of a site in an effort to connect people with the landscape. She joined Studio AKA in 2023.
Prior to that, Kezia worked at OJB Landscape Architecture and managed the firm's east coast marketing and business development efforts. During her tenure, she expanded the firm's relationships with collaborators, lead the implementation of rebranding, and wrote winning proposals aligned with the firm's strategic growth. Kezia began her design experience in 2008 as an architectural designer at Leroy Street Studio where she worked on high-end modernist residences in the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions. Her experience in the field of landscape architecture includes designing healing landscapes at Payette, large urban parks at Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, and high-end modernist residential and public works at Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects.
Outside of work, Kezia loves to explore public parks and playgrounds throughout Boston with her toddler. Her other creative pursuits (when she has time!) include jewelry design and fabrication, drawing, knitting/crocheting, and baking. She is also very dedicated to cultivating her indoor jungle of houseplants.
Kezia earned her undergraduate degree in Architecture at the University of Virginia, and her Masters in Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she was recognized for her expressive hand drawing techniques and graphic representation.