Island Planning Corporation is a landscape design and master planning firm
working at the intersection of design, ecology, and luxury.
With completed projects in 38 countries, our work spans alpine resorts,
African urban planning, and ecological restoration. We specialize in the
design, engineering, and master planning of mature landscapes.
Our approach is research-driven and hands-on. From plant propagation and
sourcing to tree relocation, we shepherd each project from concept through
execution. Every landscape we create is intended to enhance aesthetic,
cultural, and financial value while leaving a lasting natural legacy.
Nathan Browning
Founder & Principal
Nathan realized early in his career that he needed to surpass the current boundaries within the discipline of Landscape Architecture. The industry standard of a two-dimensional format lacks the ability to produce a design with a unique aesthetic that serves deeper ecological purpose and functionality. Nathan set out to create a team of experts in horticulture, botany, ecology, architecture and environmental engineering that would complement his sense of four-dimensional design. His experience with designing, building, then watching projects evolve has enabled him to create a company that is in a field of its own.
Spencer Woodard
Ethnobotanist & Horticultural Specialist
Spencer is interested in the history of human relationships with plants and landscapes and how the ever-changing state of these relationships has affected the ways in which people interact with and influence larger ecological systems. Spencer's foundations in landscape design and anthropogenic agro-ecosystems began with the study of plants - traditional pre-colonial land management, ethno-botany, agroforestry, and horticulture - in Central and South America. Since 2007 Spencer's professional work with Island Planning Corporation (IPC) has taken him around the world countless times and consisted of a malleable integration of horticulture, design, research, botany, and logistics. Spencer spends his free time with his wife Katerina and two daughters at home in Sebastopol CA, where he is continuously expanding and managing an extensive and diverse collection of edible, medicinal, useful and ethnobotanically significant tree and perennial species. Spencer started working with IPC in 2007, the day after he graduated from Antioch College with a self-designed major in Socio-Ecological Sustainability.
Stefania Farah is a recognized leader known for merging creativity and strategy to deliver results in complex environments. Her career has focused on collaborations with some of the world's leading design companies, including LVMH, Kering, and Apple, where she produced timeless, multi-dimensional experiences for products that have defined the last decade. After earning her degree from Central Saint Martin's College of Art & Design, she lead global projects as a Creative Producer for Gainsbury & Whiting. At Liaigre, she managed the design and realization of exclusive residential projects, emphasizing craftsmanship and artistic integrity. As Studio Director at IPC, Stefania oversees multidisciplinary teams with operational precision. Focused on execution, her approach is rooted in creative excellence, fiscal responsibility, and boundary-pushing innovation. She has been instrumental in IPC's collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, promoting and integrating native orchid conservation into domestic and international projects. Fluent in four languages and shaped by a multicultural heritage, she continues to lead in creating ecologically rich, innovative landscapes worldwide.
Joaquin Bonifaz
Design Lead
Joaquin is an architectural designer with experience in a wide range of building sectors including commercial, master planning, cultural, and residential. His work with Perkins+Will and Aranda\Lasch has won awards such as AR MIPIM Future Projects Award for Tall Buildings and the J.Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. Joaquin's B. Arch comes from Syracuse University and his M. Arch II from Harvard Graduate School of Design. In the Academic field he has taught with Benjamin Aranda at Harvard Graduate School of Design, at Columbia University and at Pratt GAUD. Joaquin is a Legacy LEED Accredited Professional.
Eric Nyman
Environmental Engineer
Eric started with IPC in 2010. His work involves large landscape project design and implementation in remote locations in a wide variety of climates. He develops the support networks for landscape systems through vocational, natural resource and infrastructure development with the primary goal of amplifying native ecology and promoting land stewardship. Prior to IPC, Eric worked as an independent contractor for the United Nations Development Program and United States Agency of International Development as a chief engineer implementing wastewater-to-resource projects. He also worked in the private sector in Panama, as a project engineer for remote developments. Before his international experience, he worked super boring engineer type jobs in the states. Eric Nyman graduated with an environmental engineering degree from Humboldt State University in the northwest of California. His other experience ranges from being a vegetarian chef, co-restauranteur (whose restaurant is still running after twenty years) to developing tropical homesteads. He has studied human interaction with the environment in many places around the world to understand the erosion of the relationship in order to determine how to stop it. He speaks enough Spanish to joke and almost, but not quite enough, French.
