Olivera Berce, RLA, BSLA, MLA (languages: Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian, English)
Olivera Berce is a Director at Ground, overseeing the technical design, construction, and management of the office’s projects. A talented designer with a detailed focus, Olivera synthetically translates design concepts into built form; excelling at crafting architectural details that capture the essence of the design.
In her role as senior project manager, Olivera guides Ground’s project management team. Her twenty plus years of project management experience has resulted in multiple award-winning projects across the globe.
Olivera received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Master in Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Ground, Olivera worked in several world-renowned offices on many award-winning international projects.
Curtis Puncher, BSc, MA, MLA (languages: English, Khmer)
Curtis Puncher is Senior Associate at Ground supervising the design of a number of the office’s key projects. A highly organized and imaginative leader, Curtis is able to synthesize multiple constraints to create a holistic design vision and maintain the integrity of the design through documentation.
Curtis’ professional experience includes 9 years of experience, initially in design-build followed with landscape design practice at award winning firms in Boston and Toronto. Curtis brings a broad set of skills and strong technical focus to his work.
Curtis received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto.
Cesare Cascella, MArch, PhD (languages: Italian, English)
Cesare Cascella is a Design Associate at Ground. With a background in Architecture and Social Science, Cesare’s work aims to synthetically analyze landscape components (ecosystems, people, and economies) towards their performance optimization.
Prior to joining Ground, Cesare first worked as a designer in Naples (Italy) and then as an Early Stage Researcher for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie RISE research project. The research was focused on finding the spatial configuration of business clusters in the Boston metro area.
Cesare received his Master of Architecture cum laude from the ‘Federico II’ University of Naples and the Doctoral degree in Urban Regeneration and Economic Development from the ‘Mediterranea’ University of Reggio Calabria, in collaboration with the Northeastern University of Boston.
Yinan Liu, BLA, MLA (languages: Mandarin, English)
Yinan is a Design Associate at Ground with a specialty in graphic presentation and 3D modeling. She has been involved in the design development of many Ground’s projects, focusing on the sculptural details of design.
Yinan holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture cum laude from Louisiana State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. During her graduate school she won the ASLA Student Award of Excellent.
Gary Zhang, March (languages: English)
Gary Zhang is a Design Associate at Ground. He admires the work of ecologists and hopes to approach urban design with a similar mindset. He also has a passion for furniture design and fabrication.
Gary holds a Masters of Architecture from Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He has worked for several architecture firms abroad and in the US and has experience in smaller scale installation design and larger cultural projects.
Wenxin Li, BLA, MLA (language: Mandarin, English)
Wenxin, a Design Associate at Ground, was awarded the BSLA Hornor award in the professional category in 2023. She is passionate about developing landscape-based planning strategies that align with critical thinking and business needs.
Prior to joining Ground, she acquired extensive practical experience in various types of urban planning and landscape design projects in both the United States and Asia. She holds a master's degree in landscape architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Ayden Harris, B.S. Arch (language: English)
Ayden, a Design Associate at Ground, bringing a multidisciplinary approach to landscape architecture with a focus on evidence-based design. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Maryland, where she also minored in construction project management.
Prior to joining Ground, she contributed to sustainability consulting, environmental design research, and educational architecture projects.
Elise Mazareas Nash, PLA ASLA (language: English)
Elise Nash is a Planting Design Consultant for Ground. She developed her intimate knowledge of plants while working on residential commissions and brings this experience to Ground's commercial and institutional projects, providing a keen vision for artistic juxtapositions and successful combinations. A scientist by trade and a designer at heart, Elise seeks to integrate aesthetics with technical knowledge when creating plant palettes.
Elise’s professional experience includes 15+ years of experience working at awarding winning firms in Boston and Cambridge prior to starting her own practice in 2016.
Elise received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geo-Science from Boston College and holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia School of Architecture. A life-long competitive sailor, Elise can most often be found on the water when not working on design projects.
Carissa Daniels, BA (language: English, Spanish)
Carissa Daniels is Ground's Bookkeeper, ensuring efficiency and timeliness throughout all financial processes.
Carissa received her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Boston College and brings a strong analytical background to her role. Outside of invoicing & bill pay, Carissa has a passion for dogs and might be found training her pups to pivot on a perch or dog sledding through the woods of Maine.