Michael Rapuano

With Gilmore Clarke, Michael Rapuano, FASLA, formed the landscape architecture firm Clarke & Rapuano in 1939. In addition to city planning and campus planning projects, the firm became known for its work on the design of parkways. Rapuano was involved in the design of many highway projects, including portions of the Bronx River and Henry Hudson Parkways in New York. He also participated in the landscape design of the United Nations Headquarters and in the design of the World War II American Military Cemetery in Florence, Italy. Rapuano received a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from Cornell University in 1927 and spent three years at the American Academy in Rome as a fellow in landscape architecture. His early years of employment included work with the Westchester County Park Commission and the New York City Park Commission as well as Madigan-Hyland Engineers. Rapuano was a trustee of the American Academy in Rome and a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters; the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Park Commission; and the Municipal Art Commission in New York.