THE STUDIO

VACCARINO ASSOCIATES, LLC, is a landscape architecture studio based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded by Rossana Vaccarino, the firm builds on the legacy of Vaccarino Associates, Inc. and Paradigm Design, Inc., established in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 2003 and 1998. Those early offices housed a multidisciplinary team of landscape architects, civil engineers, architects, and urban designers.

Our San Juan office, established in 2018 after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, focuses on site planning, green and blue infrastructure, and landscape architecture across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Its location offers strategic access to the U.S. mainland as well as the Spanish, U.S., and British Virgin Islands, where much of our work is concentrated.

We do not subscribe to a single “signature style.” Each project is an opportunity to shape our clients’ or community’s vision within the unique constraints and possibilities of its site. Passion, creativity, and technical expertise drive our goal of leaving every site better than we found it.

We research, educate, design, build, and advocate. Drawing on our multidisciplinary background and experience as educators, we approach projects with creative problem-solving that crosses professional boundaries. This perspective allows us to work at multiple scales and from different angles.

Today, we continue to foster a process where site planning, engineering, architecture, and landscape architecture are treated as equal, interconnected disciplines—each adding value through true collaboration and synergy.

When collaborating with other associates or firms, we work seamlessly through teleconferencing and digital platforms. We are currently establishing a satellite unit just south of Tuscany, where Rossana directs projects for certain months of the year while restoring a historic farmhouse. This base enhances work efficiency and quality of life during hurricane season in the Caribbean while reconnecting with the rural landscapes of her Italian roots.