“A mind once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimension.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
never regains its original dimension.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Isabel Boggs-Fernández is a designer, educator, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in landscape architecture and urban design practice and pedagogy. She is co-founder and principal of KornerLot Design & Development LLC, alongside Zac Boggs, where they integrate design, development, teaching, and mentorship into a visionary and place-based practice.
Isabel teaches at Cornell University in the City & Regional Planning Department and has held academic appointments in Landscape Architecture at both Cornell University and SUNY ESF. Her immersive, hands-on teaching model bridges creative experimentation with real-world implementation—ranging from community parks and plazas to innovative micro real estate ventures. She is committed to shaping the next generation of designers through applied research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public-facing work.
She is currently co-authoring a bilingual book, 78 Plazas, a research-driven exploration of Puerto Rico’s principal civic spaces and their relationship to identity, history, and resilience. In parallel, she leads design initiatives and co-operates their Ithaca-based retail and hospitality ventures, Ithaca Lights (ithacalights.com), and andhome.studio, where design thinking extends into curated living environments.
Recent work can be explored at kornerlot.com, on Instagram #kornerlot and #publicspace.
Summary of workCurrent
Research Focus
The design, implementation, and post-occupancy evaluation of public spaces to strengthen environmental, cultural, and social resilience.Research Themes
Professional WorkProjects span multiple scales and geographies, including:
EducationPost-Professional Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA II), Human Ecology
Cornell University, 2010
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
Clemson University, 2001
More in depth:After completing her graduate studies at Cornell, Isabel and her partner settled in Ithaca, New York, where they founded UrbiNova Design, later expanding into labD+H (Design + Hope) through collaborations with colleagues in China and Korea. During this period, Isabel began teaching at Cornell in the City & Regional Planning Department and the Real Estate Program, developing interdisciplinary coursework that bridged graphic communication, urban design, and development.
She designed and continues to co-teach Graphic Communication in Cornell’s CRP Department, a course that integrates design clarity, storytelling, and professional representation. In the Real Estate Program, she contributed the urban design component of the multidisciplinary Capstone studio.
Isabel later accepted a tenure-track appointment at SUNY ESF, where she focused on the production of socially and environmentally resilient public spaces—design, implementation, and assessment—with work spanning the mainland United States, China, and Puerto Rico.
In 2014, she was awarded the Drescher Leave Award, enabling her family’s relocation to Puerto Rico to conduct in-depth research on the Island’s 78 principal plazas. This research forms the foundation of her forthcoming bilingual book, 78 Plazas.
Today, Isabel integrates scholarship, teaching, entrepreneurship, and applied design. She continues to advance public space research while co-leading KornerLot’s design practice, hospitality ventures, and curated retail environments—bringing together theory, making, and lived experience.
Isabel teaches at Cornell University in the City & Regional Planning Department and has held academic appointments in Landscape Architecture at both Cornell University and SUNY ESF. Her immersive, hands-on teaching model bridges creative experimentation with real-world implementation—ranging from community parks and plazas to innovative micro real estate ventures. She is committed to shaping the next generation of designers through applied research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public-facing work.
She is currently co-authoring a bilingual book, 78 Plazas, a research-driven exploration of Puerto Rico’s principal civic spaces and their relationship to identity, history, and resilience. In parallel, she leads design initiatives and co-operates their Ithaca-based retail and hospitality ventures, Ithaca Lights (ithacalights.com), and andhome.studio, where design thinking extends into curated living environments.
Recent work can be explored at kornerlot.com, on Instagram #kornerlot and #publicspace.
Summary of workCurrent
- Co-Founder & Principal, KornerLot Design & Development LLC
- Co-Founder, Ithaca Lights & andhome.studio
- Visiting Lecturer, Cornell University – City & Regional Planning
- Airbnb Superhost
- Author (forthcoming), 78 Plazas
- Assistant Professor, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry
- Visiting Lecturer, Landscape Architecture – Cornell University & SUNY ESF
- Member, City of Ithaca Planning & Development Board and Design Review Board
- Academic Partner, labD+H (Los Angeles & Ithaca)
- Co-Owner & Design Collaborator, UrbiNova Design / labD+H (Guangzhou, China)
- Lead Designer & Project Manager, Design Workshop (Denver)
Research Focus
The design, implementation, and post-occupancy evaluation of public spaces to strengthen environmental, cultural, and social resilience.Research Themes
- Parks & plazas
- Cultural landscapes & identity
- Puerto Rico & the Caribbean basin
- The Laws of the Indies
- Post-occupancy evaluation
- Resilience & empathy in design
- Professional development: portfolio & resume pedagogy
Professional WorkProjects span multiple scales and geographies, including:
- Community and regional planning
- Urban and rural parks & plazas
- Streetscapes
- Resorts & golf landscapes
- High-end residential design
- Wayfinding and signage systems
EducationPost-Professional Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA II), Human Ecology
Cornell University, 2010
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
Clemson University, 2001
More in depth:After completing her graduate studies at Cornell, Isabel and her partner settled in Ithaca, New York, where they founded UrbiNova Design, later expanding into labD+H (Design + Hope) through collaborations with colleagues in China and Korea. During this period, Isabel began teaching at Cornell in the City & Regional Planning Department and the Real Estate Program, developing interdisciplinary coursework that bridged graphic communication, urban design, and development.
She designed and continues to co-teach Graphic Communication in Cornell’s CRP Department, a course that integrates design clarity, storytelling, and professional representation. In the Real Estate Program, she contributed the urban design component of the multidisciplinary Capstone studio.
Isabel later accepted a tenure-track appointment at SUNY ESF, where she focused on the production of socially and environmentally resilient public spaces—design, implementation, and assessment—with work spanning the mainland United States, China, and Puerto Rico.
In 2014, she was awarded the Drescher Leave Award, enabling her family’s relocation to Puerto Rico to conduct in-depth research on the Island’s 78 principal plazas. This research forms the foundation of her forthcoming bilingual book, 78 Plazas.
Today, Isabel integrates scholarship, teaching, entrepreneurship, and applied design. She continues to advance public space research while co-leading KornerLot’s design practice, hospitality ventures, and curated retail environments—bringing together theory, making, and lived experience.
