Robin Mack Key

Robin Mack Key, 72, of New York City, NY and Londonderry, VT died on April 30, 2026 after a brief illness.

Born in Evanston, IL, she was a respected landscape architect and historic preservationist. As founder of RKLA Studio in Manhattan, Ms. Key’s work left an indelible mark on several New York area landmarks, including Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Tavern on the Green in Central Park, The Storm King Arts Center, Serviam Gardens: an affordable housing project in the Bronx, The Noguchi Museum in Queens, and The Olana Partnership, which is dedicated to preserving the work and landscape of the American painter Federic Church.

After training in Landscape Architecture at Cornell University under Marvin Adelman and Peter Trowbridge, two of the most pre-eminent Landscape Architects of the era in the U.S., Ms. Key and her husband David M. Key, also in an Agricultural Economics graduate program at Cornell, moved to New York City. She began working for Daniel Stewart, a well-known practicing Landscape Architect in New York City’s Greenwich Village. In this early chapter of her career, Ms. Key found herself in the midst of the vibrant cultural and arts scene in New York City’s West Village in the 1980’s and 1990’s. She learned of the work of young Robert Mapplethorpe via her friend and neighbor Brice Marden, and became an early patron of Mapplethorpe, commissioning several photos of her daughters.

It was during this period in a still pre-gentrified West Village that she and Mr. Key, while raising two young children, purchased and began renovating a townhouse on Jane Street. Six years later, the Keys discovered that this home had originally been built in the 1840’s by the Key’s great-great grandfather, George Richard James Bowdoin.

After Mr. Stewart’s death, Ms. Key established her own landscape architecture practice while raising her third child, later founding RKLA Studio in Manhattan. Over the following decades, she built the firm into a respected practice known for its work across historic preservation, cultural institutions, educational campuses, public spaces, and residential landscapes. Working closely with longtime collaborator and partner Gareth Mahon, Ms. Key helped shape projects that combined horticultural rigor, historic sensitivity, and contemporary design. Among her most significant works was the restoration of the landscape surrounding Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, which she described as a meaningful gift back to the city she loved.

In 2009, Robin joined the Board of Trustees of The Olana Partnership (TOP); an organization dedicated to preserving the work and landscape of the American painter Frederic Church, foremost of the Hudson River school of artists in the late 19th century. Olana, Church’s residence and studio, is a New York State historic site on 250 acres in Hudson, NY. Ms. Key served as

2026 co-chair of The Olana Partnership’s board of trustees and helped host the organization’s April 15, 2026 gala event, at which 400 invited guests gathered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to initiate the 200th anniversary of Church’s birth, a milestone being celebrated by many prominent museums in the United States who show and interpret Church’s painted landscapes. Ms. Key played a leading role in the successful repair and curation of Church’s role, not only as a painter but as a collaborator with Frederic Law Olmsted on Central Park and in developing Olana as a living landscape canvas.

In 2018, Ms. Key was elevated to the Council of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects in recognition of her contributions to the profession and to the stewardship of cultural landscapes. She was supported in her nomination by friends and colleagues including landscape architect Thomas Woltz and Cultural Landscape Foundation president and CEO Charles Birnbaum, both longtime collaborators and advocates for her work. Ms. Key also served on the Stewardship Council of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, where she helped advance broader public understanding of historic and culturally significant landscapes.

She was also on the Advisory Board for the Noguchi Museum in Queens, NY; an affiliation which extended the long-time relationship her family had with noted sculptor, landscape designer and furniture designer Isamu Noguchi. Ms. Key’s great grandfather, The Rev. Samuel Mack, took Noguchi in as a boarder when he was a 14 year old exchange student sent to rural Laporte, Indiana from Japan. The Mack family ensured he had access to education in America and continued to support the artist as he built his career.

Ms. Key also collaborated with the Storm King Arts Center and artist Sarah Sze on her permanent installation, “Fallen Sky,” completed in 2021.

In addition to her urban work and life, Robin Key built gardens and landscapes on a 300 acre family farm in southern Vermont, focused on perennials for cold climates, native trees and shrubs. With her husband, much of the property was established as a working Tree Farm producing timber and maple syrup. Robin guided the construction of miles of hiking and ski trails, large fields and ponds, and stone work in collaboration with Dan Snow, a well-known dry stone sculptor. The family produces fresh produce, maple syrup and honey from the farm each year.

Prior to her studies at Cornell, she earned a Bachelor's degree from The University of Vermont in plant and soil science in 1977.

Robin Key was an exceptionally generous person with her time and thought. In both her personal and her professional life she sought change through collaboration and by connecting people together to achieve common goals. Her employees, her various subcontractors, her fellow trustees and her extended family all loved working with her because of her curiosity of the natural world and her extensive knowledge of what grows underfoot and nearby.

She is survived by her husband of 50 years, David M. Key and their three children, Mckendree Key of Brooklyn, NY, Lindsay Key of Winhall, Vermont and Ely Key of Rockport, Maine and four grandchildren. Robin’s love infused and sustained her family. She is missed by all for her warm and generous spirit but also for her iron commitment to making the world a more beautiful place.

A service will be held on May 30 at 2 PM at the Peru Church in Peru, VT, where gifts can be