The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) announced the election of Johanna Gibbons RDI as its next Master.
Johanna Gibbons, a visionary landscape architect and founding partner of J&L Gibbons, will take on the prestigious role in November 2025, becoming the first landscape architect to lead the Faculty. She will succeed the current Master, Charlie Paton, during the annual RDI awards ceremony in late November.
● Johanna Gibbons is first landscape architect to be elected: Johanna Gibbons RDI has been elected as the next Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry. She is the first landscape architect in the Faculty’s history to hold this esteemed position.
● Transition of leadership: Jo Gibbons will assume the role in November 2025, succeeding current Master, Charlie Paton, during the annual awards ceremony that celebrates new members to the Faculty of Royal Designers.
● A trailblazing career: Gibbons is a founding partner of J&L Gibbons, the award-winning landscape architecture studio established in 1986, renowned for its innovative and holistic design process in the public realm, heritage and cultural sectors with an emphasis on natural processes and community empowerment. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to safeguarding the deep ecologies that shape the character of places.
● Endorsement from current Master: Outgoing Master Charlie Paton, renowned for his groundbreaking Seawater Greenhouse project, praised Gibbons’ leadership and commitment to transformative design, stating she will inspire and elevate the Faculty’s mission.
● Mission of the RDI: The title ‘Royal Designer for Industry’ is the UK’s high accolade for designers, awarded to those who have achieved ‘sustained design excellence, work of aesthetic value and significant benefit to society’. The Faculty of Royal Designers’ mission is to inspire new generations of thinkers to design a better world.
Charlie Paton RDI, a British design engineer renowned for his innovative work in sustainable agriculture and environmental design, has served as Master since 2023. Known for his groundbreaking Seawater Greenhouse concept, which addresses critical food and water shortages in arid coastal regions, Paton has been a strong advocate for design’s power to address pressing global challenges.
Reflecting on Gibbons’ election, Paton said “Johanna’s work exemplifies the essence of what it means to be a Royal Designer Industry. She has spent decades demonstrating how innovative and ecological design can not only transform physical spaces but also create lasting social and environmental impact. Her leadership, vision and collaborative spirit will undoubtedly inspire and elevate the Faculty as it continues to champion design excellence in all its forms.”
Johanna Gibbons, a Royal Designer for Industry since 2019, was recognised for her pioneering work that integrates design with activism, education and professional practice. She is the founding director of Landscape Learn, a social enterprise promoting education and community engagement in landscape architecture, and a leading voice on sustainability, biodiversity and urban planning.
“I am truly honoured to serve as Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry,” said Gibbons. “This is a pivotal time for design practice as we face the environmental emergency, and I am excited to work with this extraordinary design community to advocate for deep ecology to be centred in all of our projects and to spotlight design, creativity and ingenuity when we need it most.”
Johanna Gibbons’ election as Master highlights the Faculty’s recognition of the critic role of landscape architecture in shaping our shared future, addressing climate change and promoting biodiversity. Her innovative and award-winning design has influenced the public realm over four decades.
