The Urban Field Collective: A unique structure for collaboration and leadership.
Aligning how we operate with our approach to design, our values as creatives, and our views on community.
Our collective model brings together a unique set of complementary expertise.
Each We’ve built a practice that reflects what we believe good urban design requires: openness, shared ownership, and a genuine commitment to the communities we serve.
This structure informs our practice.
At least one Urban Field partner leads and is actively engaged in every project, while also providing our clients with access our greater network. Together, we create the best teams to affect change in the communities where we work.
Our story
Women-Founded
Urban Field Studio originated in 2014 as a collaborative team of urban designers in the San Francisco Bay Area, founded by Jane Lin and Heidi Sokolowsky.
Women-owned growth
The studio, certified as a Small Business Entity and Women-Owned Business, grew over the years.
Collective power
Between 2015 and 2026, architects Frank Fuller, Ryan Call, landscape architect John Bela, and urban designer Noah Friedman joined the team, transforming Urban Field into a collective of experts with global experience in master planning and public realm design.
Designing for the future
Today, Urban Field works across planning and design to unlock the physical potential of sites, building towards futures that are sustainable, resilient, and rooted in place.
Our story
Women-Founded
Urban Field Studio originated in 2014 as a collaborative team of urban designers in the San Francisco Bay Area, founded by Jane Lin and Heidi Sokolowsky.
Women-owned growth
The studio, certified as a Small Business Entity and Women-Owned Business, grew over the years.
Collective power
Between 2015 and 2026, architects Frank Fuller, Ryan Call, landscape architect John Bela, and urban designer Noah Friedman joined the team, transforming Urban Field into a collective of experts with global experience in master planning and public realm design.
Designing for the future
Today, Urban Field works across planning and design to unlock the physical potential of sites, building towards futures that are sustainable, resilient, and rooted in place.
The Collective
Jane Lin, AIA, Founding Partner
Grounded in design, Jane leads project management and community engagement and teaches at UC Berkeley.
Ryan is a master planner with public and private experience working on mixed-use districts, and expertise in retail, housing, and office.
Ryan Call, AIA, Partner
John Bela, ASLA, Partner
A former partner at Gehl and a co-founder of Rebar, John leads the public realm strategy with a passion for regenerative landscape design.
Noah Friedman, AICP, Partner
Noah founded Vibemap, a platform helping downtown organizations nationwide strengthen engagement and place-base vitality in addition to a long career in master planning.
Heidi Sokolowsky, Partner
Trained in Germany, Heidi brings a sustainability-driven approach to urban design at every scale.
Frank has spent his career turning downtowns and Main Streets into vibrant, pedestrian-oriented places.
Frank Fuller, FAIA, Partner
Ann Lin, Senior Planner
Anne is an urban planner trained in design and public health with experience partnering with municipalities and community organizations across the country to deliver long-range plans and impactful engagement processes.
Courtney Ferris, Urban Designer
Courtney Ferris is a designer working within the disciplines of urban design, participatory process, and active transportation planning. Her work often challenges how we engage with, understand or question the processes that design our lives.
Lex Benes, Landscape Architect
Lex has a background that blends environmental design and narrative into spatial practices and whose work emphasizes community-driven design, visual and thoughtful integration of social and ecological values.
Taylor Peliska, Urban Designer
Taylor is an urban designer with a background in graphic, digital, and user experience design that shapes how he approaches placemaking, community engagement, and creating spaces designed for people.
Nicola Noriega, Urban Designer
Nicola is an urban designer with experience across infrastructure, public space, and hospitality environments who explores how systems, architecture, and landscape intersect to shape meaningful human experiences.
Ayisha Friedman, Storyteller
Ayisha has a background in storytelling, collaboration, design thinking, and visual communication, bringing experience in both grassroots organizing and professional design environments, blending visual aesthetics with purpose-driven messaging.