Join us for a guided walking tour led by Lily Chishan Wong, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Miami School of Architecture, that connects the living plants in our garden to the fascinating history of USDA explorer David Fairchild and landscape architect William Lyman Phillips.

Drawing on Fairchild’s memoirs and archival research, this one-hour tour brings the history of the Garden to life.

We recommend bringing a bottle of water, good walking shoes, and your favorite mosquito repellant.


Instructor Bio:

Lily Chishan Wong, AIA is a practicing architect and design researcher whose work focuses on the relationships between architecture, plant life, and urban ecologies. Her research, practice, and teaching are devoted to the urgencies of climate resilience, legacies of colonialism, and futures of urban living. With an education in the liberal arts and an upbringing in British-colonial Hong Kong, she explores these topics through integrating different research methods to create spaces, systems, performances, media, and essays. 

Lily joined the faculty at the University of Miami School of Architecture in spring 2024, after teaching at Columbia University and Syracuse University. During the Harry der Boghosian fellowship at Syracuse awarded in 2022-23, she developed her teaching and research focus on plant life, working with students and faculty from different disciplines to examine the roles of architecture in botanical and ecological practices. This interest is rooted in her professional experience at the architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi in New York, where she worked as a project architect on cultural buildings and landscapes for over six years.

Her independent work has been exhibited, performed, and supported internationally by the American Institute of Architects (USA), Art Omi Residency (USA), Bauhaus Dessau Foundation (Germany), Columbia University (USA), Dumbarton Oaks (USA), Syracuse University (USA), India and China Institute at the New School (USA), International Architecture Biennale of São Paulo (Brazil), Kohn Pedersen Fox Traveling Fellowship (USA), Lisbon Architecture Triennale (Portugal), New Inc at the New Museum (USA), and Singapore Botanical Garden (Singapore). She received the World Architecture Festival 40 Under 40 Award in 2025 and the University of Miami Social Justice Prize in 2024.

Learn more about Lily Chishan Wong here: Lily Chishan Wong | School of Architecture at University of Miami

Organization Information:

We Want More History is a coordinated national day of programming to strengthen civic health, build community trust, foster democratic dialogue, and showcase the vital role of history in public life. It responds to heightened public interest in history and historical interpretation by activating trusted public institutions where people already gather to learn, reflect, and engage. At its core, the project amplifies public libraries as anchors of civic engagement, intellectual freedom, and community well-being. It also centers public lands including national parks, state parks, and city parks as shared civic spaces where history is interpreted in place and connected to lived experience. Historians and educators are positioned as scholars and teachers committed to the public good through evidence-based, contextualized understanding of the past, in order to promote excellence in scholarship, encourage wide public discussion, and advocate for history.

The project is designed to be visible, participatory, and replicable, creating a shared national moment while strengthening long-term relationships between libraries, historians, educators, land managers, and community partners. Timed to align with America 250-era programming, it ensures that national commemorations reflect the full, complex story of the people and places that make up the United States.

Learn more about We Want More History here: https://www.wewantmorehistory.org