The MacArthur Foundation's fellowships were announced Wednesday, and among the honorees receiving one of the famed, no-strings-attached grants is Oakland-based designer and landscape architect Walter Hood.

Hood Design Studio is known for local projects like the design of Oakland's Lafayette Square Park and Splashpad Park next to Lake Merritt, and most recently it won a commission to reimagine the rooftop and rear gardens at the Oakland Museum of California. As Hood explains in the video below, he's interested in "bringing forward" pieces of history in each space he designs, as opposed to trying to erase history and build on top of it.

Hood is among this year's 26 fellows who will receive grants of $625,000 spread over five years — grants that are simply meant to allow them to continue their work with less financial worry.

This year's honorees include acclaimed cartoonist and graphic novelist Linda Barry, pragmatist philosopher Elizabeth Anderson, and composer Mary Halvorson.

The other Bay Area honoree this year is Berkeley-based attorney and restorative justice advocate sujatha baliga.