We do this because we care about the quality of the world around us.
We do this because we liked playing outdoors. Play turned into joyful work as we absorbed the fact - and responsibility - that much of the world we live in is built by people and we could spend a life imagining and building landscapes. We do this because we value the earth and its people. We love to walk our Little Italy neighborhood, stroll the beaches, hike the mountains, travel to new places, enjoy a meal in a crowded sidewalk cafe - just about any situation is an opportunity to observe and learn.
Time has taught us to be discerning and judgmental about the quality of the built environment. Because so much of the world around us is perceived outside, we believe everyone deserves well designed and maintained public spaces.
We live in a world in which ever-accelerating distractions can erode success. Experience has taught us it takes tremendous care and attention to imagine and build exceptional landscapes. We established this practice as a way to offer focused design expertise. We apply our experience to discern and attend to the important - be it the big picture or the smallest detail - in the service of solving problems for our clients for the benefit of all.
We also do this because it is has been fun to be curious and learn - through observation, books, education, and the mentorship of generous teachers. Learning has taught us the importance of attention to...
place
physical, natural, built, cultural
people
equity, diversity, inclusion, clients, users, communities
ideas
observation, invention, imagination, collaboration
craft
technique, making, skill
rigor
management, schedule, budget, code compliance, constructability
practice
research, learning, teaching, colleagueship
place
primal San Diego brought downtown - just trees and dirt
place
nothing says caltrans like...
place
the essence of arlington national cemetery
place
oak crest park as diorama of habitat lost to suburban development
people
who are our clients? it is an awesome responsibility to make places for people
people
teaching design at Sherman Heights Elementary School
people
Sherman School children named our work "…for a greener barrio - to heal the world with beauty"
ideas
learning from observation | Andre Le Notre's parc sceaux
ideas
inventing solutions by drawing instead of talking
rigor
time on the construction site to adjust and improve
rigor
quiet concentration
craft
seeing through sketching – sensing proportion and scale
craft
revealing the source of storm water with careful detailing
practice
we learn, we practice, we teach to pay it forward
practice
we practice and perform