architecture, art, and landscape
Our work spans a wide range of design types. In addition to being architects and landscape architects we have also served as artist for several art installations. We find the process of design and the nature of the medium used within each discipline to have different demands.
ARCHITECT
As architects, design is usually based on a specific set of needs and how one chooses to address those needs within a larger set of constraints reveals the particular character of the design. One’s design sensibility is expressed by the nature of the responses one devises to shelter uses and relate the building to the larger world. Buildings are also slow to weather and with a reasonable level of upkeep can maintain an appearance that minimally changes with time.
ARTIST
As an artist, the goals of the piece are often self-defined. The success of the art piece is based more on the strength of the effect created and the message it conveys. Beyond the limitations of a particular medium, be it paint, carved stone or molded landform, the artist is confronted with a largely blank slate that requires a mental construct to direct the brush strokes on the canvas. Although a few works of art feature change, most mediums are highly controlled and frozen in time. An artwork is often considered at its best when it is restored to its original condition.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
The design of a landscape usually falls between these extremes, there may be uses to be accommodated, but it is difficult to relate each design decision to a particular need. Although the context is a paramount concern and designing with plants can be demanding, there is great flexibility in how the landscape can be arranged and rendered. The medium of landscape is extreme in that it is virtually uncontrollable and in constant change. It refuses to be a designed object and can be a reluctant partner in the creation of a place. Landscape design requires a flexible vision.