The Director’s Philosophy
Attitude
1. As an adult professional figure skater I have truly embraced the notion that the greatest form of competition is with yourself. That drive also resides within my pursuit of landscape architecture perfectionism. That theme is symbolized to me by an image that out of a crack in a downtown Manhattan sidewalk emerges a blade of grass surrounded by an ocean of concrete. That is the fight that God has wired all living things with, to only embrace the life force. I am immersed in the sea of humanity but owning my individuality is like that blade of grass pushing its way through political optics and the bureaucratic stasis to think and build like a rogue wave that crashes upon peoples fractured senses to wash away the disconnection between one's home, pool, garden structures, and landscapes. People want continuity in their lives and in their homes, so an environment must become a place where we sunbathe on a pristine beach or swim in crystal waters and gaze upon majestic mountains.
2. My first landscape was planting a small cactus garden at home in West Los Angeles when I was five years old. With my father at eleven years old I planted two city blocks along National Blvd nearby with donated Pinus Pinea trees that now tower and cantilever their broad pine umbrellas over the street. When I placed a giant sandblasted cedar root emerging out of a rock pond in the center of the Bicycle Shop Café in 1974 I had also successfully suspended in their interior multiple indoor plants as some of the first use of plants in a restaurant environment anywhere in the nation. I am also proud to have been a pioneer in the early 90s with the first complete non-toxic pool water systems being installed.
3. Though we are all separate individuals we must not act separately, we are still connected to our neighbor’s environments and how we act and what we do inside our private and public structures has a ripple effect upon our immediate communities and ultimately all of life. The statement that “ no man is an island” may be witnessed by a neighbor picking up trash in front of your home and influencing your children to think like that or may be represented in a catastrophic scenario where you are not exempt from the effects of a nuclear blast because you live in Hawaii. So how we weave the pallet of architectural and geo-political fiber plays an important role upon humanities ripple effect.
Every time I embark on a project, regardless of size it is a new journey. One of my first comments whenever I meet potential new clients is that I tell them that I have not come to sell a job, but am searching to see if there is a good connection so that something special can be built and to see if I can sense that we may be able to navigate through all our individual personalities to work together. Coming from an authentic pursuit of the healing arts in environment building mastery I must analyze the DNA of a site and spend some time observing locations before I begin the creative process.
4. There must be a certain level of intimacy developed in order to push the boundaries of what collaboration can achieve. We are all created as individual art pieces meaning that I want every project to be different because every person is different. Repeating the same style of work over and over, with economic thirst fueling that engine, often results in a boring cookie cutter volume production construction episode in a field already laden with multiple sub-standard installation problems. That is the place I am farthest from. Authentic artisan construction passion is suffocated by repetitive mundane design and building endeavors. I personally seek use of every applicable advancement in new technology for materials and equipment and utilization of every tested non- toxic material possible to foster a construction evolution that contributes to a healthier environment and way of thinking. That means that full use of energy all of the time must be given to produce meaningful works.
5. Oddly to be a successful high level artisan water-shaper and builder one must contain two opposites. One side that projects very unusual creative strong willed concepts with master planning abilities and the other side that must become quickly malleable and make immediate changes to foster spontaneous new ideas without feeling insulted or frustrated when there are requests to change plans already in motion. You can turn on cable television and see five million dollars spent on a Flintstones pool or a commercial waterpark design level project. The occupants are probably having a blast but without the fine sophisticated application of realism and the sculpted merging of seamless details we are not teaching or challenging our children or even ourselves to think how we may improve our surroundings and lifestyle. Much awareness has grown in society about nature's beneficial impact on human health and something magical that happens to people that spend time in a well-designed garden. If we want an evolution to occur we must strive to raise the bar in our concepts and perceptions about how we create graceful grand gardens and uniquely designed private blue spaces so they transport us into a dreamed paradise full of tranquil, seductive, hypnotic intimate niches. My attitude is that it is a necessity to submerge our senses in genuine repositories that connect the earth and sky in constant motion to stimulate a collective search of the infinite.
6. We live in the dichotomous physical plane black and white harsh square of matter that exists within the ethereal flowing circle of spirit. A world full of pain and suffering while those with social advantages swim in a pool suspended off the roof of a high-rise tower. Humanity will lose its way if the tools of abundance aren’t applied to all levels of peoples economic states to build various levels of advanced forward thinking habitats infused with elements of practical sustainability that produce sophisticated healing idyllic pastoral enclaves and make your home and its surroundings into a classroom of the arts.
Concept
7. My philosophy for being very passionate about producing daring intricate and abstract design elements is based on feeling truly grateful for the opportunity these times have afforded us to create exquisite forms for a whole new era and pursuing the inspiration from natural design patterns that allow a sense of place to be interpreted and translated into modern details. I approach this comprehensive selection of ideas as cellular architecture where I may step back out of normal time to realign myself to simple natural beauty while I scrutinize the immaculate details required to make my work special.
8. The digital age through social media has freed architecture like no other time in history. Design is no longer subject to the pendulum of traditionalism versus experimentalism. New shapes and forms are the new normal. Architecture is not math or zoning, it is a theater for our souls. It takes maximum effort to make the abstract very inviting while altering people's perceptions through form, structure and color to create a stage of natural beauty that becomes perfect in the moment and yet still incorporates value engineering in the construction process.
9. These are strategic times amidst a world obsessed by speed and immediacy with social tensions running high through our contemporary lives. Urban sprawl now seems safer for pandemics than our architectural conquests to build straight up and stack people like beehives and may literally be flattening the curve in how we design communities and cities. What a challenge to endure the bureaucratic and economic strangleholds and still boldly build with rigorous pure emotions environments that produce unrestrained sensory effects that create precious moments of tranquility.
Goals
10. The criteria of modernity and functionality still requires the main dwelling as the center of gravity so it may be a home full of emotions pressing the visual dialogue between contemporary architecture and the artisanal nature of materials. That gravity must act as a receptacle to grab everything outside in terms of views and light and capture as much space as possible without sacrificing privacy. If we want to improve the world we have to add to a body of knowledge already composed of the best parts of the works of centuries of genius. For high culture to be sustained requires all of our work everyday to embrace life, enriching essence.
11. I categorize what I call the three most problem ridden and dishonest fields of work in order; lawyers, mechanics, and contractors (although all critical for society to function). Remarkably being immersed in the latter listed field I have never had a lawsuit in over 40 years for defective work. That also means since there are always problems that arise during construction I must catch errors as soon as they occur to minimize impediments (wow if our government functioned like that!). The root of that wonderful proclamation of no defective work lawsuits is derived from the authentic pursuit of thoroughness and integrity, making the ultimate goal of the creative process to be able to tap into natural systems and enrich the built landscape and people’s lives. I want the natural character of a site to combine ecology and culture to create a timeless design that stimulates imagination.
12. Master gardens and intricate unorthodox landscape elements must represent a piece of the puzzle of each person. Building a refuge is a modern excavation of our times in which every inch of space converges to the outside.
13. Since the average attention span lasts about eight seconds I see my work as fusing the primitive with the future to produce an instant sensory impact to jolt us into the present while experiencing compelling visual simplicity. My job is to help create a sense of place to form a connection between people and the identity of the land.