PROCESS

Ways of working that are iterative, open-ended, caring, and grounded by truth.

Our design process integrates creative methods, design research, and collaborative exploration to expand possibilities for shaping new landscapes and projects. We are interested in how engaging with the dynamics of a site help us build knowledge and imagine new futures.

CREATIVE METHODS

Our approach is investigative and imaginative, an ever evolving engagement between our bodies and the landscape. We initiate with sensory site investigations to develop intimate connections, observe patterns, uncover hidden narratives, and ask questions.

ENGAGE WITH THE SITE

DESIGN RESEARCH

We explore the ecological, cultural, and historic layers of each site, building our awareness of context while challenging assumptions. Through iterative exploration we expand our collective knowledge base and push boundaries. Our design research measures the social and environmental impact of our work, ensuring projects are resilient, meaningful, and transformative.

SEEK KNOWLEDGE

COLLABORATIVE

EXPLORATION

Through collaboration with communities, participants, experts, and clients, we develop a shared language and vision that reflects diverse voices and insights. Our participatory approach fosters inclusive dialogue that strengthens the impact of each project.

LISTEN + COMMUNICATE

Exploration and design research are foundational to our practice.

Asking questions and investigating possibilities drives a dynamic, generative, and open-ended design process that leads to discovery and deepens our relationships with sites and people. Three approaches embody the power of this process: vulnerability, unlearning, and curiosity.

VULNERABILITY

  • Our commitment to unlearning grounds how we approach our work, allowing us to see in new and unexpected ways. We begin our work with questions that needle, dig, unearth, expose, and reveal the complexity of landscape. This approach challenges typical structures of practice to center and explore the unknown vs the known.

UNLEARNING

  • Our process is rooted in curiosity which feeds our imagination and sense of optimism. It prompts us to question how our way of working addresses the dynamic issues of our time. Curiosity helps us shape a practice of probing rather than proving, prompting us to react, be responsive, and shift our perspective.

CURIOSITY

  • We embrace transparency and center joy both in how we organize as an office as well as how we engage in design. We believe the more vulnerable and transparent we can be as leaders, practitioners, and humans, the more powerful we are as agitators for change. How we practice matters and how we work is a choice.