THE CLASSROOM DRAWINGS OF ORRA WHITE HITCHCOCK

We are so inspired by the drawings of Orra White Hitchcock – her use of simple line and color to depict soil profiles and other geological forms is a beautiful way to represent scientific ideas.

Orra White Hitchcock (1796 – 1863) was one of America’s earliest women scientific illustrators and artists. Between 1828 and the 1840s she made hundreds of large and striking classroom charts used as lecture aids by her geologist husband Edward Hitchcock.


This show, organized by the museum’s chief curator, Stacy C. Hollander, proves Hitchcock to be an artificer as much as an observer, imagining dramatic new ways to express the world’s beauty and, as she saw it, its sacred order. It also demands we drop some of our contemporary assumptions about academic disciplines, to understand an age when “science” was not so rigidly delimited, and stretched beyond the natural world to encompass theology and art.

Book:
The Classroom Drawings of Orra White Hitchcock
Palatino Press
March 28, 2014

Read Full Article:
Mushrooms, Magma and Love in a Time of Science
July 26, 2018
The New York Times

Images courtesy of Amherst College and Palatino Press


The Therapeutic Power of Gardening | Nature, Joy and Human Becoming

Read Full Article:
The Therapeutic Power of Gardening
August 17, 2020
The New Yorker

Wiltshire Garden, Tom Stuart-Smith

“A garden, Stuart-Smith suggests, can be a Winnicottian “in-between” space that allows the inner and the outer worlds to coexist simultaneously—“a meeting place for our innermost, dream-infused selves and the real physical world.” The meditative and repetitive aspects of gardening can function as a form of play for grownups who have otherwise stopped playing…”

 

Listen to podcast:
Nature, Joy and Human Becoming
August 27, 2020
On Being

Wiltshire Garden, Tom Stuart-Smith

“500 generations of what we call civilization and the 50,000 generations when we were part of nature, and your argument is that that is “where we evolved; where we became what we are, where we learned to feel and react,” “where the human imagination formed,” “where we found our metaphors and similes.”


A First Look at our SOMOfunk Project

Read Full Article:
First Look at the Blockbuster Development Proposed for the Funk Zone
April 27, 2020
SITELINE

We are excited to share some initial drawings for the SOMOfunk project via this recently published article.  The SOMOfunk project will bring a new energy to the Funk Zone on Santa Barbara’s waterfront.  Following is an excerpt from our landscape narrative:

FUN[KY]
THE LANDSCAPE DESIGN IS INSPIRED BY ITS NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT.  WHAT IS TODAY KNOWN AS THE FUNK ZONE, HAS PREVIOUSLY EXISTED AS AN INDUSTRIAL AREA, A WORKING CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD, PART OF THE EL ESTERO SWAMPY MARSH AND A VIBRANT TRADE HUB.  REMNANTS OF THESE USES REMAIN IN THE BUILDINGS, THE LAND, THE HARDSCAPE, THE PLANT MATERIAL AND THE SOUL OF THIS PLACE.  THESE REMNANTS WILL BE RE-PURPOSED FOR USE AS HARDSCAPE, FURNISHINGS AND SCULPTURAL ELEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT SITE.  WHAT MAKES THE FUNK ZONE FUNKY IS ITS ABILITY TO SHAPE-SHIFT AND ADAPT, WHILE MAINTAINING ITS OWN IDENTITY SEPARATE FROM, BUT IN CONVERSATION WITH, THE LARGER SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY.  THE EXTERIOR SPACES AT THE PROJECT FIT SEAMLESSLY INTO THE FABRIC OF THE FUNK ZONE BY IMPLEMENTING FUN, COLORFUL AND QUIRKY ELEMENTS INTO THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

Click here to read the full article.


Crossrails Station Roof Garden

Read Full Article:
Crossrails Station Roof Garden
June 7, 2016
Landezine

Image courtesy of Jason Gairn

Image courtesy of Jason Gairn

Part of a new transit link for the city of London, the Crossrails Station roof garden celebrates the arrival of this new hub but also pay tribute to the neighborhood’s past. This exotic garden sits atop a five story mixed use commercial and transit center. The building’s exterior shell wraps the entire building with large openings above the garden creating a dynamic scene for visitors.

Click here to read more about this project.


Cut and Paste

Read Full Article:
Cut and Paste 
June 2, 2016
Design Bureau 

Image courtesy of Martin O’Neill

Image courtesy of Martin O’Neill

In a world of digital creative tools, UK based graphic designer Martin O’Neill prefers a more old fashioned craft. Simply using paper scraps and an exacto knife, he has created collages by hand for magazines, vinyl labels, prints, and more.

Click here to read more about Martin and his work.


The Death of the Traditional Work Desk

Read Full Article:
The Last Writing Desk
May 31, 2016
Dezeen

Image courtesy of Dezeen

Image courtesy of Dezeen

With laptops and mobile devices, the workplace is no longer restricted to the traditional desk like it used to be. Dutch designer Frans Willigers has created a hybrid chair and working desk that will replace outdated office furniture. With everything stored digitally now, the design does not feature any storage areas and employs a clean, simplistic design to create an open and airy office environment.

Click here to read more about this project.


The Park – Las Vegas

Read Full Article:
The Park – Las Vegas, NV
May 26, 2016
Landezine

Park-the-strip-melk-landscape-architecture-01

Image courtesy of Hanns Joosten

Las Vegas isn’t exactly known for its parks, but all that is about to change. New York City based firm !melk has brought cutting edge urban design and green space to the heart of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Click here to read more about how !melk is changing the conversation on the famous Las Vegas Strip.


Modern Desert Home

Read Full Article:
This House Doesn’t Hold Back and Embraces the Desert
May 24, 2016
Dwell

Image courtesy of Dean Kaufman

Image courtesy of Dean Kaufman

Phoenix couple Thomas and Laura Hyland bought the award winning Dialogue house in 2010. Working with the homes original architect, they restored the home to its former glory. With the renovations, the couple paid special attention to the surrounding desert landscape by maintaining the rocky landscape and native vegetation.

Click here to read more about this project.


Kit of Parks

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Kit of Parks
May 19, 2016
World Landscape Architect

Image courtesy of Ben Gebo

Image courtesy of Ben Gebo

This low cost and portable kit is a great way to activate under programed public spaces. Constructed from a lightweight material, the pack fits into a bike trailer, can be unpacked in 10 minutes and contains a high top table, benches, side tables, stools, games, and planters.

Click here to read more about this project.