Surfacedesign Founders on Landscape Architecture and Extreme Climates

Roderick Wyllie and James A. Lord lead Surfacedesign, a San Francisco-based studio that challenges traditional landscape architecture. Their portfolio spans public parks, international airports, and private gardens across New Zealand, Mexico, Iceland, and California. Each project emerges from dialogue with local ecology, culture, and community. They are currently working on projects in extreme climates, including Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, exploring desert ecology through water scarcity and climate change. Last year, they taught a studio at Harvard's Graduate School of Design on fire's impact on landscapes. They also have projects in Hawaii responding to cultural narratives. Wyllie and Lord emphasize the importance of their team and draw inspiration from travel, historic gardens, and art. They cite Cedric Morris as a source of creative envy and express a desire to eliminate traffic engineers.