Exploring Our Individual and Collective PASSIONS

LM staff experiencing in a dry Keller Fountain in Portland

For the past few years Land Morphology has traveled as a group outside our usual environs to experience new sights. Our annual trips to places like Scottsdale, AZ and Los Angeles, CA have allowed us to explore our individual and collective passions: The art of creating beautiful gardens and outdoor spaces for people, while celebrating and respecting nature. We see how other designers have done this successfully, or in some cases, less successfully.

This year’s trip took us to Portland, Oregon to visit Leach Botanical Garden, one of our design projects, which is under construction. Along the way we visited a few of Portland’s amazing public spaces, parks, plazas, and themed-gardens. We celebrated with our annual holiday dinner too.

Climbing over and around Lovejoy Fountain, another fountain in the Halprin Open Space Sequence

Portland has no shortage of public spaces to visit. We visited Lan Su Chinese Garden, the Japanese Garden, Tanner Springs Park, Director Park, and the Halprin Open Space Sequence. Looking for creative ideas, we found creativity in the innovative concrete forms of Keller Fountain and in the beautiful paving patterns at both Lan Su Garden and the Japanese Garden. It seems like nearly every corner in Portland offers a thoughtfully designed (and well-maintained) public space for gathering and socializing or contemplating.

Each person on our team has a particular focus of interest. This is why, collectively, each person brings a unique perspective and talent to the big picture. On this trip it was fun to see each person dive into their passion. Betsy, drawn to details, pondered how to bring it all together. Ints’ considered the big picture – does the whole hold it together? Meghan’s attention to detail was revealed in her beautiful photos that captured moments in time. I caught Renee again measuring stair treads! Sandy documented our time together as a group and so many beautiful vignettes.

Exploring another fun feature at Portland State University

At Leach Botanical Garden, we saw construction underway. We saw how some site conditions become more prominent or evident as construction gets underway. We saw the forms for the foundations for the tree walk and the care taken to protect tree roots. We can’t wait to see it completed!

Lindsey describes next steps in the construction of Phase 1 of Leach Botanical Garden.

Sketching and storytelling at Keller Fountain

Our annual trip is an ideal way to explore our passions and values. Different people have different interests and talents, as well as perspectives. The time together gives us a chance to engage with each other and share our opinions and perspectives. As we’ve grown in size, we continue to refer to our core values to keep on track as an organization. Exploration is a value that has become ingrained in our collective character.

Christine NackDecember 31, 2019Comment