Upon reading Witold Rybczynski's A CLEARING IN THE DISTANCE , a biography of Frederick Law Olmstead, I decided to formalize my design education in the 19th Century manner. As Rybcyznski noted the words of Lewis Mumford reflecting on Olmstead's education: "travel, shrewd observation and intelligent reading"...the education for the self-invented man.
So I travel and observe:
Bali, Rwanda, China, Inner Mongolia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Argentina, The Caribbean, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, German, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, United Kingdom.
Design Influences
Living in a San Antonio apartment overlooking the Riverwalk
Living in Seattle in the Pike Place Market
Living on a bay, off the Atlantic Ocean in Nova Scotia, Canada
Renovating a 19th Century Nova Scotian apothecary into a bookstore with classic novels, history, theology, gardening, and biography, serving espresso, and hosting the chess club and a foreign film video night.