As co-founders of San Francisco-based Surface Design, James A. Lord and Roderick Wyllie have cultivated a design practice rooted in the belief that landscape is both a reflection of place and a medium through which to explore the relationship between ecology, culture and human life. In this spirit, Lord was one of the master planners of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
According to Lord, in its work Surface Design aims to, ‘push against the conventions of globalised sameness, favouring landscapes with distinct character—eccentric, expressive, and often unexpected’. With a place-based approach and a keen sensitivity to context, Lord’s aim is to explore the point of intersection between innovation, rigour, and imagination, approaching each project as an opportunity to examine the forces that shape landscapes over time.
Lord extends his practice beyond the studio through teaching, lecturing, and dialogue, most recently at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where Surface’s studio, “Fireworks,” explored fire as both a destructive force and a generative ecological process. Lord says his intention is, ‘to advance landscape architecture as a discipline of exploration, stewardship, and possibility—one that embraces uncertainty as a catalyst for innovation’.
