Studio Outside is pleased to announce our newest landscape designers to join us! Introducing…Jane Satterlee from Covington, Louisiana; Alexandria Dial from Birmingham, Alabama; Andrew Finney from Houston, Texas; and Mia Baker from Valparaiso, Indiana and after being an intern with us, she's returning as a full-time landscape designer. We're very excited to have you all on our team!
JANE SATTERLEE
1. Why did you select landscape architecture as a profession/career?
I have always been drawn to nature and spent more time outside as a kid than inside! At a loss for professional direction in high school, I began to work for a horticulturalist to help care for her 100+ species of plants that she grew and sold as a part of her garden design business. A newfound love for plants pointed me to major in horticulture, although, after my first semester in college, I realized that landscape architecture was a better fit!
2. What/who inspires you in regards to design & the profession?
I am very inspired by the place where the formal garden and lines of symmetry, repetition, and formality meet free-flowing, organic spatial compositions. One offers perspective, rigidity, and grandeur, while the later offers freedom, playfulness, and whimsy. Both, in terms of landscape, are able to create a sense of awe! The mix of these compositions can be seen in the work of so many famous landscape architects from Olmstead to contemporary designers.
3. What are your career aspirations?
I hope to continue to learn and grow throughout my career. It would be wonderful to be able to continue to travel in my free time to be inspired by landscapes and designs around the world! And I also plan to become licensed in the next few years.
4. What attracted you to Studio Outside?
I love the beauty and variety of Studio Outside's work. The material compositions are rich including natural materials, beautiful plant palettes, and usually an aspect of art. So many of the projects incorporate aspects of the natural environment and highlight the beauty of healthy ecologies and nature. I was very excited to see how much the team values designing for the human experience and desires to create work which meets and exceeds our clients' expectations!
Fun Facts
Where are you from: Covington, LA (an hour North of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain)
Which university did you attend/what is your alma mater: LSU, geaux tigers!
What are you working on: The Avenue Multi-family apartments and a Minnesota Lutheran camp masterplan
First impression of Dallas: Since my first week was the freeze.. snowy, beautiful, and freezing!
Favorite designer (or person you admire): Claude Cormier
Favorite project (or indoor space): Giardino degli Aranci, Rome
Favorite plant: River birch
Favorite movie: Pride and Prejudice
Guilty pleasure: Toll house cookie dough
If you could have a super power, what would it be: To fly
Hidden talent: Ninja fast reflexes
Alexandria Dial
1. Why did you select landscape architecture as a profession/career?
I was intrigued by how dynamic landscape architecture designs could be. You can design with constructed materials, as well as with a variety of plants that can change in color and size throughout the seasons. Knowing that a plant may be dormant in one season and then bursting with color and blooms in the next is very exciting. Also, growing up, I spent a lot of time outside and can remember how parks and outdoor spaces made me feel and the memories I made in them. I wanted to help create spaces that many others could enjoy and make memories in as well.
2. What/who inspires you in regards to design & the profession?
One of my favorite projects is Railroad Park, located in Birmingham, AL. I am inspired by this project because of the variety of opportunities it offers. I have participated in everything from bootcamp workouts to ice skating to watching geese at this park. Its versatility allows for people to spend time on their own or with a group of friends and family. I have seen how this public space has brought many people across the city together, and believe it is essential to the community, as many public spaces should be.
3. What are your career aspirations?
I really enjoyed my thesis topic which focused on conveying African American history through textures and spatial design and would love to find a way to bring it to life one day. I would like to continue to explore the topic and research more materials that could be used to help share this topic. I believe storytelling through a space is a powerful tool and allows for everyone to learn about a topic visually.
4. What attracted you to Studio Outside?
I love that Studio Outside works on a wide range of projects--everything from public spaces to residential design. I also like the workspace environment; there is a wide range of ages and backgrounds here, I feel like I can learn something from everyone here. We even have ‘talk-o-talk’ Fridays where we can learn more about a specific subject. It is important to me to be able to ask questions so that I can continue to grow in my career and pass what I learn on to others.
Fun Facts
Where are you from: Birmingham, Alabama
Which university did you attend/what is your alma mater: Auburn University
What are you working on: A project called Epic Retail 4 & 5. We are designing a space that will contain 2 restaurants along with outdoor dining spaces and a playground.
First impression of Dallas: HUGE!
Favorite designer (or person you admire): Burle Marx
Favorite project (or indoor space): Railroad Park
Favorite plant: Lamb’s Ear
Favorite movie: Funny Face
Guilty pleasure: Going to Bisous Bisous Patisserie
If you could have a super power, what would it be: Teleportation
ANDREW FINNEY
1. Why did you select landscape architecture as a profession/career?
While studying as a graduate student, I realized a desire to shift disciplines as I discovered that it was in the public realm that critical decisions are made that determine how every building interacts with, relates to, and empowers the communities and people for which they are built. Having studied abroad in Japan and Canada, I developed a keen interest in walkable urbanism and large landscape projects, where I observed the use of thresholds, sight lines, and perspective and how it shapes the experience of a place.
2. What/who inspires you in regards to design & the profession?
Scape Studio's expertise in coastal regions as it relates to infrastructure, the negative effects of climate change and heavy industry on coastal ecologies really resonate with the work I did during my last year of graduate school.
I'm also really inspired by studios that take community engagement seriously, like Assemble and Urban Scale Interventions in the UK.
3. What are your career aspirations?
I hope to gain experience in masterplanning and place making as it relates to creative housing solutions and public space in transitional urban neighborhoods. I hope to see the advent of new strategies that reconciles the lack of equity with existing diversity that comes with rapidly gentrifying urban neighborhoods.
4. What attracted you to Studio Outside?
Studio Outside's broad range of projects and collaborative culture.
Fun Facts
Where are you from: Houston, TX
Which university did you attend: Texas Tech University / UTA
What are you working on: Dallas Community College / Eastfield Campus
Favorite designer (or person you admire): Cecil Balmond
Favorite project (or indoor space): Yokohama Port Terminal
Favorite plant: Richard Simmons Chia Pet
Favorite movie: Tree of Life
Guilty pleasure: Glee and just about any musical or acapella music
If you could have a super power, what would it be: Speed (like the flash)
MIA BAKER
Why did you select landscape architecture as a profession/career?
Originally, I was on track to go into architecture, but the flexibility/breadth of landscape architecture was inciting to me. I have always been very curious about things I don't understand, and landscape architecture felt more like a mystery, something to discover. I stuck with it because I was fascinated by what I had found. I love that learning about grading and plant species or stormwater management has changed my perspective of the world and also how distracted I get when walking down the street. I noticed how landscape architecture was taking more responsibility for environmental issues and wanted to be a part of a conscious profession.
What/who inspires you in regards to design & the profession?
During college, I was on the board for the student journal, and as outreach chair, I was able to interview the guest lecturers who came to speak. I met some amazing designers, but also a few genuine people. Rebecca Leonard, Gina Ford, and David Ruben are the first people who come to mind. Rebecca leads with genuine curiosity, Gina Ford is a powerhouse and SO fun to be around, and David Ruben has an alternative definition of what landscape architecture is. I resonate with their depth of curiosity and aspire to be an approachable professional who addresses a worldwide context. I used to have this goal to work for Shane Coen (Coen + Partners) because I saw one project and loved it (!Talk about a good fence!), but my dream died when I realized I couldn't live in Minnesota (100% too cold). I also love reading about environmental phycology, and I could read about it all day, every day. The books that started it all: Welcome to Your World by Sarah Goldhagen & A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger
3. What are your career aspirations?
I think because I am a first-generation college graduate, I have trouble with visualizing a 'career.' I am not sure what a career means for me yet, but I do know that I want to consistently work on efficiency, learning new skills, be context conscious, and push boundaries where I can. Eventually, I want to study and take the exams to get licensed. Maybe I will go back to school for a master's in biology? botany? architecture? resource management? material science? Nothing is set in stone yet.
4. What attracted you to Studio Outside?
While looking for an internship, I chose the city I wanted to live in first and then browsed for a good firm. The studio values originally attracted me to Studio Outside. The emphasis on office culture/collaboration/ investment in relationships was something I was looking for. Also, I might judge a firm a little too harshly based on their website, and the website was easy to navigate—I could understand the projects/project type/quality of work quickly and easily. After making a list of firms to apply to in Dallas, Studio Outside was my top choice, I could not pass up the offer to return because my original attraction matched my real-life experience in the office. So excited to be back!
Fun Facts
Where are you from: Valparaiso, Indiana
Which university did you attend/what is your alma mater: Ball State University, Muncie, IN
What are you working on: (n/a) At the moment, just getting settled here in Dallas.
First impression of Dallas: W A R M, I will not miss the cold winters of the Midwest.
Favorite designer (or person you admire): Joel Salatin (organic farmer in VA), Kelsey Timmerman (local Muncie author)
Favorite project (or indoor space): One Bennett Park in Chicago, IL by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (at night!!)
Favorite plant: American Sycamore
Favorite movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox is one I can watch over and over.
Guilty pleasure: Chic-fil-a
If you could have a super power, what would it be: To quickly get where I need to go without a car, traffic, or sweat from biking.