“Construction is a dance,” says landscape architect Puck Erickson. “We all have our moves.”
For Erickson, who grew up on the East Coast, those moves found their footing in elementary school, when she and her bestie drew their first floorplan on the elementary school playground. Fast forward to college. Erickson studied ceramics and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Kansas City Art Institute.
In the early 1970s, she moved west, landing in the Santa Ynez Valley, where she helped build several houses from the ground up. In 1977, she cofounded Arcadia Studio (arcadiastudio.com), a landscape architecture firm, in Santa Barbara. She and her partners have long shared the strong belief in the spirit of collaboration, both within their team and with all the other players on any given project.
“My education and experience in the construction trades taught me humility, the importance of collaboration with people who know what they are doing, and understanding that critiques of your work are not personal attacks,” she reflects.
For our occasional G&C Questionnaire, we caught up with Puck to learn more about career highlights, lake life, and a certain airborne rodent.
G&C: What drew you to landscape architecture early on?
Puck: After studying art and science, it was a perfect combination of the two.
What has been your favorite work-related field trip or vacation?
So hard to say but probably a hiking trip in Spain, botanizing and sleeping under cork oaks.
What is your favorite public landscaping design in Santa Barbara?
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
Where do you often find design inspiration outside of landscape architecture?
The infinite patterns and structure of the natural world.
What do you most like about your job?
Every day is completely different, and I get to be outside.
If you had to go back to pick another profession, what would it be?
Writing comedy.
What is your current state of mind?
Saddened by people walking away from the arts and sciences
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Swimming across Long Lake in the Adirondacks.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Swimming in the Adirondacks every summer.
What is your greatest fear?
Our loss of empathy and civility.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Working over 80 hours a week.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Dance.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Growing gardens and family.
What is your most treasured possession?
My eyesight.
Which living person do you most admire?
Anyone who serves others.
Who is your favorite fictional character?
Rocky the Flying Squirrel.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Aid workers.
On what occasion do you lie?
To avoid hurt feelings.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Humor.
What word or phase do you most overuse?
“No worries.”
What is your motto?
The Girl Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”
