At Ripley, we take great pride in honoring our licensed landscape architects! We conducted interviews with some of our landscape architects; Russ Lee, Sam Coutts, Klara Rossouw, and Joel Weikert to get to know them better.
Who is your favorite architect or landscape architect and why?
Russ Lee: “Mosha Safdie, His ability to create beauty with thoughtful meaning. He has a great story in one of his books about dealing with a synagogue design. The members of the synagogue wanted stain glass. He convinced the members that specially placed prisms would give the same effect as stain glass without adopting another religion’s traditional motif. Instead of saying no, he said yes through his thoughtful creativity”.
How do you overcome your challenges?
Joel Weikert: ” Reminding myself that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time”.
What sets you apart from your colleagues?
Sam Coutts: “The lack of veggies in my diet and my love for Excel spreadsheets”.
What’s your design process like?
Klara Rossouw: “Every project you’re a part of, you’ll encounter something completely unique that you haven’t seen before. I think incorporating a learning mindset in the design process and being adaptable allows you to channel more creative solutions”.
What colleges did you attend?
Klara Rossouw: “I have a B.S. in Zoology from Mars Hill University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Colorado State University”.
Russ Lee: “I received an undergraduate degree in history from Truman State University and a BLA and MLA from Iowa State University”.
Joel Weikert: “I received my BLA from Iowa State University in 2019”.
Sam Coutts: “I received my BLA from Colorado State University”.