Rickie is a designer with a multidisciplinary background in the built environment, holding a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Interior Design and a Master’s Degree in Architecture. With years of experience working for a contractor, he brings a practical understanding of construction processes, cost estimations, and project executions to his design approach. Guided by a deep curiosity about the natural world and the people within it, his work seeks to translate these relationships into meaningful built environments that tell enduring stories, and serve the communities which inhabit them. Through landscape architecture, Rickie is drawn to the intersections of ecology, land histories, and the human experience – fostering a connection through people, place, our environment, and memory through the built environment.
Outside of design, Rickie enjoys visiting museums, studying history, and hiking – interests that continue to inform his understanding of culture, landscape, and spatial fabric.
Where do you get your design inspiration from?
My design inspiration comes from an aspiration to understand our natural world, our people within it, and the desire to share these stories through what is built. Much of my inspiration also comes from deep history – the human story is a long and expansive garden of wisdom. The lessons of our past ripple through the ages, and continue to teach us to this day.
If you could work on a project anywhere in the world where would it be?
I would love to work on a project anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, amongst the forests, and just far enough into the wilderness where the stars are at their brightest.
What project are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my Master’s Project “The Orrery: Instruments of Spatial Cosmology”. This project was a culmination of deep history, astronomy, landscape, and a desire to understand how architecture can transcend dimensions of utility alone, and function as a medium which directly bridges human existence (both our past and present selves) to our greater context and place within the cosmos. “The Orrery” went on to win The Best Master’s Project Award among my graduating class.