Son of a North American Father and Costa Rican Mother, I was born and partially raised in Costa Rica, the "Pura Vida" Country, surrounded by Rainforests, jungles, awesome Mountains - lush and dry, rivers and diverse climates... In this environment it was not hard to develop a profound appreciation for nature.

 

  Then...you could say I inherited my desire of drafting and designing from my Grandfather, an Italian Architect and Urban Planner; and subsequently from my Mother, an aspiring Engineer (since there was no Architecture degree at the time in Costa Rica) but Life got in the way for her and she decided then to be an entrepreneur, furniture designer and having eclectic decor stores in Costa Rica and Florida.

 

  I obtained a Bachelor's and a Post-Graduate Degree in Architecture at UACA, Costa Rica while running a landscape design and maintenance company of mine ...  see the dual profession birth here...

  I then decided on formalizing my landscape passion and obtained a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture at FIU, Florida and have practiced Landscape Architecture and Architecture ever since.

 

Furthermore I became an International Certified Arborist and LEED Green Associate. I have a continuous thirst for knowledge and passion for both fields, in fact, I do not visualize them separately. We build on the land that we must steward and design Landscapes that complement the Architecture.

 

On the personal side, for you to get acquainted, here are a few other accomplishments , hobbies and adventures of mine.

I climbed and camped out atop the highest peak of Costa Rica, Mount Chirripo, the 5th highest peak in Central America (3,820 meters above sea level from where you can see the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean on a clear day).  I was in the US Marine Corps and have walked on fire a couple of times in Tony Robbins seminars in the pursuit of self development and peak performance. I have traveled to more than a dozen countries in South, Central and North America, the Caribbean and Europe to enrich my culture, global understanding of placemaking and design strategies and styles.

 I drove cross country the U.S. a couple times from South to North and East to West, the last time from Florida to California where I lived and worked for two years... and then back to Florida, from where I currently work on projects throughout Florida and other locations. 

 

Enough about me...

 

Now you please tell me about you and your project, because... "it is not what I have done... but what we can do for you! that matters".

 

Derick