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Two of Gail\u2019s influences were her father, an architect who was passionate about the landscape, and one of San Diego\u2019s iconic landscape architects, Joe Yamada, of Wimmer Yamada & Associates (now Wimmer Yamada and Caughey).<\/p>\n
Yamada had designed many projects in East County, where Gail was raised, including the East County Performing Arts Center and Super Block.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved the immediate affect of the Wimmer Yamada landscape, with the large trees and fluid topography and shrub massings,\u201d Gail said. \u201cThe use of large shade trees had the effect of an oasis in the hot climate of El Cajon Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, she did a dual internship with Wimmer Yamada and her father\u2019s architectural firm, Arthur D. Decker & Associates, A.I.A.<\/p>\n
In April 1984, Gail opened her own practice and was joined by her husband, Rick Garbini, in 1988. Today, the award-winning Garbini & Garbini Landscape Architecture, Inc. is located Downtown at 715 J St., Suite 307, across from Petco Park.<\/p>\n Rick Garbini earned his BA in landscape architecture from West Virginia University and has a masters in landscape architecture from Cal Poly, Pomona.<\/p>\n In addition to being influenced by mid-century landscape architects, Garret Eckbo and Dan Kiley, Rick was attracted to the profession by his older brother, who was majoring in architecture at the University of Virginia. He was also influenced, by proximity, to the major urban centers he often visited while growing up in Penns Grove, New Jersey.<\/p>\n What Rick likes most about his profession is the fact that landscape architecture covers a wide array of activities and project types from environmental design to urban design.<\/p>\n \u201cMy favorite project is generally my current one and includes several mixed-use urban projects and hotel projects including the Hard Rock San Diego Hotel and the Omni San Diego Hotel next to Petco Park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This diversity has served Garbini & Garbini well over the years, with their range of projects including hospitality and historic preservation; urban housing and military design-build; K\u201312 and college campuses; re-vegetation and restoration of native habitats; streetscape medians and traffic calming; pump stations and water-reclamation plants; as well as fire stations, libraries, and parks; just to name a few.<\/p>\n Gail\u2019s favorite projects include the House of Hospitality Reconstruction Project in Balboa Park, which they completed in the 1990s, and the South Bay Water Reclamation Plant, completed in 2001.<\/p>\n The latter project included a public art component and was built as a 13-acre demonstration garden, showcasing the use of\u00a0recycled water.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the facility was closed to the public after 9\/11, but designed as a sustainable facility that has endured.<\/p>\n The Garbini firm is known for its quality design.<\/p>\n \u201cThat quality can be described as landscapes designed for the long term, called \u2018sustainable design,\u2019\u201d Gail said.<\/p>\n In her ongoing efforts to contribute to the local design community, Gail has been working with a subcommittee of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) called HALS \u2014 Historic American Landscape Survey group \u2014 part of a nation-wide effort to identify endangered landscapes in the U.S.<\/p>\n Begun in 1984, the committee was reactivated in 2016.<\/p>\n A group of local historians and landscape architects are currently collaborating to inventory cultural and designed sites around San Diego.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are losing many of our important cultural and designed spaces and this activism has brought to the attention of the design community the potential loss of important landscapes in our local community,\u201d Gail explained.<\/p>\n La exposici\u00f3n y la comprensi\u00f3n de la historia paisaj\u00edstica temprana del \u00e1rea local ha ayudado a proporcionar una base para el dise\u00f1o sostenible en San Diego a largo plazo.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing like identifying trees and vines that survive today from 1890 or 1915 to give perspective to what may do well in local landscapes,\u201d Gail said.<\/p>\n She feels fortunate to have served two terms with the city of San Diego\u2019s Historic Resources Board, first from 1987 to 1992, and again from 2008 to 2016. Rick has served on various ASLA committees, as well as having served as both vice president and president of the association.<\/p>\n The Garbinis first met in 1980 while both worked at Kawasaki Theilacker & Associates (now KTUA Landscape Architecture and Planning). They live in a historically designated home in Talmadge \u2014\u00a0designed by Cliff May with his characteristic indoor and outdoor spaces \u2014 with their cats, Ray and Normy.<\/p>\n To see some of their Downtown work, visit garbiniandgarbini.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Landscape](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/web-Gail-and-Rick-Garbini-2017-August.jpg\")
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Garbini and Garbini)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n