He's Been Designing California's Outdoors for Decades. Here's What He's Learned.
This is a very special episode of Unpacked by Afar. This week, we hosted Unpacked Live — a live version of the podcast — in partnership with Visit California in Dallas, Texas. The event celebrated California's extraordinary creative landscape, and today's guest has literally shaped the ground beneath many Californian's feet.
Roderick Wyllie is an award-winning landscape architect and founding partner of Surfacedesign Inc. A rare San Francisco native, he's helped design some of the Bay Area's most beloved public spaces, including the Lands End Visitor Center above Sutro Baths, a plaza at the Golden Gate Bridge, and Mission Bayfront Park. He also teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
In this episode, Roderick talks about growing up in 1970s San Francisco, what it means to design with rather than against a place, and why he thinks California's greatest creative export might be optimism.
On this episode, you'll learn:
What it was like to grow up in San Francisco in the 1970s and 80s — and how that "wild frontier" shaped Roderick's creative practice
Why Surfacedesign approaches every project like a crime scene investigation, searching for the story embedded in the land
How Roderick thinks about water — both as a design tool and as a precious resource in a drought-prone state
What he's learning from a current winery rethink at the iconic Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa
Where he sends travelers who want to experience California through the lens of landscape and design
Travel Recommendations from Roderick:
Wineries & Gardens
Faust, Napa Valley — A Victorian estate with planting designed to move from light to dark, inspired by the mythology of Faust; beautiful valley views
Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma — One of California's most historically significant wine sites, beautifully sited with two landmark historic buildings
Scribe, Sonoma — A more informal, less precious winery experience; Roderick especially admires the landscape work by Terramoto
Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek — A masterwork dry garden celebrating the succulent landscape; Roderick calls it "spectacular"
Lotusland, Montecito — A fantasy of a California landscape with a larger-than-life history; the opera singer founder married nine times
The Huntington, San Marino/Pasadena — Impeccably maintained, a spectacular garden destination
Parks & Natural Spaces
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco — "It always feels a little bigger than I think it's going to be"
Point Reyes / Inverness — Roderick's favorite stretch of coast, particularly for seeing tule elk in the fog
Blunk Space gallery, Point Reyes Station — A small gallery connected to the legacy of California sculptor JB Blunk
Restaurants & Markets
Valley Bar + Bottle, Sonoma — Informal, locally sourced, creative; Roderick's top pick
Zuni Café, San Francisco — A California cuisine institution on Market Street; intimate despite its size
Ferry Building Farmers Market, San Francisco — "Incredible to see these purveyors that are focused on peppers only or something like that"
Modern Appealing Clothing (MAC), Hayes Valley — A quietly iconic SF clothing store recently named one of the 50 best in the US by the New York Times; Roderick designed a small interior garden inside the space
Art & Culture
Minnesota Street Project, Dogpatch — A collection of galleries with constantly rotating programming
Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito — Roderick and his team designed eucalyptus-inspired play structures; worth a visit even without kids
Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:00 Growing Up in San Francisco
00:05:00 How Surfacedesign Works
00:08:00 Iconic Bay Area Projects
00:14:00 Water as Design and Resource
00:20:00 Designing Winery Landscapes
00:27:00 The California Creative Mindset
00:35:00 Where to Go in California
Resources
Surfacedesign Inc. — Roderick's firm
Explore the Afar guide to California
Watch the live recording of our Dallas event on YouTube
Listen to our other Unpacked Live episodes featuring naturalist Obi Kaufmann and architect Barbara Bestor
Be sure to subscribe to the show and sign up for our podcast newsletter, Behind the Mic, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode. And explore our second podcast, Travel Tales, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us, and View From Afar, where we spotlight the people and ideas shaping the future of travel.
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