Field Notes 02
On new work at Geisel Library, 2025 market optimism, Paterson, grown-up collages and a moment for the color brown.
Welcome to our semi-regular newsletter, Field Notes, where we’re sharing the latest in our design world with you. We hope you enjoy it!
UPDATE: Since we are design-y people, we prefer the web-based newsletter experience to the email version (better color, bigger images!!) If you are also design-sensitive - read Field Notes HERE. Thanks!!! Team Bowyer
Field Trip
Geisel Library, UC San Diego
This past weekend, we were in San Diego for a quick get together with longtime friends, and we had a chance to visit one of our experiential design projects that was recently completed at UCSD’s Geisel Library. The brutalist-meets-futurist building by architect William Pereira is iconic on campus, with it’s unique stacking profile, mirrored glass and sunken spaces. Working on a project there has been a long-time dream of ours, and creating practical and beautiful spaces there is a privilege.
As the interiors, placemaking and experiential design agency, we were able to collaborate with local San Diego architecture firm KdA to create a series of new student spaces in the library’s main entry level. This means replacing book racks with a nostalgic reimagining of the library’s original “meet spot” at the entry (image at top), as well as creating entirely new workspaces and classrooms (below). The spatial experiences are all linked by a central circulation corridor that spans (both literally and figuratively) from cool to warm, storied to modern, practical to imaginative. We are fortunate to have worked with the university on many spaces on campus over the past decade, but each new project reminds us how much we love what we do!
Real Estate
Turning the corner.
It may just be October, but we’re gearing up for 2025 over here. Looking at commercial real estate predictions may not sound riveting, but we’ve become even more invested (sorry!) in our clients’ interests. For a decent overview, we like Deloitte Financial Services’ 2025 Commercial Real Estate Outlook Spoiler alert: Owners and investors are feeling (cautiously) optimistic! The survey shows a boost in sentiment about the cost and availability of capital, property prices and leasing & transaction activity heading into 2025. And they’re shifting portfolios to high-growth asset sectors (data centers & cell towers, logistics, industrial, multifamily, etc.) as the market continues to rebalance. No huge surprises here and things can always change (we see you, election), but it’s good to have more activity happening in the market.
Cultivating Place
“Brown is also a color.”
These words by Piet Oudolf, the artful landscape designer of NYC’s High Line park (happy 15th birthday!), are true. Fall colors are subtle, but also warm, enveloping. The shedding of spring blooms and summer greens feels like a natural expression of what we feel inside. A chance to let go of some of the year’s tendencies to push, go, do more. As we’ve been reflecting on nature and finding small everyday escapes to unwind, we came across New York Green, photographer Ngoc Mihn Ngo’s beautiful tribute to New York’s rich variety of green spaces - both known and hidden. Her images and words capture places and moments of beauty and contrast. The observation and wonder of changing seasons is set in fixed spaces from the Cloisters to Prospect Park, and all the little community and pocket parks in between. 10/10 worth the read.
Film
Good kind of boring.
Several years ago, I first watched the film Paterson by Jim Jarmusch. Admittedly, it was sort of a background track for the task at hand (wrapping presents, I think). But its quiet dialogue, humor and steady pace pulled me in. Rewatching it a couple years later, I felt the same pleasure of a quiet film that documents daily life in balance - between living, working, loving, walking the dog - and pursuing a creative passion (poetry, in this case). It may be too slow paced for some, and I get it, but in the midst of the noise that can feel everywhere some days, it is refreshingly restrained, thoughtful and maybe even boring - in the best way.
Another One
When you’re a child you learn there are three dimensions
Height, width and depth
Like a shoebox
Then later you hear there’s a fourth dimension
Time
Hmm
Then some say there can be five, six, seven…
I knock off work
Have a beer at the bar
I look down at the glass and feel glad
-Ron Padgett, PatersonArt
Collage Days
Michael Harnish is not just a friend of ours, he’s also a super talented painter who we love working with! Part of his process includes creating these loose, fast collages that inform works that he completes once the thoughts are down. His artwork is intelligent, emotional, optimistic and has a West Coast viewpoint that remains democratic. He is truly a designer’s painter. At last check, he was selling a lot of these little beauties on IG, but we’re not sure if there are any left?
What we’re into lately.
Reading: The Round of a Country Year is a delightful record of living in the midst of changing seasons by Amish author David Kline, and is a reminder to look around, slow down and enjoy living - everyday.
33-Minute Inspiration: On taking risks, doing hard things that you love, and creating the story (of a project, company, your life). “How to Live an Asymmetric Life,” a talk by Graham Weaver for Stanford Graduate School of Business’s lecture series.
Listening to: This version of JVKE’s “Golden Hour” by Pomplamoose is a feel-good, enjoy-these-last-golden-evenings-of-the-season pleasure.
Anticipating: Some people may be counting down to Halloween candy or pumpkin pies, but we are on the lookout for Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Milk Chocolate Bar with Caramel, Pretzel and Sea Salt. It’s seasonal, so if you see it, grab it. You’ll be glad you did.
That wraps up our latest Field Notes newsletter! Our hope is that you find it interesting and inspiring - feel free to share it with others who may like it and feel free to comment below, too. We appreciate your time and are glad that you are here.
Best,
Bowyer Field Notes Crew
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Another “Paterson” fan here! Now I want to rewatch.