Episode 33: David Godshall & Jenny Jones—Terremoto, Listening to Trees & Restoring Elysian Park

On episode 33 I speak with David Godshall and Jenny Jones of Terremoto, an innovative landscape architecture design studio based in California with a cult following around the world. While it might seem like a departure from previous interviews, I connected deeply with their work when I discovered them online; at the intersection of creativity, nature and philosophy, Terremoto's work takes a unique approach to the land. David and Jenny share how they listen to the land, incorporate different influences from art and literature, connect their clients with their land in a deeper way and how they've learned about child development through their work with innovative elementary schools. The studio have also started a project called Test Plot, which aims to restore and revitalize local parks in collaboration with volunteers to 'create a rebellious experiment for restorative and feral possibilities.'

David Godshall

Jenny Jones

SHOW NOTES

• 3:20 The start of Terremoto

• 7:10 How Jenny and David met on the street on a pro-bono site

• 12:30 How they start a project; depends on the client and ecology

• 19:00 How to show the aliveness of a garden, ‘the two dimensional image falls short’

• 26:00 The influence of art on projects and philosophy

• 31:20 David’s secret goal of convincing a client to not do anything

• 40:00 The intersection of the land, nature and the building

• 47:10 Jenny’s goal of inspiring the client to invest themselves in caring for the land

• 47:50 “Weeding is cheaper and just as effective as therapy” -Jenny

• 51:30 Terremoto’s work with schools and development through natural ‘play’

• 59:20 The connection to Elysian Park and the inspiration for Test Plot

• 69:20 How to get involved with Test Plot in Los Angeles

• 70:00 How to connect with your own land… ‘just start!’

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