Success is achieved through many avenues. For some success is a product of proper education and steady advancement. For others heavy participation in industry events is the ground work for a successful career. Some people start their own practice while others work their way up through the ranks to become principals in larger firms. For Don Brinkerhoff success is a conglomeration of principles drawn from both formal education and personal experience and applied to the art of landscape architecture.

A graduate of Cal Poly Pomona in 1952 his background was originally in Ornamental Horticulture. ?EUR??,,????'??At that time,?EUR??,,????'?? according to Brinkerhoff, ?EUR??,,????'??Cal Poly didn?EUR??,,????'???t offer the curriculum they presently offer in landscape architecture. I had courses in landscape design but they didn?EUR??,,????'???t offer a degree.?EUR??,,????'?? There were only about 400 students back then at the all male campus. There were no fine art classes and the primary concentration of the school was in agriculture. This was a cause of concern for the young inspired LA.

?EUR??,,????'??I always felt a lack of cultural inputs,?EUR??,,????'?? offered the man about to I unfold a tale of world travels most of us only dream about. ?EUR??,,????'??The school was purely an ag thing,?EUR??,,????'?? he continued. ?EUR??,,????'??I learned about bugs and bushes. They had no languages, no literature, no artwork, and no music.?EUR??,,????'??

Thirsting for knowledge Don decided to expand his horizons. He studied Spanish privately and developed an interest in art and music. He even considered going back to school, maybe Harvard, and working on a masters degree. This however, was not all that practical considering he had already been in private practice for several years and had a family of four to provide for. Then came the night that started a chain reaction which wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t end until the Brinkerhoffs?EUR??,,????'??? had crossed the Atlantic, toured throughout Europe had taken 27 individual flights to cross Southern Asia, visited Japan, and returned to the U.S. by way of Hawaii. Indiana Don?

Although his adventures weren?EUR??,,????'???t as precarious as the hero of the silver screen. The adventures of Don Brinkerhoff proved to be an invaluable experience in both his personal satisfaction and his professional career. It all started at a barbecue at a friends house in 1965. This evening wasn?EUR??,,????'???t to be all pleasure.

?EUR??,,????'??We went to a barbecue at a fellows house and we were hoping to become supervising LA?EUR??,,????'???s on what was thought at the time to be the wonderful new city of Valencia.?EUR??,,????'?? Then, as Don tells it, sometime during that evening, ?EUR??,,????'??he informed me that they had selected someone else...that was the straw that broke the camels back...when we were driving home I told (my wife Barbara) we were going to shut this office up and go overseas to study. Three months later we had sold our (rental) house, sold our cars, and had our furniture out with the neighbors, friends, and relatives. We leased the house we lived in and were gone. ?EUR??,,????'??

Having taken advantage of one of the numerous opportunities offered through the college systems the Brinkerhoffs were on their way to Spain. Here Don was enrolled at the University of Madrid. ?EUR??,,????'??It is a very different educational system than we have,?EUR??,,????'?? according to Brinkerhoff, ?EUR??,,????'??because you?EUR??,,????'???re almost on your own. The teachers rarely have text books. Unless they had written the text book they wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t have one. You had to go out and research things yourself. This unstructured format opened the door for the traveling LA.

?EUR??,,????'??I had originally intended to go to the University of Madrid for one year and then to Waseda University in Tokyo for one year. But there is a saying that the Spanish have that ?EUR??,,????'??when you began a journey you take the first step and fate determines all the steps after that.?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'?? Constantly changing the route to school Don began to explore places like the world famous Plaza Major. Then on Christmas vacation he met a man who offered him a job working for The Architects Collabrative in Athens.

Working on projects in Saudia Arabia out of Greece gave the Brinkerhoffs even more opportunities to explore the architecture and landscape architecture in that historic land. After all, the main purpose of their trip was to learn and experience as much about the different cultures as was possible. ?EUR??,,????'??What happened was I got my cultural education through the two and one half years we were gone. I remember thinking that if I was going to travel and benefit professionally from my travels that it made a lot more sense to do it when I was 35 as opposed to being 65. Then I?EUR??,,????'???d have 20 to 30 years of use of the experiences.?EUR??,,????'?? And experiences he has had.

Throughout his travel coincidence and strange meetings were almost commonplace. He once, while in India, met a couple who knew the people who were leasing the Brinkerhoff home. They had actually been to a barbecue at the house. Through these people he found himself at the Lake Palace Hotel, in Udaipur, India, once home of the Maharaji of Udaipor. One of the more rememberable stops on the trip, according to Don, ?EUR??,,????'??it was absolutely incredible, absolutely unbelievable. And I never would have been there or even heard of it if we hadn?EUR??,,????'???t met these people who had been to our house.?EUR??,,????'?? Not only meetings with people but chance meetings with culture were also to take place.

?EUR??,,????'??Quite often I would be driving and suddenly I would be in a place like the Plaza Major which I had never heard of. It?EUR??,,????'???s famous. In Rome I walked up some stairs and ended up in the Copadolio, which some people say is the finest urban space ever designed. Michelangelo designed it and I didn?EUR??,,????'???t even know it was there.?EUR??,,????'??

Principles

I encourage everyone to do as much traveling as possible,?EUR??,,????'?? reflected Brinkerhoff, ?EUR??,,????'??because you absorb into your reservoir of experiences all these things that are useful professionally. In terms of how people do things or how you want to do things there is very very few if anything that is new. It is a matter of how you recombine it, rearrange it, and reorganize it. With the exception of technological things?EUR??,,????'??? almost everything has been done, somewhere, very well. And while you may want to transfer it over to your own venacular it has been done before.?EUR??,,????'?? In line with this train of thought Brinkerhoff brings it all down to a matter of principles.

?EUR??,,????'??You?EUR??,,????'???re not going to repeat Venice because you couldn?EUR??,,????'???t,?EUR??,,????'?? explains the owner of the highly successful Lifescapes, Inc. in Newport Beach, California. ?EUR??,,????'??You?EUR??,,????'???re not going to go to Japan and repeat Kyoto because you can?EUR??,,????'???t, but you can combine the principles. Principles travel well. Specifics may not. You can use principles anywhere if you can figure out what they are.?EUR??,,????'?? Of this you will find many examples in Don?EUR??,,????'???s work.

He recently took a trip to Acapulco to meet an old friend. One day while at the Jacaranda Hotel they were walking along and came across a huge hole 30 to 40 feet deep in the middle of a large lawn area. When they approached the hole they found it lined with lava rocks and with a swimming pool at the bottom. According to Don, ?EUR??,,????'??when you wondered into the grotto it was wonderful with the palm trees above you. Very romantic.?EUR??,,????'?? When he returned he began working on a project in Long Beach and by lowering the pool into the grotto he was able to remove the area from local traffic and outside noise. ?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s not exactly the same,?EUR??,,????'?? he continued, ?EUR??,,????'??but we used the same principles. There is a term in the movie business when you get people to dispense with their disbelief. You empower their imagination.?EUR??,,????'???

Lifescapes, Inc. currently employs about 25 people, is involved with over 100 current projects and is in the process of changing its name to Lifescapes International, Inc. to reflect projected growth. Donald Brinkerhoff has taken his experiences from traveling to virtually every continent and turned that wealth of knowledge into a successful career. No one can sum up his story better than he. ?EUR??,,????'??Never take a trip where you don?EUR??,,????'???t come back with useful input. Travel is essential and an important part of your continuing education. The principles work in all cases. If you deal with principles you are fine.?EUR??,,????'??