#80 Evolutions of Landscape and Practice with Sarah Warto

Design Voice Podcast

Sarah Warto is a landscape architect and founder of Boxleaf Design. Influenced by her mother and grandmother, fellow landscape designers and passionate botanical enthusiasts, Sarah was exposed at a young age to many aspects of the field; igniting her passion for design and its intersection with the natural world. Sarah is a proud New York native who earned her landscape architecture degree from Cornell University, where she learned how to apply rigorous technical skill to a growing appreciation for innovative and humanistic landscapes.

Her career began at HOK, working on large-scale and highly-complex international and national planning and landscape projects. Later moving to the private sector, Sarah, was able to apply her appreciation for historical gardens to creating highly personalized, timeless and contextual spaces.

In 2012, she started her own practice, Boxleaf Design, a full service landscape architectural firm, focusing on high end residential and commercial work in the Bay Area. Sarah is continually seeking insight and creative rejuvenation from the Bay Area's native and diverse environment, in its purest and most rugged form.

In this episode, Sarah talks about how her interest in landscape architecture developed, what landscape architecture school was like, and her first job experiences out of school. Sarah also shares what made her decide to start her own studio, her experience growing and managing a practice, her design process, how landscapes are always evolving and never finite, and advice for those who want to start their own businesses.