When Gail Garbini was studying in the early 1970s at San Diego State, she was pursuing her bachelor’s degree in art. That changed when she read the list of classes for landscape architecture in the UC Berkeley class schedule.
Within a year, she had transferred from SDSU to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and switched from working with paint and canvas to the design of large-scale exterior spaces, using both organic and in-organic materials.
Two of Gail’s influences were her father, an architect who was passionate about the landscape, and one of San Diego’s iconic landscape architects, Joe Yamada, of Wimmer Yamada & Associates (now Wimmer Yamada and Caughey).
Yamada had designed many projects in East County, where Gail was raised, including the East County Performing Arts Center and Super Block.
“I loved the immediate affect of the Wimmer Yamada landscape, with the large trees and fluid topography and shrub massings,” Gail said. “The use of large shade trees had the effect of an oasis in the hot climate of El Cajon Valley.”
Eventually, she did a dual internship with Wimmer Yamada and her father’s architectural firm, Arthur D. Decker & Associates, A.I.A.
In April 1984, Gail opened her own practice and was joined by her husband, Rick Garbini, in 1988. Today, the award-winning Garbini & Garbini Landscape Architecture, Inc. is located Downtown at 715 J St., Suite 307, across from Petco Park.
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http://sandiegodowntownnews.com/landscape-architecture-for-the-long-term/
