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connoisseur
“Dick Turner was my first lecturer. Within ten minutes, I realized that this was for me,” Suzman says of his natural aptitude for plant identification, which he credits to growing up in horticulturally rich South Africa. By the late 1980s, when UC Berkeley was ready to accept him into their full-time program, Suzman was already busy at work with a number of Bay Area clients. Suzman started hiring and building his practice, founding Stephen Suzman Design in 1984 and Suzman Design Associates in 1992, both based in San Francisco. The company grew, as did the size and scale of Suzman’s projects. To this day at Suzman & Cole Design Associates (SCDA), which he has helmed with Todd Cole as Principal/CEO since joining forces in 2003, their clientele may be based in the greater Bay Area, but also hails from as far and wide as Martha’s Vineyard, Paris, Dorset, Indonesia, and Hawaii. “Most of our projects last for over a year,” he says of his work with Cole. “We do small and large projects, anything from a consultation to a five-year project. If it’s interesting, we’ll certainly look at it. We are deliberately not iconic in our design philosophy,” Suzman explains. “We like to use site-specific design that is appropriate to the architecture of the building, and we like the clients’ personal preferences, needs, and taste to determine the program. To that end, the client’s colors and preferences are considered, and while we guide the direction and overall style of a homeowner’s garden, we always recognize that the garden belongs to the client and not to the designer.” But even when a project is drawing to a close, it’s evident in Suzman’s caring eye as it
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sweeps the landscape, “that a garden is never complete.” That passionate care extends to the boards of two organizations on which Suzman sits. One, Art for Healing, works to add paintings and artwork to hospitals and other places of healing. “I believe strongly in art and gardens for healing purposes,” he explains. “It has been proven that patients get better faster with access to a garden or artwork.” Suzman is also involved with the Northern California Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture, which offers lectures, tours, and trips to all destinations from Sweden to the Deep South, all geared toward learning about art and architecture, and classical form and design. But fear not if you consider yourself a novice in any of the above. “We welcome new people to join, we welcome them with open arms,” Suzman assures. I
THE NEXT CHAPTER Look for more from Suzman & Cole’s designs this August, with the release of Perspectives on Design California from Panache Partners LLC. Vice President/ Senior Publisher Carla Bowers says, “Suzman & Cole Design Associates opens Perspectives on Design California’s final chapter, Living the Elements, by focusing on the creation of breathtaking outdoor living spaces. Principals Stephen Suzman and Todd Cole share some of their finest designs: beautiful and functional, natural yet artistic, carefully planned and dynamic.”