Nahal Sohbati and Eric Arneson met while both were studying landscape architecture at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. In 2019, they took a leap of faith and opened Topophyla, a process driven landscape architecture firm. In the September issue of Pro Landscaper USA, Sohbati and Arneson share their design inspiration, who in the industry they look towards, and why a changing garden means a successful garden.

While the duo steers clear of attempting to replicate the same project over and over again, they say a sense of playfulness and wildness is important to their work.

“It’s not like interior design,” says Sohbati. “That’s the beauty of being outdoors. It’s alive.”

With their use of native plants, comes pollinators like bees and hummingbirds and a sense of being a part of something vital and energetic.

“The least successful gardens are the ones that don’t change ever. If you come back in a few years and it looks like identical that’s a failed garden, because nothing is really living,” says Arneson.

For more on what’s next for Topophyla, check out the full feature in the September issue of Pro Landscaper USA here.