TROPICA

TROPICA is a team of architects, gardeners, and ecologists, equally focused on architecture and landscape
design. Our office does not have a set design process or style and our name is purposely ambiguous in order
to encompass three main principles that define our general approach to each project:
1. ARCHEOLOGY
Our approach to design is archeological. Rather than arriving to a project with pre-conceived notions, aesthetic ideas, or convictions, we operate in a completely different way - excavating and studying the project’s
context to reveal the magic of the place. We believe in radical responsiveness and undertake extensive context studies to reveal something deeper in the site, the client’s requests, the existing conditions, the climate,
or the ecology, to guide each different design. We believe that every architect does, or should do this, to
a degree. However, we believe that our sincere commitment to this process is evident in our portfolio, in
which every project truly has its own character. For us, every project is a chance to do something we have
never done before; and we endeavor to create something as unique as possible, that most importantly, suits
human needs. TROPICA’s founder, Josh Ehrlich, AIA, holds degrees in architecture and landscape architecture, and was trained in Switzerland with Herzog & de Meuron for 5 years. This archeological process is similar to HdM’s approach, best encompassed by the Tate Modern. In a time of great excitement for new,
computer design and complex geometries, HdM’s winning competition entry simply placed a roof on the
existing turbine hall, creating one of the world’s most radical exhibition spaces.

2. ECOLOGY
With each project, we not only honor the site’s ecology, climate, and environment but also endeavor to
create new and diverse habitats for plants, birds, pollinators butterflies, and most importantly, humans. We
are inspired by Florida’s particular and incredible diversity of ecosystems that are defined by the smallest
changes in elevation, geology, and presence of water. Due to this unique aspect of Florida ecology, and
because we operate between architecture and landscape design, we have a unique opportunity to create
overlapping and adjacent ecologies in our projects that add biological richness and give home to native
animals and endangered plants. Through this process, the site also becomes a new space for humans to use.
While there are infinite, beautiful public spaces, we believe there are certain specific characteristics of these
successful spaces, such as shade, water, color, and plant life. The Barbican Garden, at right, encompasses
both novel and incredibly pleasing human and botanic experiences to enjoy within London’s dense urban
fabric. Rather than creating buildings which are perceived as objects, we hope to create a framework for
the existing nature to coexist and influence the design of our projects. In this way, our projects are canvases
which nature and human beings can make an impact on – our works are not static objects.

3. “PLACE-MAKING”
We design sites, not buildings, with the intetion of creating places, and not just structures. We treat interior
and exterior spaces as equally important and we believe this attitude opens up new types of architectural
expressions, in which the garden or landscape can have a strong impact of the experience, character, and
appearance of the building. Our first, theoretical project, which led to TROPICA’s formation, is shown at
right. The One-Space house is a proposal for a home whose boundary is the property line. The building
fills an entire site and therefore is no longer an object sitting in a garden, but is a garden experience. Gardened hallways wrap over, under and around the spaces of the house. The character of interior spaces are defined completely by their relationships to different types of gardens. Each garden has different qualities of shade, water, aromas, and colors...