In a city as rapidly growing as Philadelphia, each calendar year brings 
plenty of changes to the culture and landscape. For us, 2014 was the year of the pop up. Inviting beer gardens, parks and shopping outlets crafted out of recycled materials provided temporary relief to otherwise boring, empty lots. Behind many of Philadelphia’s most popular pop up initiatives, you’ll find the Groundswell Design Group, helmed by Principal David Fierabend. David and his team are the masterminds responsible for the aesthetic and creation of Spruce Street Harbor Park and PHS beer garden, as well as hip mainstays including Morgan’s Pier and FringeArts’ new building on the Pier.
As the second annual installment of the Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest kicked off recently over Thanksgiving weekend, we wanted to learn more about the lead designer who has had such an impact on this city’s recreational industry.
PPRG: Tell us about your background in design. What made you decide to take the leap from earning a B.S. in Marketing to a Masters in Landscape Architecture? How did your career play out after graduating?
David Fierabend: I started in retail in the late 80’s and grew my business all across the northeast from DC to Boston. During this time I was able to learn a lot about branding and marketing. There was a point in my career that I realized that I wanted to get back to my roots. I grew up in Bucks County and always had a passion for gardening and the outdoors; going back to school to get my Masters in Landscape Architecture was the direction I decided to take. After graduating, I started my own landscape design firm, where we focused mainly on residential design. Groundswell has organically grown into what it is today, we have a full staff of landscape and urban designers working on everything from temporary placemaking popup projects to restaurants to art installations and everything else inbetween.
PPRG: Do you have a mentor, or are there are designers – living or deceased – whom you look up to professionally?
David Fierabend: One of my favorite designers is Adriaan Geuze, principal of Dutch landscape architecture firm West 8. He has a feel for popular culture and believes that landscapes should be designed to contribute to it. That’s the view I take, and it’s why I characterize our work as lifestyle design. We are thinking holistically and landscape is just one (albeit a very important one) factor in the human experience.
PPRG: Can you walk us through the steps your design group needs to take in the planning and execution of a “typical” landscape architecture project?
David Fierabend: Generally, we are presented with a broad stroke use of space by the client, whether a restaurant, park or event. We then go on to gathering precedents and inspiration, which organically leads us into the design phase. Collaboratively, we sketch out ideas on trace, napkins, maps, cardboard… anything that we can get our hands on to make us look at a project in different ways on different textures. These ideas turn formally into CAD drawings and renderings. Through this phase, we source furnishings, fixtures, equipment and materials in order to put numbers (cost) to the project. Upon approval, we coordinate orders and begin the installation phase. At Groundswell we have a very organic and collaborative process, as plans and renderings often look different in real life. Our design is constantly morphing and changing to accommodate real life.
PPRG: How do this year’s new aspects of the Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest affect it? Our favorite is the original Divine Lorraine fireplace. What a beauty!
David Fierabend: We basically worked off of last year’s model and tweaked it. Adding plexiglass windows to the “Lodges” allows for plenty of natural light and creates a relationship to the central feature, the skating rink. We even added an entire kids arcade lodge, a 40’ holiday tree and a porch. We’re all about embracing the history of Philadelphia, and repurposing and reinventing. In this case, we found the Divine Lorraine fireplace mantles were a great marriage to our take on an urban lodge. Obviously, Jose Garces is a well-known entity in Philadelphia, and coming off his success this past summer at SSHP (Blue Anchor Tavern), he seemed like a natural partner for this year’s Winterfest.
PPRG: Where do you find the inspiration for your creations? What overarching themes or signature features do you like to include in your work?
David Fierabend: I find inspiration in everyday life, whether that be the material that my coffee cup is made of to light shining through a window to the sound of traffic or laughter… vibrations, materiality and texture are the most important elements that guide our designs. For me, the common theme is “classic.” You can never go wrong with tried and trues. Things that don’t go out of style – flannels, sitting on a bench, green grass, dappled shade from a tree, a hammock, flickering light – things that engage the person to their environment.
PPRG: In what ways do you hope that your designs have impacted Philadelphia?
David Fierabend: We hope that some of our public space interventions have made Philadelphians feel engaged in the space in a positive way, in an emotive way, in an ephemeral way. The thing I love about a lot of our projects is the “realtime” of them. Our projects generally happen quickly and activate a space in a very different way of how it originally served its purpose. In particular, Winterfest serves as a parking lot eight months out of the year, but in the colder months this space is transformed into a winter wonderland.
PPRG: Are there any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
David Fierabend: We are again working with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) to promote their ongoing waterfront developments, reinventing Spruce Street Harbor Park next spring. In West Philadelphia we are working with CHOP Karabots Pediatric Care Center Healing Garden, which will be a harvestable labyrinth garden. In Chestnut Hill we are working with restaurateur, George Atterbury, on a Mexican fusion restaurant called El Poquito. I will be chairing an event for next year’s Design Philadelphia Festival.
Of course, there are a few new significant projects to Philadelphia that Groundswell is not at liberty to discuss… stay tuned to hear about those. Follow David and his creative designs on their blog.
