Maybe I’m just asking you to pay closer attention to the land.

– Maya Lin, Boundaries

Founded by Jennifer Martin and Carley Rickles in 2020, Martin Rickles Studio (MRS) is an interdisciplinary design studio located in Atlanta, GA. Despite their differing fields of study, Rickles and Martin formed their partnership out of a shared love for land art, patterns, ceramics, landscapes, vistas, trees, chairs, windows, steps, slopes, leaves, draperies, grasses, rooms, and paths.

MRS works in and between the fields of urban design, landscape architecture, architecture, and interior design (with an occasional foray into graphic design and who-knows-what). Beyond their parallel interests, MRS finds common ground in a working process which is sensitive, rooted in science, inspired by theory, and responsive to the shifting needs of a warming environment, clients, society, and self.

MRS places a high value on process to guide each project’s development, and uses a combination of informative and generative approaches, such as: field research, precedent research, interviews, drawing, collage, model-making (digital and physical), discussion, debate, material studies, mock-ups and prototypes. In addition to their reliance on process, MRS believes no matter the scope of a design project, it should be well-considered through every lens of its context (past, present, man-made, natural, cultural) and considered for its future impacts.

During the formative days of MRS, we were collectively experiencing the early stages of the COVD-19 pandemic; the waning of Donald Trump's first presidential term; the killing of Rayshard Brooks in our home city of Atlanta; severe and pervasive natural disasters; and increasingly egregious income disparity. It was a time of upheaval, pain, fear, and collective resistance against the status quo. This was our genesis.

As we began to process the events of this time, the impetus for our studio began to reveal itself: MRS should be a holistic and process-oriented place of vulnerability and open collaboration. We sought and shared resources for our common reflection and growth, with an aim to holistically and authentically integrate these resources into the DNA of our studio practice. We believed that the interdisciplinary nature of our practice would also illuminate alternative ways of working and perhaps help us raise expectations for how to collectively approach the built environment in Atlanta and the Southeast (mainly in substance, potentially in style). We would also continue to be inspired by and participate in Atlanta’s ground-up creative culture.

In 2021 MRS was awarded a two-week artist residency at The Hambidge Center in North Georgia. The thesis of our proposal was to research and develop an unconventional interdisciplinary and place-based approach to our work which would be responsive to environmental and social needs. Our proposal was inspired, in part, by landscape architecture researchers Karen Lutsky and Sean Burkholder’s essay, Curious Methods. Lutsky and Bunkholder describe an alternative approach to studying space which is based in an "open-ended, ground-level exploration." They argue that relying on methods for proving “glorifies a finite ‘truth’ and shuts down the process of inquiry by which knowledge grows deeper and changes over time."

The results of those early inquiries and explorations are now evident and evolving in our working process, project evolutions, and new project inquiries. In 2023, we completed Phase 1 of a courtyard renovation at the Judge Romae T. Powell Juvenile Justice Center in Atlanta. The renovation utilized both Trauma Informed Design and ecological design principles, and was lovingly named “The Courtyard of Second Chances” by one of the court administrators. The name was inspired by the choice to re-integrate every piece of demolished concrete into new bench seating and pavers– a subliminal message of hope and inspiration for the families, children, and court staff who utilize the courtyard.

Our big-picture goal of providing a “place to land” for ourselves, clients, and collaborators has been met with overwhelming support by our greater Atlanta community, with current projects expanding into Alabama and Tennessee. As it turns out, there is very much a need for a paradigm-shifting, female-led, Southeast-based, interdisciplinary design studio. So many of our clients and collaborators have said as much, and we have taken their words to heart.

2023 and 2024 have been banner years for MRS.

In 2023 we received a design award from the Georgia chapter of the American Institute of Architects for one of our earliest projects– the La Croix House. The jury recognized the project for its joie de vivre and low-budget scrappiness. Additionally, MRS was recognized with an Honor Award in Communications from the American Society of Landscape Architects. This was a national award, which we received for our community-centered design work with The Historic Bruce Street School. The awards jury recognized our approach as “a powerful process of listening, tracing memory and senses in a new and pure way… This work reimagines how landscape architects can engage with communities to build connections, unearth collective memory, and activate our senses to explore possibilities for meaningful and sometimes painful places of our shared history.” Most recently in 2024 MRS was nominated to apply for 2 prestigious national awards.

There is a spectrum of work between and beyond our awarded projects, all coalescing into a focused direction for the future of our studio. We would like to build on this current momentum, to more actively pursue interdisciplinary work focused on Trauma-Informed Design, creative engagement methodologies (sensory ethnography, design futures, social media, workbooks, etc), and socio-ecological concerns.

In 2024 we welcomed our first intern, Elena Castro-Oliva. While we do not yet know how, if, or when MRS will expand with other positions beyond the internship role, the need for additional space became necessary. In April we moved in Day and Night Projects. We see this move as a necessary short-term solution to provide us with much-needed space for collaboration and experimentation. Long-term, we are working to locate and purchase a permanent studio space for MRS, with a vision to provide ourselves and other creatives with affordable space for growth and experimentation.