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STONEFIELD NEWSLETTEr
TALK
Photo of taken in Hawaii
Some summer facts for this sweltering season: 1. Due to the heat, the iron of the Eiffel Tower expands, causing the tower to grow more than 6 inches. 2. Studies show that men are more likely to cheat during the summer months than any other time of the year. 3. Researchers have found that the brain activity peaks when performing attention and memory tests during the summer. So as minds and other things expand in the summer’s heat let’s remember that this is, and should be, our most fruitful season. The work hard/play hard ethos at Stonefield is never more apparent than during the dog days of the year. Now is the time to turn our attention to eleven as we continue cranking out work. It is also the time to celebrate together at Friday orientations or enjoy ourselves surfing down the shore. As we put our noses to the grindstone, we can dream of our next camping trip or vacation in Hawaii. Cold drinks after a long day of work and all that. Bring it on, summer. This time was made for basking in the sun’s rays. And if you can’t take the heat, then enjoy the sweet relief of artificial air conditioning. Because this season is a time for extremes. As it should be. Allow the other seasons to be timid and let the dog days reign again.
summer 2024
TUNES 50 Cent said it best on Many Men; “Sunny Days wouldn’t be so special if it wasn’t for rain. Joy wouldn’t feel so good if it wasn’t for pain.” You can’t have the yin without the yang. In life, contrast is necessary, but it raises the question: Is there such thing as too much contrast? To answer that question, we combined perhaps the two most distant genres into one mixtape. Like a sweet pork dumpling dipped into a savoury soy sauce, two worlds collide in a triumphant explosion of sounds. Mixtape 045 combines country and rap on one playlist. Do these two genres have anything in common? Not really. Do Chris Stapleton and The Notorious B.I.G. have more than a few fashion differences? Absolutely. But there is one article of clothing they can agree on - a bandana. The bandana pictured on the mixtape cover is the visual depiction of the impossible task we achieved with his two-sided mixtape. Much like the bricks Rick Ross and Biggie rap about moving in their songs, listeners are also transported between New York and the South on an interstate of hip hop bangers sure to make you feel like a kingpin. Inversely, listeners can feel the heat of a heartbreak on the country side of the mixtape that can only be cured by Chris Stapleton’s sweet, soulful voice. We were sceptics in the beginning too, but we highly recommend giving this one a chance! The number “2” remained a consistent theme between both mixtapes. Much like 045, there are two sides to this one. Mixtape 046, is an audio representation of the dual-sided Gemini personality. Just like the twins tessellated in the stars, this playlist consists of two fraternal genres: indie-folk and indie-pop. Both halves maintain an introspective demeanour but express themselves through either mellow guitars and pianos or thundering percussion and catchy vocals. Listeners can expect a spectrum of sounds ranging from artists like Steve Lacy and Arctic Monkeys to Courtney Barnett and Run the Jewels. When you look in the mirror, you probably see a reflection of yourself. When Geminis look in the mirror, they see themself split in half. One side, mello. The twin who is chilling in the bedroom. On the other side is the wild counterpart. The twin who is in the driveway burning ants with a magnifying glass. They may not be identical twins, but they’re still related, nonetheless. Whether you’re feeling daring or feeling caring, give this one a listen and find yourself in a better mood than you were before pressing that play button.
summer 2024
STONEFIELD NEWSLETTEr
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teams The Olympic Games bring the most exceptional athletes in the world together to compete to find out who is the best. No matter what time you turned on the Olympic feed, or whichever highlights you decided to watch, you were watching the best human beings on the planet, repping their country, competing to win the gold. It got me thinking about how difficult it must have been to make it all that way to Paris. When did the athlete decide they wanted to be an Olympic competitor – 5 years before, 10 years before? How many people must have supported them along the way, and how many people said they would never make it. How many times did they tell themselves
they wouldn’t make it, didn’t have what it takes, to give up and do something else. And the athlete pushed through that, the external and internal, and found a way to keep going. Are those Olympic athletes really there to win the gold medal, is that really why they are doing it…or maybe there is something more? Check out the medals from some of the recent Olympic Games, which ones are you eyeing up. Must have been a pretty cool gig to design those bad boys. Maybe Team Sierra will get a crack at the design when the games come to LA in 2028?!
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STONEFIELD NEWSLETTEr
summer 2024
teams The word “compete” comes from Latin and means to “strive together.” Usually when we think about competing we think about a winner and a loser but if we look a little deeper, and use the Olympic Games as our guide, all those athletes are truly striving together to be the best at their event and drive each other to be better. “Compete” doesn’t mean “strive against one another to win” it means “strive together.” And on that quest to be better, to shatter records, to do what everyone says at the time is impossible. And when we watch them “striving together” we pick up on some things – the look on the athlete’s face, the disappointment, the elation, the shit-talking, the quiet sportsmanship – and we kind of decide which style we like and admire the most. Watching it all is very humbling and inspiring. It was awesome while it lasted. Well, maybe with the exception of that young lady “breakdancing” from Australia but hey, looked like she was having a good time.
If we can find a way at Stonefield to connect to this idea of “striving together” to be the best, it seems like we can unlock the most positive and uplifting element of competition. It starts with you, the individual. In whatever your discipline and department – survey, civil, traffic, planning, landscape architecture, design and whatever comes next – if you can create a feeling of goodwill and great sportsmanship in the way you pursue the highest level of professional performance… well, if you can do that, can you imagine the effect it would have on your team. And if your team had a culture of exceptional performance built into it, driving it forward, can you imagine the impact it could have on a team next to you, on an entire office. We might just be onto something if that happens. Something that could differentiate us from other companies, something that could make a difference in this industry. “But to love the game” and let striving together bring out the very best in us and each person around us…now that sounds like a whole lot of fucking fun to me.
summer 2024
STONEFIELD NEWSLETTEr
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design insight
What’s the meaning of “Lapidem Terra Ingenium Designō” in the SS24 collection? The SS24 Collection navigates the Villanovan culture that existed in Italy during the Iron Age. Long predating the infamous Renaissance, Latin was the language spoken amongst the people. Latin, although now considered to be dead, was the foundation of many languages we speak today. To pay homage, we designed a trio of T-shirts inspired by this brief, but vitally important moment in history. For those who haven’t figured it out yet - the embroidered front: Lapidem Terra Ingenium Designō is the (loose) Latin translation of “Stonefield Engineering & Design.” Aside from the difference in color, the backs of the shirts are where each of their identities shine through. The green Terra Mater tee represents the giver of life translating to “Mother Nature.” It is the lush, green prairie that facilitates and nurtures the growth of us as individuals within those fields. In this scenario, we are the fragrant flowers in the field - featured on the back of the lavender tee. Appropriately titled Flores, Latin for “flowers,” it represents the beauty of life that Mother Nature is capable of giving. However, Mother Nature is equally capable of taking, and the red tee represents that theft. Identified as Angeli Morti, the ladies featured on the back symbolize the “Angels of Death.” Their selfishness is emphasized by their longing for the sword that runs down the spine of the wearer. The history lesson comes full circle when we consider each garment as its own representatioin of the discovery of iron. Mother Nature provides us with the ore. We craft it into tools to cultivate life, but we also forge it into weapons that are capable of ending it.
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GUESS WHO ANSWERS: A4, B3, C1, D6, E2, F5