He instilled the firm he founded with a spirit of critical thinking and open inquiry. He pioneered the concept of interdisciplinary planning and design. All disciplines are represented in the ownership and management of this firm, giving our work a practical dimension that focuses on designing projects that are buildable. Hideo insisted that every project be put in its cultural, historical, geographical, environmental, social, and economic context - an approach that is even more important today than it was when he first developed it.

"It was a very exciting period. We were all young and idealistic. We thought the world had no problems that could not be solved. We were very much concerned about ideas and thinking up new ways of doing things." "At that time, there was a spirit of inquiry and excitement. It did not matter who or what you were. We would work together to achieve a solution that we thought was the most appropriate or creative for a particular situation."

Hideo founded the firm that would evolve into Sasaki Associates in 1953, the same year he joined the faculty at Harvard. He had studied at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois, as well as Harvard. From 1958 - 1968, as chairman of Harvard's Landscape Architecture Department, he helped to revolutionize the study of landscape architecture by tying it to the larger issues of planning and by breaking down the traditional barriers between practice and teaching. He induced busy practitioners in a variety of disciplines to teach briefly in his department, enriching the curriculum and connecting it to the real world. He brought promising students into his firm, and they put his practical, interdisciplinary approach into action, making his firm unique. We honor the memory of Hideo Sasaki and, as he expected us to, continually strive to expand upon the unique way of working that is his legacy.