With a background in business and integrated marketing communications, Phil’s responsibilities range from general management duties to marketing, strategic planning and new business ventures at CSG. He developed his interest in gardens and design early in life and re-discovered it in the mid-90s when CSG was born. The intervening years spent in business nurtured in him a fascination with specialization and niche markets, which CSG now actively pursues.
As interest has grown in sustainable design and building practices, urban beautification and environmental awareness, CSG has ventured further into the realm of rooftop garden design and build services. The environmental benefits of such gardens, coupled with the innate appeal of a living, green garden space atop the city, have led Phil to believe there is a huge future for the company in rooftop garden work in addition to its longstanding landscape design work.
Phil's interests outside of work include distance running, vegetable gardening, cooking, poker, reading, billiards, and music of many varieties. He regularly attends the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas each spring.
Prior to joining Chicago Specialty Gardens in 2003, Bill focused his efforts as an artist, designer and builder through Artisan Remodeling, his residential and light commercial remodeling business in Chicago. The company was established following Bill's graduation from Northern Illinois University in 1993 with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
While working as a subcontractor for Chicago Specialty Gardens, Bill became fascinated with landscape construction and design. Seeking a new career challenge, he joined Chicago Specialty Gardens full time in 2003, with responsibility for design and construction oversight of the company's structural and hardscape work in the garden. He has since added additional responsibilities and has been selected to head up the company's new Rooftop Garden Division, with duties covering structural assessment, drawings, permits and document generation; rooftop garden design; and construction and installation oversight.
Key assets which Bill brings to CSG are the combination of artistic, analytical, organizational and construction skills developed over his career. Bill also spends a good deal of time researching new materials, design concepts, and installation methods and processes.
Bill's contributions have been an important factor in Chicago Specialty Gardens' winning of recent industry awards and recognition. Since 2004, Bill has taught landscape design and construction techniques at Northwestern University's School of Continuing Studies in conjunction with The Morton Arboretum, and is an adjunct professor there. Bill also lectures and conducts seminars within the industry and continues his own education through attendance at seminars, lectures and through professional organizations.
Bill enjoys spending what little free time he has at his second home, a former Presbyterian church he is renovating in southwest Wisconsin with his wife Angie. He is also interested in artistic explorations of built structures and objects of native materials and their relationships to life in the modern age.
Julie's work experiences illustrate a career roadmap drawn with curves and detours through horticulture, floral and plant design, photography and Spanish translation. Joining Chicago Specialty Gardens in 2005 crystallized this diversity of experiences and skills toward a focus on urban garden spaces.
After completing a degree in Political Science and Latin American Literature at the University of Iowa and the Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico, Julie entered the work force eager to exercise her language skills. Positions in translation led to international travel and a residency in Barcelona, Spain, where work as a photographer extended into rich, foreign landscapes. Returning to the Midwest Julie relied on previous floral design and greenhouse management roles in her native Iowa to secure a position as a floral and plant designer in Chicago. These influences continue to inform her perspective on composition, materials and design.
Julie's responsibilities involve careful consideration of the design elements that complete outdoor living rooms, including plant selection, furnishings, lighting, and ornamentation. Planning and styling these design elements supports the company's intent to maximize the potential of each client's outdoor space by linking our clients' interior tastes to their home's natural environment. Julie promotes a vision of exceptional garden design through research; inventive use of materials as applied to the site and design vision; and progressive design concepts.
Outside of her role at CSG, Julie enjoys parallel parking, spending time with her pup, and bicycling.
Marcin Matlakowski has worked in the construction field for nearly 10 years and currently attends Westwood College where he is scheduled to receive his Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management in 2010. His interest in, and commitment to, the construction process is evidenced by his work with several large Chicago-area development companies. Marcin’s experience includes time spent in materials coordination; inventory; multi-site construction management; large equipment operation; estimating; and scheduling, and he has worked on warehouse, dealership, factory and school projects. His hands-on experience includes HVAC; plumbing; electrical; automotive and welding work.
As Construction Manager at CSG, Marcin is responsible for the management and coordination of materials, plans and equipment between four field crews, our workshop, the company’s design and management staff.and our clients.
Marcin enjoys snowboarding, auto racing and rock climbing when he’s not coordinating our projects, and claims to have once been on a Polish soap opera.
Vanessa started at CSG as an intern in the spring of 2008, needing some work study to graduate with a BFA in Interior Design from the International Academy of Design and Technology. She jumped right in, and when she graduated she came on with us full-time as Design Assistant.
The responsibilities of the Design Assistant cover a lot of ground. Vanessa not only helps out in many small ways to keep the office running but also supports the design staff by focusing on creating the initial CAD outlines from which our designs grow; working on space planning challenges; creating manual drafts, elevations and perspectives; and exercising her skills with numerous Architectural Desktop and AutoCAD programs. She is sometimes the first voice that our clients hear when they call the company, for Vanessa holds down the phone lines when everyone else is out in the field.
As an interior designer, Vanessa is comfortable with the sort of planning and design work which goes into our landscape creations. Traffic flow, space planning, balance, scale, proportion and similar considerations are all essential in both an interior and an exterior room. Vanessa will be learning more about plants and field work in the coming year, and expanding her knowledge of all of the elements which go into our finished gardens.
Vanessa enjoys spending time with her family, creating new food dishes, and bowling. Lots of bowling.
