Symbiotic House: Josh Ehrlich | TROPICA

TROPICA is a team of architects, landscape designers/builders, gardeners, and interior designers. We are, quite intentionally, unlike any other architecture firm in Florida. We have come together to execute all phases of the design process from start to finish to deliver projects that are integrated at every level of detail, inside and out.

TROPICA is led by three partners—each an expert in a distinct but interconnected discipline: architecture, interiors, and landscape. 

We design, build, and maintain every aspect of a project—from structures and interiors to native gardens and long-term landscape care. 

We also operate our own 7-acre native plant nursery (SUBTROPICA), allowing us to grow rare native species and ensure ecological continuity from concept through maintenance. 

TROPICA is proud to have been named the youngest firm on Forbes’ list of the Top 200 Architects. Our partners, Josh Ehrlich, Mariella Tzakis, and Andrew Aquart, have trained with some of the most respected and awarded architects in the world—including Herzog & de Meuron (Switzerland), Paulo Mendes da Rocha (Brazil), and Aires Mateus (Portugal)—all recipients of the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor. Beyond credentials, we remain active in the global design conversation. We teach, critique, and collaborate with international universities and design institutions, staying at the forefront of emerging ideas in architecture, sustainability, and ecological design.

We don’t just design buildings—we create places, designed in partnership with nature. where ecosystems and people coexist, layering gardens into and around architecture. Interiors and landscape become one continuous, immersive experience—for humans, birds, and butterflies alike.

We consider ourselves archaeologists in spirit. More than any other firm in Florida, our projects do not look alike. We don’t design with a fixed style—we work through a process of discovery, rooted in storytelling, site, and the particularities of each client.

A forum for open and participatory research, the Symbiotic House lecture series is organized by Miami-based artist Lee Pivnik as a means of gathering artists and designers that are working at the edges of architecture to share how their practices encourage ecological mutualism through design. Read more about the series.

Presented by: The Benjamin & Gloria Joannou, Jr. Family Conservation Fund