Field Studies Series

I wanted to put something out there that represents me from a very personal perspective and at the same time something tangible. The notion that a series of notes can transport you to a moment, which only exists in your memory, or your imagination is a very attractive concept. In the present-to me, that place is the Ridge - the Toro Negro Forest - but maybe to the end user is the library, or the memory of physical contact. This and all our future compositions are open to interpretation and guided by experiences of the wearer and why not, the spectator, because

Every body has a story.

The Backbone

I started to play with an idea…

“If Luca was a perfume, what would it smell like, how would it look like?” So, I made a list and made sure it had something warm, mineral and inviting…something salty, smooth, skin-like, clean & very important, amber.

At the end of the day, LUCA is so many things… wood, grass, earth, lightness, citric, concrete, cotton, timeless, minimalism. I’m sure that when an Island like ours comes to mind, the first thing people think of is the beach, and that’s understandable, that’s a fundamental part of our identity, but the mountains are our backbone.

I’m Puerto Rican, and I can tell you that you cannot help but pay homage to the strength of the soil, the greenery and the hundred year old trunks. You cannot not skip a heartbeat when you’re in their grand presence.

Needless to say, Exploration Nº1 has many layers of complexity but entering into this new category - with a naiveté perspective - has its advantages. Working alongside an aromatic laboratory I was introduced to the necessary elements to play. At the briefing I wanted to communicate what LUCA smelled like but after my first encounter the story evolved to enunciate something more intimate and timeless.

SUMMARY

A forest inventory of the Toro Negro region, Puerto Rico, was conducted in 1983. Eight different forest classes were sampled: active coffee shade, abandoned coffee shade, secondary forest, eucalyptus plantation , other timberland, upper mountain forest, palm forest, and dwarf forest. The study found the region is 61 percent forested with 20,100 hectares of timberland and 2,300 hectares of other forest land. Eucalyptus robusta accounts for 19,000 cubic meters or 37 percent of the growing - stock volume in the public forest. Seven valuable hardwood species add 16,000 cubic meters to the growing stock on public timberland. Private timberland also includes valuable timber, but the large trees are more scattered and the average volume is only one- third of that in public forests. Most eucalyptus plantations are ready for harvest and regeneration. Other public timberland contains good sapling and pole timber stocking and would benefit from release cutting. Private timberland has adequate sapling stocking, which could be released in many cases by removal of rough and rotten overstory trees.