October | November 2015
From Cowboy to Contemporary
Jim Morgan’s Western Ethereal Mark Maggiori: Alone in the Wild Photographer Laura Wilson’s Way of Seeing Architecture in the West: From San Antonio to Telluride
plus:
Landscapes by Design Workshop In the Studio with Roseta Santiago Perspective: Robert Lougheed [1910 – 1982]
western vista
Rendering: LIVABLE LANDSCAPES Design Workshop looks toward another 50 years of creating iconic landscape architecture throughout the American West written by
Sarah Chase Shaw
Photography by
D.A. Horchner
Practice makes perfect when you do anything for almost four decades. In Design Workshop’s case, practicing landscape architecture in the American West for so many years has yielded results never imagined by any of its founding partners. “My first residential project was a patio for a woman in Aspen,” says principal Richard Shaw. “We didn’t prepare any construction documents; we just did a plan with all the layout dimensions needed. I went over on the day the patio was poured, and the contractor had placed boulders throughout the space, making it so our client couldn’t furnish the patio, let alone even walk through it. It was, for me, the ultimate learning experience of the care and nature necessary to build great places. The outcomes that we can create are integral.” One of the largest and most diverse landscape architecture firms in the U.S., Design Workshop’s list of projects includes large urban redevelopment stadium districts, public space, major planning communities, hotels and outdoor retail centers. “There isn’t a sector that we haven’t participated in,” says Shaw. “Residential garden design is just as strong as any other segment, and it remains that way because there is no more satisfying place to be than creating a beautifully crafted space with and for the people who are going inhabit that place.”
76
WA
A
Opposite page: For Design Workshop partners Richard Shaw (left) and Mike Albert, landscape architecture is about bringing people together with setting, space, details and materials. “Our job is to make each garden feel like it belongs to this place and to these people.� This page: A simple water runnel, carved into sandstone, frames a long view to Colorado’s Mount Sopris.
WA
A
77
western vista
Clockwise from top right: Accented by carefully shaped stands of native Gambel oak, the round form of this sculpture provides an imaginative focal point in the informal lawn terrace of an Aspen residence. | A Barbara Hepworth sculpture is set in an infinity-edge pool on the west-facing patio of a Santa Fe residence. | A thin veneer of water flows over honed granite, adding depth to an Aspen reflecting pool. | A linear pool forms the centerpiece of a Jackson garden, its reflective panel of water acting as an extension of the sky and the ever-changing atmosphere and light of the surrounding natural environment. | In the mountains, short summers and concentrated highaltitude sunlight yield an unusually brief and brilliant perennial blooming season. 78
WA
A
As anyone who has attempted to garden in the Rocky
stone, in lieu of an abundance of plant material. The key to
Mountains knows, the environment doesn’t always conspire
every garden’s success is a successful combination of texture,
in your favor. Water and fertile, loamy soils are a rare com-
color and craftsmanship, he says.
modity in these parts, but Shaw suggests that having limita-
“Good gardens,” says Shaw, “have the ability to invite
tions often dictates a new design idea, one that is brilliant
people into the out-of-doors in all seasons. Our gardens are
for the place and the circumstances. “Garden design in the
meant to engage people in their surroundings and to help
American West is about rediscovering the native plants and
them create memories.”
landscape features that are found in the dramatic landscapes
For many of Design Workshop’s clients, living in the
and recognizing the value of those elements in place-making.
West is a new experience that requires guidance and educa-
Our gardens draw from a design philosophy that combines
tion. A typical residential design process starts with a period
the iconic or pictorial with a focus on a landscape character
of discovery in which the clients are learning about, and fre-
that comes from the site itself.”
quently enamored with, the possibilities inherent in creating
Shaw’s partner, Mike Albert, agrees. Currently working
and then sharing their new living environment.
on projects that range from a master plan for a 400-acre
Ben and Cynthia Guill are midway through developing a
ranch in Montana’s Yellowstone Club, to a 20-acre plan and
family compound in Old Snowmass, Colorado, and like so
garden design for winemaker Joel Gott in Park City, to an
many clients, questioned the need for adding another con-
intimate 1,000-square-foot garden in Aspen, Albert sug-
sultant to their team. “Most people probably don’t include
gests that his design ideas are dictated by the parameters
landscape architecture in their project budget, but in our
established by the existing conditions in each location. For
case, having Design Workshop on our team has made a
example, water restrictions in the Yellowstone Club create
huge impact,” says Guill, adding that the design process has
an opportunity for Albert to utilize materials such as native
educated him on the need for experts who can stay true to
WA
A
79
western vista
an overall vision for a property while simultaneously attending to details such as stone walls, driveway alignment and parking areas. Known for an ability to understand the nuances that are
From left: Large boulders and carefully placed stands of trees can be used to provide three-dimensional focal points, offering scale and focus. In this Aspen garden, a boulder excavated from the site and a stand of aspen trees define the edge separating the designed landscape and the surrounding natural environment. | Garden design becomes more sustainable with the use of materials from the region. In this Santa Fe garden, a walkway constructed of native sandstone is flanked by a palette of xeric plant materials that thrive in the more arid conditions of the high desert.
landscape. “The best projects are those that take their queues from the landscape and create an architecture that is in direct response to the immediate surroundings,” says Matthews.
critical to making iconic places
80
WA
A
Architect Cristof Eigelberger
of human habitation, Design Workshop gets involved in a
of Sausalito-based Backen, Gillam & Kroeger Architects,
project before any dirt has been moved because, says Shaw,
agrees. “Design Workshop brings to the design table beau-
good design stems from understanding the complete liv-
tiful, livable landscapes that you want to spend time in.
ing environment. “We learn so much by being involved in
Sophisticated yet understated, their work plays off of the
those initial critical conversations where the architects and
architecture without competing with it. We see a lot of beau-
the clients are talking about desired functional relation-
tiful designs on paper, but Design Workshop has a unique
ships. For example, when you design a kitchen, you want
ability to look at the details that bring everything together.”
a center work island, and you want it to be in proximity to
As Design Workshop closes in on its first half-century,
the dining room. That analogy doesn’t apply to landscape
the possibility to create outcomes that are meaningful and
architecture because it’s so ambiguous. You have to resolve
lasting, says Shaw, is stronger than ever. “The narrative
what the house is about before you figure out what a garden
capacity of the landscape will never disappear. It is present
can be.”
in the spatial relationships between elements in each com-
Architect Greg Matthews of the Bozeman-based Pearson
position, the arrangement of plant materials, the varying
Design Group is collaborating with Design Workshop on
forms that water takes, and the capacity of light and shadow
several projects. He appreciates the firm’s ability to capitalize
to transform a space throughout the day, the season or the
on the opportunities at hand while concurrently preserv-
year. Like all art forms, garden design moves in response to
ing or embellishing the elements that naturally define the
the way people want to feel.”