Welcome

During a recent walk around the block with my dog, I noticed that our next-door neighbor had ripped out a row of tall oleanders and a brick wall in front of his house. When I stopped to chat up the particulars of his new construction project, Patrick informed me that he was installing a large patio, open to the street, so he could host more outdoor gatherings and socialize with neighbors and passersby in our pedestrian- and equestrian-friendly neighborhood.

Patrick, it seems, gets the big-picture view of landscape architecture. Though he's not a landscape professional — and his project is simple and low-tech — my neighbor seems to intuitively know how to make the most of the land surrounding a building.

This issue, we're celebrating just that — making the most of the land around our built environment — by spotlighting numerous landscapes, both public and private, around our region. We visit a rocky escarpment in Tucson, where the designer literally made the most of the narrow, even treacherous, site; a hospital in Colorado, where the landscape was meant to soothe, heal and honor the area's agrarian past; and another garden in Tucson, truly created for outdoor living. We're also featuring some of the elegant winners of the national ASLA design awards that happen to be in our region.

April is also National Landscape Architecture Month, as proclaimed by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). Look to your local chapters for special events during the month, this year focusing on activities for kids and educators to explore careers in the landscape profession. April 22 is Earth Day, and 26 is Frederick Law Olmsted's birthday.

While we're focusing on the out-of-doors, we're not forgetting the buildings themselves. Our "Project Walk-Through" this issue is the new building for HomeBase Youth Services in Phoenix. The nonprofit helps homeless youth ages 18 to 21, the age group that tends to fall through the social-services crack, and the organization's new facility is truly a miracle of light, color and function. We're also tipping our collective hats to the work of Tucson homebuilder John Wesley Miller in our "Design for All" column. Miller has been a forward-thinking builder in terms of universal design since he built his first project in the 1950s.

And, since it is officially spring on March 21, a few spring-cleaning items. First of all, don't forget to make arrangements to attend the annual Rocky Mountain Designers' Market May 6 and 7 at the Denver Design District in downtown Denver. Sources+Design will be there, along with numerous presenters and exhibitors, not to mention a great group of showrooms. Visit www.denverdesign.com for more details.

Second, the photographs of American Clay Earth Plaster installations in our January/February "Materials+Methods" column were taken by Andy Mattern (the bathroom window) and Addison Doty (the restaurant). Our thanks to them for creating such lovely images.

Finally, we liked Rick McLain of Tucson's Repp Design + Construction so much that we gave him an extra "c" in his name in January/February's "PROfiles" column and "Residential Walk-Through" feature. Obviously, the talented architectural designer does not need the extra baggage. Our apologies.

Photograph by Elliot Lincis