• About
    About
  • Architecture
    Architecture
  • Planning
    Planning
  • Shelter Journal
    Shelter Journal
  • Contact
    Contact
Contact Info
Office:
16 North 4th Street
Carbondale, CO 81623

Mailing:
PO Box 550
Carbondale, CO 81623
+1 970 963 0201
info@landandshelter.com
Newsletter
Our Instagram
Perspective from the inside of a burned trunk. Thi Perspective from the inside of a burned trunk. This beauty was surrounded by survivors of whatever fire claimed our subject here. Ancient juniper survivors were packed dense on this site, the surviving stand in a neighborhood of pastureland and subdivisions. An architect, not such an innocent visitor to such a place.
The @landandshelter Carbondale studio is at 16 N. The @landandshelter Carbondale studio is at 16 N. 4th Street, just around the corner from the intersection of 4th and Main in downtown Carbondale. As of September 2020, we are all working from home and using our studio space on an appointment-only basis. 
L+S was founded in Carbondale in 2005, and we opened our first Aspen location in 2011.  As of this writing, we're taking a hiatus from the Aspen space and just sticking with one office. One office suits our needs today, although that may change as we navigate the needs around office space impacting us all.
 
As always, you can find us at info@landandshelter.com! 
#landandshelter
Please pass this along! Land+Shelter is hiring exp Please pass this along! Land+Shelter is hiring experienced architects at the project architect / project manager level. We’re open to remote applications for the right fit. Please see our job posting at LinkedIn or AIA websites. QR code here is for LinkedIn. Folks are welcome to reach us at: employment@landandshelter.com for any additional clarifications. Please share!
60 second video spin around this annexation propos 60 second video spin around this annexation proposal in Carbondale. Plain walls in video will be murals. Our next planning and zoning commission meeting is September 10th. Comments welcome! Please send any comments and/or questions ahead of time to: eastwood133selfstorage@gmail.com and please see our additional renderings at landandshelter.com/portfolios/Eastwood-133-self-storage #landandshelter #carbondalecreativedistrict #prstudioco
Drivers view heading south, drivers view heading n Drivers view heading south, drivers view heading north, and a detail. L+S is working on this annexation project just north of the electrical substation on Highway 133. The first planning and zoning commission hearing on this proposal is coming up August 13th, and the second hearing will be the 27th. Please send any comments and/or questions ahead of time to: eastwood133selfstorage@gmail.com and please see our additional renderings at landandshelter.com/portfolios/Eastwood-133-self-storage #landandshelter #carbondalecreativedistrict #prstudioco
L+S is working on a net energy positive annexation L+S is working on a net energy positive annexation project just north of the electrical substation on Highway 133 in Carbondale. Parcel is currently just over the line in Garfield County. The first planning and zoning commission hearing on this proposal is coming up August 13th, and the second hearing will be the 27th. Please send any comments and/or questions ahead of time to: eastwood133selfstorage@gmail.com and please see our additional renderings at landandshelter.com/portfolios/Eastwood-133-self-storage #landandshelter #carbondalecreativedistrict #prstudioco
Just right temps, Summer morning, first site visit Just right temps, Summer morning, first site visit. It’s just hard not to be wistful with this stuff. Pencil’s up!
Spec homes have recently been coming back, so it s Spec homes have recently been coming back, so it seems. This is one of a handful we’ve seen work this year - and this simple project is closing soon. Market forces shifting for everyone else? Seems like people have not been making the midvalley location math on these specs pencil until recently. #landandshelter
Key: Space for grilling! #landandshelter Key: Space for grilling!
#landandshelter
Today we are especially excited to have clients su Today we are especially excited to have clients supporting community with Pride 1st Friday. Thanks for the chalk @h_mavis #pridefirstfridays #carbondalechamber #firstfridaycarbondale @prstudioco @landandshelter @359design @carbondalecreativedistrict @carbondalearts @carbondale
How much more black can you be? #spinaltapforever How much more black can you be? #spinaltapforever
This remodel brought a little TLC, a little touch This remodel brought a little TLC, a little touch of modern, and some serious insulation upgrades to a 1980’s home on the river outside of Carbondale. Glad to see a C.O. Come through in this moment. Stay safe folks! #landandshelter #faceliftarchitecture #modernfacade
Load More...
land_shelter_mobile_logo
  • About
    About
  • Architecture
    Architecture
  • Planning
    Planning
  • Shelter Journal
    Shelter Journal
  • Contact
    Contact
land_shelter_logo@2x
land_shelter_mobile_logo

SHELTER JOURNAL

A diary on the practice of thoughtful architecture.

Options

February 4, 2020
-
No comments

I’ll start with an admission.  I sometimes provide multiple options when I don’t have a clear, zesty idea. It can be a crutch. Design clients want great ideas, not more ideas.

Providing options is often a useful tool, but just not always. There’s a few circumstances I’d like to talk about where I might shy away from littering the table with options. And here they are:

 

1. When it’s limiting participation

Selection is not the same as collaboration. Design should be a search, not a roulette. The downside of using options is that it could diminish the authentic search. Let’s embrace the search in design. It’s hard work. While we are searching, we may need to work through some ambiguity or contradiction. When have you ever made something rewarding without a little bit of hard work? That will make it great. All that work to communicate effectively in the design process, be honest about what you really want and need – that’s really good stuff.

There’s going to be a time in every project when you need to just choose. OK I can do that, and I will again. Design projects can be exhausting. But if you’re just throwing a dart every time, you’re not really getting to something personal, something specific.

 

2. When it’s thoughtless.

Let’s talk about the idea of being deliberate. To Design is To Plan. There is knowing that goes into planning. There is understanding. There is an internal logic to a building; it has its own skin tone and hair color. Sometimes the building already gives you the answers, and if you have a sense for the building’s inherent logic, you can feel that and understand it, then the options logically whittle down. A design team in touch with that essence is doing their job; they can adhere to the truth of their project’s identity. This should delete some options. It might not eliminate the concept of options, just the idea that options are always the way to truth. I don’t take that courtroom approach here. Not all options are innocent until proven guilty. Some of them suck. Let’s not waste our time.

 

Why write about this?

I’m writing about this because I think we have too closely tied the idea of selection with agency. This is a marketing tactic that I dislike. Everyone please stop using the work “bespoke”. It doesn’t mean what you think it means.

I’ve had a couple chats about this post before posting it, and a few friends reacted like I was a lunatic for questioning the idea of options. Hopefully I have made a couple points here, but maybe I can boil this topic down to one phrase: good ideas, not more ideas.

Leave a Comment

Your feedback is valuable for us. Your email will not be published.
Cancel Reply

Please wait...
Submit Comment →

Previous Posts

Nov 2, 2020

Remote Studio

Sep 21, 2020

Where is L+S?

Dec 11, 2019

Language Troubles

Nov 13, 2019

Talk About Bricks

Oct 21, 2019

Images Should Follow Not lead + Intro to Shelter Journal

Oct 7, 2019

Regulating Green

Sep 20, 2019

On Names

Aug 15, 2019

Sea Glass

Jul 14, 2019

The Log Challenge

Jul 10, 2019

Design “Team”

Subscribe to our newsletter

Options | Land+Shelter