Our Practice

Our Principles

We have developed a set of Principles to guide our Practice. The first principle is Diversity. We know that biological systems thrive when they are diverse, and fail if they become monocultures. This principle also applies to cities and cultures. We thus recommend designing communities that accommodate elderly, young people getting started with their careers, single parents, parents with kids, extended families, and the many other types of family structures. Healthy communities also mix public places‹residences, places of work, marketplaces, centers for education and spiritual search. We have found that a range of uses support each other. Mixed uses also acts as a defense during economic swings that may affect a portion of the economy. The quality of integration of one's work with the rest of one's personal goals is expressed by our next principle, Livelihood. Economic development often is measured solely by job creation, home ownership rates, and the flow of dollars. We believe that an economic development paradigm should focus on livelihoods rather than jobs. A livelihood is an enriched, balanced life. This includes meaningful work that supports one's needs, but that also supports a sustainable culture. Community design plays a significant role in enhancing livelihood. We also note that the more the economic products of a community recycle within the community, the better it is able to sustain itself. Typically, the less time one spends commuting to work, the easier it is to integrate work, family, and community. This gives rise to our next principle, Environmental Responsibility. Environmentally responsible development begins by choosing the right place to build (and the right place not to build), and proceeds by being thoughtful about how we build. We believe one should build mixed-use communities in transit-accessible locations within urban growth boundaries to reduce the use of the automobile and the consumption of land. Once we have taken land from its natural state, we have an obligation to use it well by keeping our existing cities, towns and villages healthy, rather than leapfrogging over them to build on agricultural land. We also try to build well insulated buildings with south facing courtyards which use materials with recycled or recyclable content. We separate demolition and construction waste and use energy efficient systems and appliances. Finally, Interdependence is the relationship between projects, their users, and their surroundings. This final principle unifies the first three. The better we understand the subtle effects of the places we build, the less we disrupt the web of life, and the more we strengthen the health of the communities we create. Along with interdependence, we recognize impermanence: things change. We try to design and build so that things can change for the better.