A MAJOR MILESTONE FOR LAND+SHELTER

A message about our 20th anniversary from L+S principal Andi Korber

When I first rolled into the Roaring Fork Valley in 2007, I was 30, freshly unengaged and high on the idea of jumping the tracks I formerly expected of myself. Marriage? New England? Pish. Who needs it?

So obviously, I used the Yellow Pages to look up architects and convince them I had my shit together. Which is funny, because while I felt I was breaking out of my previous life with gusto, basically everyone from that time period tells me I was “So East Coast”. Not a compliment. Back to 2007: I hit the Yellow Pages. Google seemed like the cool little start-up that could – but also, kind of suspect. Remember a time before you bought things on the internet? It would be weird. They’d have your credit card number. That was then.

Search Engine (SP) Optimization was not such a thing. I called around. I had chats. I got in touch with an architect named Doug Graybeal, who – amazingly – just answered his phone and talked to me. He suggested I reach out to a guy named Gavin in Carbondale who was starting up an interesting shop that was doing art, development, and architecture. Doug had his phone number. Bingo. Thank you, Doug.

HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS 20 YEARS

Next up: Gavin Brooke, amazingly, just answered his phone and talked to me. Made an appointment for me to come by the studio. I wore my fanciest non-denim pants and non-Sorel shoes. Apparently, they thought all of this non-denim was funny, but the fact that I had to let my dog out of my car for a pee an hour into the interview was endearing. Thank G-d for the stray dog that adopted me.

AAAANNNND – that’s how I found my forever work home. I became an employee, then an associate, a partner, and then the sole remaining partner, and now – I have a new partner! And it’s wonderful to be in it, and see it grow. Land+Shelter is turning 20 this year.

Damn. For an architecture company, we’re almost middle aged. The beginning of L+S had a garage band quality – struggling, artistic, free – and also – nothing gold can stay. Except, I think, a piece of that energy stays even today. We joke internally that we are currently “design smugglers”. We are thinking about tee shirts.

But don’t worry. We’re not sneaky in real life. We think our brand of “smuggling” is not the elicit kind. You know – open smuggling. Like, they get it; we’re adding creativity into the top, bottom and sides of every project. Our clients are on board with making things great, even when high art concept is not an imperative. We still manage to sneak it in there. Everybody wins.

That’s my status quo report at 20 years in: We’re a garage band with a loyal fan base that has managed to stay gold, create art that lasts, and have a great time doing it.

Best-