By Bruce Curtis

(Photos courtesy of Evo Design LLC, used with permission)

(Los Osos, November 18, 2005) Glancing at the small stand of aspen seedlings sprouting from among a field of native grasses, against a split-rail fence and mature grove background, it's hard to believe the arrangement is not the work of God instead of Lisa Lee Benjamin.

The artistically gifted landscape designer seems to have a knack for putting natural elements together with a sort of wild but ordered appearance, raising the question: is it possible to go nature one better?

That's a question for others. For homeowners and commercial developers in the intermountain west and the northwest who want to engage the services of this rising star, though, Benjamin's website, www.Evo Design.biz is the place to start.

"I want to create gardens that are place where you want to go, as well as for inside types something that is pleasing to look at; one client we designed something for outside their bedroom window," says Benjamin. She never rushes the process. "I spent a lot of time in that bedroom, looking out."

A flare for designing landscapes that don't look formally designed, that's what Lisa Benjamin does best. Examples of her work include landscapes for homes high in the Colorado Rockies. Featured are feature brim-flowing stone-studded streambeds that meander through compact alpine flower lined meadows; stacked walls of rock and improbable monoliths, set off by tufts of grass.

For another project, large rocks and native shrubs are placed in counterpoint, while willowy trees line an informal hillside path that draws the casual hiker up to a comfortable home painted in rustic colors and braced by flagstone walls. The entire scene looks inconspicuously Rocky Mountain-random...that is until you notice that your focus has been purposely drawn from place to place. You're visiting the artistic canvas created by Benjamin and formed in the palette of her imagination. The final composition works well.

Lisa also brings a certain flare for sculpture; notable in the way she combines hardscape with greenscape. A youthful point of view makes her reluctant to exclude anything man-made and she embraces modern design elements and materials, masterfully integrating them.

The Eames House, for example, impresses her. Charles and Ray Eames' Los Angeles area residence was to be a prototype home that G.I.'s returning from World War II would be able to afford. The home was made up of boxes and rectangles, largely prefabricated panels, yet with huge and inviting floor-to-ceiling windows and eave-opening skylights that brought all nature inside. Because the Eames wisely included thoughtful landscaping to complement those elements, it influenced a generation of Southern California homes and remains a must-see for architectural students. Benjamin visited the home while attending a conference in Los Angeles.

"It feels like it could have been built yesterday, it feels good, it is colorful, and people tend to pay attention to that."

"Does something feel good?" Benjamin asks. "A lot of times I see a design but it feels stale. I guess it lacks that connection and that heart; people don't make that much of a connection with their surroundings, and I realize how that affects them."

Benjamin spent time recently looking at volcanic sites near Seattle, noticing the natural rock lava patterns and came home with a fresh quiver of ideas that will be used to arrange volcanic rocks in her designs. She's doing nature, only on a smaller scale.

Whether she is bringing the outside indoors, or involving those inside with the greater world of nature beyond their windows, Lisa believes that landscapes should blend with our lives. That contrasts with more traditional landscape architecture, much of which seems to simply stand alone, disconnected from structures or the environment, or people, for that matter.

"Take kitchens, for example, everybody spends most of their time in there, yet it is one of the most ill-designed spaces in the home." Benjamin agrees with Michael Weinmayr and other leading landscape architects that careful design has a lot to do with creating a sense of well-being.

"When you go to a restaurant that feels good, a lot of the time that has to do with design, why certain moods are evoked in a certain area and a lot of times that is missed." That's why people often feel uncomfortable in certain landscapes, without really knowing why, Benjamin explains.

She recently broke away from a successful firm with two other partners to start Evo Design, because she believes that landscape architecture is evolving toward spaces that lift, inspire and help people connect with their surroundings. The idea is to find out more about clients than just what they want, she wants to know what they are like.

To do that, Lisa likes to get into people's heads.

"I kind of like to see what the inside of their life is like, their art, music, who they are and that comes out in their homes where they have made a sense of place." Benjamin visits a client's home, asks them to fill out a questionnaire, even suggests they invite her to dinner and allow her to spend some time with their family. It's this relationship-building that drives her work. "I stay in touch with my clients, that's really important, I can ofter them that be who they are, that same connection with their place, a comfortable space to be in."

It has been said that to be a really good landscape designer, you have to first learn how to get your hands dirty. While Benjamin was attending college at the University of Vermont, studying plants and agricultural sciences, she worked at wholesale flower farms and organic gardens, learning latin names and starting periennials from seed. Working at a dairy farm, she also delved into ways to improve agriculture environmentally.

Eventually her childhood roots in Colorado called so Benjamin returned, setting up an office in the lofty ski resort of Steamboat Springs, where she honed her skills, while creating artful landscapes.

"The key is having flexibility so you're able to create the best possible design for that space. I want everything I do to feel good." She spends a lot of time looking, listening and taking in the environment she will be creating landscapes for. She may even cross a valley to see how trees will look in a given density.

"The client may never know, but I like to give a house a sense of place, I deal with how to make things feel good, where plants naturally grow, because there are some places where you don't see trees." Call it a sense of perfection in imperfection. "When things aren't exactly perfect, they feel better, more real. There's beauty in imperfection."

The design process at Evo Design is anything but random, however. With sun aspect, drainage, water resources, wind patterns, existing features and views analyzed and recorded, Evo Design expresses designs in a variety of media such as renderings, sketches, including a bird's eye view to give clients a feel for the design. The company often collaborates with engineers and contractors, even surveying landscape sites if needed.

In the final, pre-construction step, working drawings and greenscape details are specified, and all must be approved by the client before work begins.

"The reason I am starting my own team is because this approach is hard for people to understand," Lisa explains. "It's time to find people who are open to that."

Evo Design can be contacted at (970) 846-8228, or email evo@Evo Design.biz.