Asis Es La Vida

I asked a non-native but long time resident of Phoenix what he thought the local architecture should reflect. “Outdoor living,” he said. “Nowhere else in the U.S. can you live outside eight, nine months of the year.” Perhaps exaggerated a couple months for my level of comfort, but he had a good point. Cloudless skies and intense sunlight give the perfect mental boost to draw one out into the elements, or at least glued to a great view behind some well insulated glass.

Usually when thinking about building in the Southwest, daunting design challenges arise. Heat, dust, and sun damage are battled almost all year long and significantly affect outdoor comfort. Far beyond the typical covered patio, the quality of the outdoor experience and time of year in which it can be enjoyed is continually improving, and many commercial ventures have found great solutions for the climate.

My favorite restaurants and hang-outs have great outdoor areas. Enhanced by landscaping appropriate for the region or theme, these designs maintain a close visual or functional connection with the interior of the structure. Fully disappearing walls of glazing are becoming increasingly more common, making interior rooms feel like the patio when fresh air and natural light is available from multiple sides. Even out of direct sun or the path of a breeze, these interiors are designed to feel open, relaxed, and connected to one’s surroundings.

Well designed outdoor space reflects the leisurely lifestyle the Southwest boasts. Perhaps not nine months out of the year for most people, but the local climate is definitely something to be taken advantage of, in its natural state, as often as possible. Anyone can put up an umbrella table on a concrete slab and call it outdoor seating, but the best outdoor atmospheres function as part of the whole.