Charles Anderson Landscape Architecture was founded this year. Anderson & Ray was liquidated to join EDAW in early 2000, becoming the Anderson & Ray Design Studio of EDAW. Steve Ray is still with EDAW, and Charles Anderson left in September to start the new firm. The studio now has four employees.

The practice emphasizes art, ecology, native plant use and the exploration of landscape form. Projects include ecological restoration, interpretive centers and signage, and major civic and institutional landscapes. “The biggest challenge is convincing clientele that spending more on the earliest design phase will payoff,” said Anderson.

The firm is currently working on several projects in the Seattle area that staff members have been involved with for more than seven years. They include Colman Park, Pritchard Wetland and Roxhill Bog. This past year Charles Anderson joined the Olympic Sculpture Park design team for the Seattle Art Museum. Other new projects in the Seattle area include the Arboretum of the Cascades in Preston, the 500 Area of Discovery Park and Mineral Springs Park.

Anderson works in regional and national markets. “In our region, funding for publicly driven community improvements has dropped off substantially,” said Anderson, adding, “The acts and deeds of a civilization change dramatically when its very survival is threatened.”