We think of our work as creating the opening passage of a story. The process begins when we encounter the site. This site may be a public space in the middle of a city or a small plot of land in a vast natural setting, an abandoned building or even a single sheet of paper. As we come face to face with the site, we set about carefully gathering its various elements: its light or air, its human or natural community, its beauty and ugliness, the memories of its past. And from these elements, we weave the first passage of the story. This becomes the starting point for a new human community, which in turn goes on to create its own chapters in the story.