Phil Tevis

Also known as the guy orchestrating chaos into something brilliant. Whether it’s construction, environmental design, or urban form, Phil has spent a lifetime blending art, science, and nature into spaces that tell a story. His education is as layered as his approach, with degrees in Horticulture, Environmental Design, Landscape Architecture, and Art (MA, ABT). Phil’s real schooling started with his first construction project at age six: a handmade wooden plow for a pedal car. It was an absolute failure, but that didn’t stop him. He’s been designing, building, and reimagining spaces ever since.

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He holds Rosgen Level 1-4 certifications and a Wetland Delineation Certificate, but don’t ever expect him to give you a long list of affiliations. He’s more comfortable doing the work than he is talking about himself. When it comes to travel, Philip doesn’t just visit places—he studies their soul. 

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His advice? Go where East meets West – Istanbul, Hong Kong, Havana, or anywhere cultures, faiths, and histories collide. Explore the modern city, then go far beyond it, to where people still live off the land. It’s in those places that humanity reveals its deepest truths. (Or, if you’re short on time and high on wonder, just go to Black Rock City during Burning Man for a first-class education on community, self-expression, and reinvention. Philip’s doodles are an extension of his work – urban forms merging with natural ones to reflect of how culture and geography shape one another. He’s looking for the spirit of a place – what the Romans called Genius Loci – with every drawing.

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Phil could talk to you endlessly about his crazy experiences (and we promise, you’d never get bored, either). But if he had to name just one, he’d tell you about the time he hiked the Inca Trail in the dead of night – chewing coca leaves for stamina just to stay awake long enough to reach Machu Picchu’s Sun Gate at sunrise. ​He’s got dozens of stories like this, and the best lesson he’s learned from it all? Visit any city or any place any chance you can.  Life is short and too vast to drive by.