BY ZACH MORTICE
Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, a favorite of Janet Rosenberg. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Benson Kua.
FOUR LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS ON THE PLACES THEY LOVE WHEN WINTER TAKES HOLD  
Winter landscapes earn their allure with the opposition to comfort and ease they put forth. In the wild, that might be a sense of enclosure amid the otherwise inhospitable. In a city, this could entail seeking out community and connection when it?s far from convenient to do so. The cold air, simply by existing, adds meaning to our interactions with each other and the world around us. You have to want to be out there, and to offer respect to the flora, fauna, and fellow humanity that is out there with you. So here are four landscape designers (three landscape architects and one architect) unpacking the wintertime landscapes that have inspired them. Winter is powerful but fleeting. Its spell is cast only for those who take the time to look. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Shane Coen?Green, Blue, White, and Gray
Shane Coen, FASLA, of Coen + Partners in Minneapolis says he is drawn to places that make us ?slow down, be inspired, and connect with ourselves, other people, and nature.? And in winter, ?it?s really hard to compete with Mother Earth.? His most cherished winter landscapes are locked in the embrace of gauzy childhood memories, and mostly untouched by human hands.
Coen grew up in Colorado. He remembers the intense chromatic experience of ?monocultures of the ponderos...