Portrait photography by Christiaan Blok Scott Carson

SCOTT CARSON

Age: 40

Profession: Architect
Company: PHX Architecture, Scottsdale

How did you get into this line of work?
I wanted to be an architect since I was 9. After a detour working in the semiconductor industry and starting a business, I knew that I had to pursue my passion—architecture. So, I left my company and went back to school.

What inspires you?
Exploring and experiencing the work of the best architects to see myriad design solutions, and exploring our natural environment from the water. There is no greater inspiration for me than the gentle sound of water lapping at the sides of a boat.

What is your design philosophy?
To create timeless, authentic architecture based on clients’ needs and desires. It is important to me to stay true to each project, and to simplify a structure to its most basic elements, while at the same time creating spaces that evoke a sense of warmth and richness.

What is your biggest design accomplishment to date?
In 2008, I was named a Young Gun Architect by the local AIA chapter, and my projects have been featured in Phoenix Home & Garden. As an architect, however, the thing that brings me the most joy is when a client refers me to a friend or when they ask me to do another project for them.

What’s on the horizon?
In the short time I have been an architect I have been able to work on some of the most amazing and diverse projects. It is onward and upward, creating architecture of every style, true to its essential elements.

“The vertical nature of this design mimics the vertical pines that the home is nestled into,” Scott Carson says of this Contemporary residence in northern Arizona. It is clad in concrete panels and stained cedar siding.

Carson designed this home to reflect elements found in authentic Spanish Colonial houses, including white stucco exteriors, a red clay-tiled roof and areas with decorative Spanish tiles. The dwelling was carefully sited to preserve the existing mature landscape.

The work of renowned architect Addison Mizner influenced the look of this Spanish Colonial-style design, Carson notes.

<--- Back to Young Guns 2011