ABOUT
Figure/Ground Mission
Figure/Ground is a landscape architecture and urban design practice dedicated to the curious exploration of the complex relationships between people and their environs. We are systems thinkers operating at multiple scales who seek to empower communities through an inclusive, collaborative, and iterative design process to create lasting value.
Core Values
- Curiosity
- Consideration
- Design Excellence
- Kindness
- Stewardship
- Empowerment
Key market and project experience
- Institutional / Civic
- Urban Plazas
- Cemetery Design
- Winery / Hospitality
- Stadium / Sports Venues
- Educational
- Hight Schools / Middle Schools
- Higher-Education Campuses
- Transportation Planning
- Urban Design
- Streetscapes

Brian Stuhr, PLA
Principal Landscape Architect
Landscape Architect + Urban Designer + Cultural Anthropologist
Brian has more than 13 years of professional experience in landscape architecture and urban design. Projects include civic, campus, cemetery, hospitality, transportation and master planning. He approaches every project with a spirit of collaboration, exploration and discovery, asking critical questions and challenging assumptions to unearth potential with each endeavor.
“As designers, it is our job to dream; but it also our responsibility to apply our creativity to the big, system-wide challenges that our civilization will be required to solve moving forward.”
Brian loves observing people and the places they inhabit. Initially trained as a cultural anthropologist, he enjoys traveling and meeting new people. He also loves to draw. These traits, combined with a love of the outdoors and natural systems, led him to landscape architecture.
Master of Landscape Architecture, University of Colorado Denver, 2010
Master of Urban Design, University of Colorado Denver, 2010
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, Willamette University, 2005