Architects, like all other artists, are formed by the environments they work in. They are affected by their chosen regions as much as they effect a revised appearance for those regions. Maurer is a grateful Yukoner. B.C. Architects need clients to survive, but he has always been attracted to sparsely populated areas. Whitehorse has provided a compromise solution, being rather isolated from more populated urban centres and set in the midst of wilderness.
People often overestimate the financial rewards of an architect's daily life.
But for Maurer, Whitehorse and its environs makes that all worth while. He points to the scrubland behind his new house, mentions the visiting coyotes and then adds that he appreciates being able to wander off and lose himself in the woods within five minutes. I always remind myself we want to be on top, on the leading edge. He is fascinated and encouraged by the way in which the territory is beginning to evolve new architectural priorities. Pre-gold rush residents of this region tended to be nomadic and did not require the large and permanent structures erected by some First Nations on the coast or in the South.